Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:
- Finalists for the 69th annual National Newspaper Awards have been announced. The Edmonton Journal received 3 nominations – Paula Simons, Maclom Mayes, and Larry Wong were all nominated. Winners will be announced in Toronto on May 4.
- Friday was Gareth Hampshire’s last day at CBC Edmonton. He’s off to Halifax!
- Troy Pavlek, “local man”, singled out a CTV Edmonton interview and said “I’m frankly embarrassed to be party to it.” Yep, he’s kinda more than some rando!
- Members of the media were asked to leave an AUMA session last week at the Shaw Conference Centre. “Reporters protested, and organizers reversed their position within an hour.”
- Matthew Stepanic is leading a workshop on Saturday that “will teach writers how to increase their versatility in order to function in the gig economy.”
- Glass Buffalo is celebrating the launch of its Sweet 16 issue on Tuesday at Yellowhead Brewery.
- Here is the latest Alberta Podcast Network Roundup.
- Paula Kirman is a finalist in an International Songwriting Competition. You can help her win by voting for her song “Summer”!
- The provincial government is offering digital gaming and media companies a tax credit to cover 25% of salaries. “The province said there are more than 50 interactive digital media studios in the province, employing more than 500 full-time workers, who earn, on average, more than $70,000 a year.”
- The inaugural broadcast of CBC Radio in Edmonton was set to take place on September 8, 1948 but the gushing of oil at Leduc on September 6 when the Atlantic No. 3 derrick “collapsed and the well caught fire becoming one of the most spectacular blowouts in Alberta history” caused the reporters to go on air early.
- Local photographer Blake Loates has captured a series of portraits for a Suicide Prevention week campaign by the Canadian Mental Health Association.
- Reminder: the Edmonton Broadcasters Club Spring Luncheon is coming up on Wednesday, April 11 and features Tim Spelliscy.
Minister Bilous announces a new Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit program, photo by Government of Alberta
And here is some slightly less local media stuff:
- “The latest industry to get a Trump bump: Journalism schools.” Apparently applications have jumped at Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, The Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
- Jason Kottke looks back at twenty years of writing kottke.org. Quite the milestone!
- The Canadian Association of Black Journalists is running a survey to find out what a re-imagined CABJ should look like.
- A new report examining virtual reality formats for journalism found that VR “prompted a higher empathetic response than static photo/text treatments and a higher likelihood of participants to take ‘political or social action’ after viewing.”
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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