Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:
- Heather Boyd’s report into accreditation of news media for the Province has been released. You can download the 122 page PDF here. The report recommends that the Province “avoid developing a specific government media policy” and that it should instead “be guided to various degrees by convention, common sense and a desire to keep access to legislative proceedings as open to as large a number of citizens as possible.” In the Executive Summary, the report states: “Most, but by no means all, of the people interviewed for this report felt that there are no circumstances whatsoever under which a government should decide who gets to ask it questions.” The government has accepted all of the report’s recommendations.
- Andrea Sands is leaving the Edmonton Journal to work as a communications consultant for the Edmonton Public School Board. She tweeted that it’s not all doom and gloom for local journalism though. “There are some great new reporters coming soon to the Journal so I look forward to reading.”
- The winners of the 67th National Newspaper Awards will be announced at a ceremony here in Edmonton on Friday, May 27. The bad news? There are no Edmonton-based nominees. The Globe and Mail led the way with 19 nominations.
- Marty Forbes is working on a new podcast with Jungle Jim Jerome. Called “Jungle Talk”, the project is set to debut “in the next month or so.”
- Marty also notes that Len Theusen is retiring after a long career in local media, at 630 CHED, K-LITE (Capital FM), and most recently as an account rep at The Bear. Here’s a photo from the recent celebration event at MKT.
- Lots of online news sites have started banning anonymous comments, but should they? Karen Unland and Linda Hoang spoke to CBC Edmonton about the issue this week.
- Episode 34 of the Seen and Heard in Edmonton podcast features Paul Matwychuk, “a writer, editor and film aficionado who compares and contrasts movies in the most erudite way on Trash, Art, and the Movies.”
- Twitter turned ten years old today! Lots of people revisited their first tweets to celebrate, including Global Edmonton.
- Danielle Paradis wrote about “the deluge of abuse against student journalist Kate McInnes” that came in response to a critique published in The Gateway of the 5 Days for the Homelessness campaign. “McInnes is determined not to be silenced. She’s written more than 50 pieces for the Gateway and plans to be an editor next year.”
- Here’s a guest post at the Meet the Media blog by Debra Kasowski asking if traditional media are worth it. “Media shapes our lives and influences how we think which in turn influences our behaviour and attitudes toward issues and events,” she wrote.
- Speaking of #MeetTheMedia, you can register for the event taking place on April 15 here. There are already 28 people signed up.
- Edmontonian Lindsey McNell is a filmmaker, writer, actress, and director and last year she was selected to represent Canada at the Cannes Film Festival. She says Edmonton needs an advocate, like a film commissioner, to bring more attention to the industry.
- Calgary journalist Andrew Ng, who worked in Edmonton from 2008 through 2013, kept a notebook of “just about every story…and every person” he worked on and talked to over a two-year period in our city. “It sits on my desk now as a journal of my career as a journalist.”
- The next Edmonton Podcasting Meetup takes place on April 9 at Variant Edition Comics & Culture and will explore making your podcast audience happy.
Edmonton Journal on the Gibson-Block
And here is some slightly less local media stuff:
- Here are Linda’s latest social media notes. She links with some dismay to the news that Instagram is moving to an algorithmic feed. Personally I’m ok with the change.
- Leslie Merklinger, CBC’s director of new programs and talent development, speaks positively about podcasting and says “the podcast space is something we are committed to.”
- Medium is expanding its mobile efforts to cover curation. “We believe that in order to create a great reading experience for humans, other humans should be part of that process.” Elsewhere, Medium is spinning off Matter into a new company.
- The Global Investigative Journalism Network has found that despite an incredible return on investment, “investigative journalism groups must scramble for funds to survive year after year.”
- For more on the decade of Twitter, here’s an in-depth conversation with Jack Dorsey.
- From Slate: what it’s like to write about a candidate who hates you. Yes, this one is about Donald Trump.
- With appeals and other legal battles sure to take years, the Hulk Hogan win over Gawker is far from the certain end for the site that many are proclaiming. And besides as the Times argues, “the Gawker that posted the video…has already passed into memory.”
You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.
So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!
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