Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:
- Venture Publishing Inc. is once again in the news for its failure to pay freelancers in a timely manner, if at all. “Venture Publishing currently owes tens of thousands of dollars to these freelancers, and has failed to make good on constant promises to pay them for their work,” wrote Story Board. They previously wrote about this back in 2013. CBC picked up the story this week and interviewed CEO Ruth Kelly who said “Venture is in exactly in the same situation with many of our clients, where we have had extremely slow or absolutely no payment, complete default.” Apparently there are at least 13 freelancers waiting for outstanding payments totalling nearly $40,000.
- 91.7 The Bounce has rebranded and is now KiSS 91.7. Sounds like the format is more or less the same, but the station will now feature 91 minute commercial free playlists at noon, 3pm, and 9pm. They celebrated the rebrand with 91 hours of commercial free music.
- Wednesday is Tim Querengesser’s last day as managing editor of Metro Edmonton. “I’m leaving the magazining and newspapering industry,” he wrote, adding “I’m not ready to leave it.”
- Marty Forbes at @MediaInYeg reports that John Cummings, who worked in Edmonton at CJCA and CHQT in the 1980s, has passed away.
- Here’s a feature on why journalists must consider what to include in their stories from Jeff Samsonow. “Otherwise it could be twisted into misinformation and hateful rhetoric,” he wrote. Jeff spoke about the topic on The Ryan Jespersen Show on Wednesday.
- The roast of 96.3 Capital FM’s Rob Christie is coming up on March 8. Here’s a feature on Rob from Nick Lees.
- The Book Publisher’s Association of Alberta is asking the provincial government to include a $15 million fund for publishing houses in its next budget. According to executive director Kieran Leblanc, there are now just 28 publishers in Alberta, down from 45 in the mid 90s.
- Vue Weekly is seeking freelancers and is inviting story pitches to be sent to new editor Lee Butler.
- The Edmonton Heritage Council has sponsored a feature-length animated 3D film focused on Edmonton’s City Beautiful Movement. You can see it March 3 and 4 at the Capitol Theatre at Fort Edmonton.
- CISN Country 103.9 was featured in a recent episode of Everything Edmonton with Seanna Collins.
- Don’t miss the latest blog and podcast roundups from Seen and Heard in Edmonton.
- Omar Mouallem is leading a two-hour seminar tomorrow evening on the art of perfecting the pitch.
- The March issue of Alberta Views includes a feature on the fall of Alberta’s big city newspapers written by Ian Gill.
And here is some slightly less local media stuff:
- The latest issue of WIRED includes a feature on how the New York Times is clawing its way into the future.
- Bell Media is juggling its executives as it lost president Mary Ann Turcke to the NFL Network.
- Donald Trump’s war on the media escalated Friday when a group of media organizations including the New York Times, CNN, and others were barred from attending the White House’s daily press briefing.
- Mozilla has acquired Pocket, which is the service I use for saving and reading articles and other links. They have said Pocket will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary.
- From the Wall Street Journal: “YouTube viewers world-wide are now watching more than 1 billion hours of videos a day, threatening to eclipse U.S. television viewership.” That’s a 10-fold increase over 2012.
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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