Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:
- A follow-up on last week’s news: a camera was allowed inside the courtroom for the Travis Vader murder verdict, a first for an Alberta criminal trial. Paula Simons explains how livestreaming of the decision – something local media outlets fought for the right to do – caused a legal firestorm after a criminal law professor watching started tweeting about an error the judge made. Would that have come to light without cameras in the courtroom?
- Karen and I will be demoing Taproot Edmonton at DemoCamp Edmonton 32 on Thursday evening. Hope to see you there!
- The Edmonton Journal and Metro Edmonton are among those nominated for the 2016 Canadian Online Publishing Awards.
- The Nation Network, publisher of OilersNation, has acquired GeneralFanager.com bringing the network to 11 sites.
- The final issue of the Western Catholic Reporter will be published on September 26 as the publication switches to a daily online news portal. Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, the newspaper’s publisher, made the announcement last week and confirmed a number of positions would be eliminated, including that of long-time editor Glen Argan. Here’s more on the news.
- Tonight was the launch of Edmonton Cooks, a new recipe book by writers Leanne Brown and Tina Faiz. Here’s a feature on the book and here’s an interview with Tina Faiz, who used to be a reporter for CBC Edmonton.
- Wade Sorochan, who has worked in Edmonton radio for many years, has written a book called Un-Social Media: Virtual World Causing Real Word Anxiety which also launched today.
- Marty Forbes reports that Susan Reade, who was the General Sales Manager at Bell in Edmonton for 100.3 The Bear, 104.9 Virgin Radio, and CTV, has “been restructured out”.
- Episode 50 of the Seen and Heard in Edmonton podcast features David Rauch, “the strategic planner, open-data enthusiast and onetime journalist who makes connections through Beta City YEG, Edmonton’s civic technology meetup.”
- Terry Jones reports that Phil Rivers, the man behind the 99 Tears! headline, retired on September 13.
- WHERE Edmonton parent company Tanner Young Publishing Group is looking for a junior graphic designer to work on the magazine.
- From Vintage Edmonton, here’s a look at some CJCA history.
- Congratulations to Emil of I Heart Edmonton on publishing 500 posts! “I set out to showcase Edmonton and to show Edmontonians that there is so much more to our city than what they might think.”
- Egyptian-born Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy, who along with two other journalists in 2013 was unjustly arrested, and sentenced to seven years in prison in Egypt, is speaking on October 1 at the Arden Theatre in St. Albert.
Western Canada Fashion Week’s Celebrity Showcase
And here is some slightly less local media stuff:
- While many are calling for President Obama to pardon Edward Snowden, the Washington Post has demanded that he stand trial on espionage charges. That makes the Post “the first-ever paper to explicitly editorialize for the criminal prosecution of its own source – one on whose back the paper won and eagerly accepted a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.” Incredible.
- A tweet remains 140 characters but now pictures, videos, and polls no longer count toward that limit. And soon usernames in replies may also be exempt from the character count.
- Torstar Corp. has sold the land and buildings of the former printing plant of the Toronto Star for $54.3 million. It had previously outsourced printing of the Star and announced plans to close the plant and sell the property.
- The latest Gallup survey estimates that only 32% of Americans trust the media, “the lowest level recorded in the polling organization’s history” and a drop of 8 points from last year. CJR breaks it down.
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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