Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:
- From Harvard Broadcasting’s 95.7 CRUZ FM: “Gary James has announced that he is hanging up the headphones after 37 years on the airwaves. Gary came to Edmonton in 1996 and has been entertaining Edmonton’s listeners for the past twenty years.” As a result, “his co-host Shannon Medaglia, will be moving to weekends, and the weekend guy name Derek Allen, formerly with Fresh fm in the city, will become the new mid-day announcer.”
- Puget Sound Radio has also confirmed that Nicola Crosbie’s relationship with 95.7 CRUZ FM has ended. She posted about the news on Facebook: “Although I am sad that it didn’t work out, I am optimistic for the next opportunity that is somewhere out there!” She doesn’t have plans yet, but promises to keep her followers posted.
- Lochlin Cross is reportedly returning on August 2 with his Locker Room Show along with a co-host from The Bear.
- Congratulations to Ryan Jackson on the launch of his own video production company, Full Circle Visuals Inc. “I was fortunate to get six months of severance pay and I put that time to good use,” he wrote. “I used the severance as a gift of time to properly build the company and I’ve even hired my first employee, Sam Brooks.” Much respect.
- Ryan recently shared a photo of Lucinda Chodan letting him go from the Journal back on January 19. Pretty amazing story to go along with it (in the comments on the photo).
- And in other Ryan news, he was a guest along with video editor Chris Sikkenga at the last Edmonton Podcasting Meetup which you can listen to in Episode 46 of the Seen and Heard in Edmonton podcast. The next meetup is scheduled for September 18.
- Taylor Galvin has joined the morning show at CFWE Radio as of today. Bio coming soon!
- Reid Fiest notes that Vassy Kapelos, formerly of Global Edmonton, has been named Ottawa Bureau Chief for Global National. Congrats!
- From Vintage Edmonton, here’s CBC Edmonton’s coverage of the Black Friday tornado on July 31, 1987.
- In a new episode of the Jungle Talk Podcast, Terry Jones talks about his career covering sports.
- Omar reports that he is teaching a 4-week course at MacEwan in November “on tools that’ll make you a more productive writer.”
- Omar was featured in a recent episode of The Borchelli Brothers podcast. Also don’t miss the extended edition.
- The new Royal Alberta Museum will feature 14 videos on a wide range of subjects produced by Portland, Oregon-based North Shore Productions when it opens. Obviously the local industry is feeling a bit slighted. But others say the focus should be on embracing digital media.
- Postmedia is looking for a Content Editor to join the team here in Edmonton at Capital Ideas. The application deadline is tomorrow, July 26!
- Over at Taproot Edmonton, we have assigned our first stories! I’m very excited to see what our storytellers are able to do with some great questions from our members.
CTV Edmonton’s “So you want to be an anchor?” at K-Days
And here is some slightly less local media stuff:
- I meant to link to this last month: the crowdfunding campaign to launch The Calgarian ended with only a third of the pledges needed to continue. “Someone asked if I regretted starting this, since it cost me my job and failed in the end. I have to say I do not. It may have been a long-shot, but I believed it had a chance at success. If I hadn’t attempted this, I would have always wondered what might have been,” wrote Taylor Lambert, the man behind the project.
- Just in time for the Olympics, TELUS is launching 4K on Optik TV in BC and Alberta. “Customers will require a 4K TV, a 4K PVR, as well as a minimum of Internet 50 to support 4K streaming.” You can learn more here.
- Yahoo has agreed to sell its web businesses, including the purple brand and exclamation point, to Verizon for $4.8 billion. CEO Marissa Mayer is staying on for now. That means Verizon will own both AOL and Yahoo!
- The Washington Post is going to adapt some of its stories for Medium. “One of Medium’s big draws is its emphasis on getting users to engage with the posts they read,” notes NiemanLab.
- I guess we should prepare ourselves for more sponsored content: 75% of The Atlantic’s ad revenue and about 50% of Slate’s ad revenue come from the format, and others like the Times “have declared sponsored content to be an important part of their strategies.”
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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