Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:
- CKUA CEO Ken Regan shared some thoughts on his upcoming retirement (and the station’s new fundraising drive) in the latest CKUA newsletter. “Our community of artists, donors, hosts, listeners and volunteers has created a home for music lovers like no other,” he wrote.
- Ryan Jespersen had a couple of media-related segments on his show this morning. He spoke to Graham Hicks about his controversial story in the Edmonton Sun, who apologized for his choice of words. It’s a shame that so many reacted to his mistake with name calling and other negative behavior, as I tweeted about on the weekend.
- Ryan also spoke with Jesse Brown of CANADALAND who was in town tonight for a LitFest event. Metro spoke with Jesse recently as well. It was cool to hear him do the show live, but it’s a shame he didn’t do more homework about Edmonton before coming and engaging a panel of Edmontonians. Mordecai Richler’s comments from 1985 are a bit tired, don’t you think?
- We published our second Taproot Edmonton story this week! Making a ripple toward reconciliation was written by Anna Holtby. Check it out!
- On Thursday evening, Taproot will be one of the presenting companies at Launch Party 7. Hope to see you there!
- Kathleen McGee interviewed Ryan Jespersen recently for her podcast.
- Mack Lamoureux is off to Toronto to join VICE Canada. “I can’t really articulate how much I’m going to miss the CBC Edmonton,” he tweeted.
- Elise Stolte shared the news on Friday that a FOIP request for flood maps that was denied by the City of Edmonton was overturned by the
Government of Albertaprovincial Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. “Postmedia fought for the maps, arguing Edmonton residents have the right to know if their homes are at risk, even if it could negatively affect some property values.” She’ll receive the data within the next sixty days. - Dustin Coffman tweeted that 630 CHED is now available to stream on Apple Music. As of Tuesday last week, Corus became the first Canadian broadcaster to offer programming through the service.
- Episode 52 of the Seen and Heard in Edmonton podcast features Tema Frank, “an author, an Internet pioneer, and the creator of Frank Reactions, where she explores customer experience and customer service in the digital era.”
- Here’s a review of Marty Klinkenberg’s new book The McDavid Effect. “The book also introduces readers to a cast of characters that surround McDavid, from his parents, to the store owners around Rexall Place, who once basked in the business brought by the previous generation of Oilers stars such as Gretzky and Messier.”
- Noted filmmaker and Edmontonian Michael Maxiss is the man behind the new Edmonton Oilers opening video. “I’d like to start by saying I’ve been a fan of this team my entire life, so the opportunity to make this video for them was a true honor,” he wrote.
- Scott C. Bourgeois is the new PA announcer for the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place! Congrats! Fans of The Unknown Studio now know where to find him!
- The latest 20 Questions installment in the Edmonton Sun features Chad Huculak who you know and love for his great local cartoons!
- The next Edmonton Podcasting Meetup takes place on Sunday, October 23 at Variant Edition Comics & Culture.
- In his parting piece at Metro Edmonton, Ryan Tumilty reflected on how the city has changed and encouraged Edmonton to “do big things”.
- A bunch of local media folks are involved in the University of Alberta’s “new and improved” business magazine. Omar Mouallem is editing the publication.
- From Vintage Edmonton, here’s a couple of commercials from the 80s, including one featuring a young Wayne Gretzky!
- Steven Sandor, editor of Avenue Edmonton, launched his new young-adult novel Trolled on Saturday at Audrey’s Books. Congrats!
- Chef Levi Biddlecombe was on Chopped Canada this week. I watched the episode – good to see some local representation!
And here is some slightly less local media stuff:
- An article in the Wall Street Journal today argues that Twitter is a media company and should be valued as such, rather than a technology.
- Jim Rutenberg wrote about the recent criticism of the news media and suggests that after the US Election, newsrooms need to figure out why so many people don’t trust them.
- If you’re currently using a third party service to watch American Netflix, you may not be able to much longer. Netflix appears to be winning the war on virtual border hoppers.
- Billy Bush is officially out at NBC’s “Today”. But somehow Donald Trump is still a candidate for President?
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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