Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:
- Raffy Boudjikanian is making the move from CBC Calgary to CBC Edmonton next week. He tweeted that he’ll “have to work hard to fill the spot vacated” by Briar Stewart.
- Jay Stone will be the new Program Director for up! 99.3 FM here in Edmonton. He was previously at 980 CJME in Regina where his last day will be September 8.
- Local filmmaker Randy Brososky has been selected by TELUS STORYHIVE to receive funding to produce the first six episodes of his “darkly comedic” web series, Necessary Evil. The episodes will be available on TELUS Optik TV On Demand next summer. Congrats Randy!
- The launch party for the fall issue of The Yards will take place on September 21 at CKUA Radio. Save the date!
- Episode 73 of the Seen and Heard in Edmonton podcast features Jeff MacCallum, “one-half of the team behind two Edmonton podcasts that focus on independent music on the prairies: Cups N Cakes and Inside the Artist’s Studio.”
- CBC Edmonton published a feature on EPS Sgt. David Jones who uses Twitter to “humanize the badge a little bit.”
- Stump Kitchen, a video series about cooking by local Alexis Hillyard, has amassed 221 patrons already on Patreon. Congrats!
- A fire at City Centre Mall on Thursday evening caused an evacuation of the CBC Edmonton newsroom. Staff started to return on Friday after air quality concerns were lifted though power remained limited.
- Rogers Communications is looking for a CHR Imaging Producer here in Edmonton. In case you’re wondering, CHR is contemporary hit radio and the role would be focused largely on Kiss 91.7 FM.
- The latest Edmonton Quotient feature is about Edmonton’s Indigenous Tech Opportunity. The story focuses on Jacquelyn Cardinal, a graduate of the Digital Media Production program at Edmonton Digital Arts College, and her brother Hunter who launched Naheyawin, an Edmonton communications and engagement agency “that is firmly grounded in traditional teachings from their heritage at the Sucker Creek Cree First Nation”.
- Heads up: The Banff Centre is hosting a journalism summit from October 20-22. The Democracy Project: Journalism in the Age of Alt-Facts will “discuss practical next steps in the critical conversation around media and democracy.”
- A reminder that if you’re looking for the latest news about the Municipal Election you should join Taproot!
RCMP Police Dog Services demonstration for media, photo by Premier of Alberta
And here is some slightly less local media stuff:
- A new monthly print paper called The West End Phoenix is launching in Toronto this fall. “The Phoenix is planning to publish longform profiles and features, investigative stories, and photo essays, along with some of the more traditional elements of local news.”
- Country Music Television (CMT) Canada is going to stop playing music videos as it launches its fall programming and will instead feature “funny, light-hearted comedies.”
- The Tow Center for Digital Journalism has published A Definitive Timeline of Platforms and Publishers. It covers everything from the launch of Google AdWords on October 23, 2000 to now. I wish the entries had hyperlinks to source material.
- Facebook has hired former New York Times public editor Liz Spayd to help manage the company’s transparency efforts. “Spayd’s role will be as an outsider who is inside, one who pushes boundaries at Facebook.”
- Quartz is planning to unveil a suite of Slack-based tools to help create bots that assist journalists. “Quartz is building the tools, which it teased last year, thanks to the $250,000 grant it got from the Knight Foundation in late 2016.”
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!
Want to read great stories about Edmonton? Or maybe you’d like to write them? Join Taproot Edmonton and help us ensure that local journalism has a future in our city.
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