Media Monday Edmonton: Update #342

Taproot Edmonton’s latest Media Roundup was published today. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday morning.

Here are a few select updates from today’s Media Roundup:

An editorial published in the Edmonton Journal endorses UCP leader Jason Kenney. The byline on the editorial reads “Edmonton Journal Editorial Board” but the piece lacks the usual sign-off at the bottom: “Local editorials are the consensus opinion of the Journal’s editorial board, comprising Mark Iype, Dave Breakenridge, Sarah O’Donnell and Bill Mah.” Former Postmedia columnist Paula Simons chimed in, tweeting “last time round, the editorial was dictated – almost literally – from Postmedia bosses in Toronto.”
Andrea Ross has announced she is moving to Vancouver and will be joining CBC BC. “I will miss #yeg but I am thrilled and can’t wait for new stories and cherry blossoms!” she tweeted.
SONiC 102.9’s Brandy Taylor has earned a Canadian Radio Music Award nomination for Music Director of the Year. Garner Andrews, Pepper & Dylan, and Al Ford also earned nominations.
CBC Edmonton has posted an interview with late night host Zahra Premji. “Since I was five, I knew I wanted to be a storyteller and give the voiceless a platform to share their tales,” she says.
Provincial political columnist Graham Thomson says “if the campaign is heated in the real world, it is positively volcanic online.” He adds: “All too often social media and “media” can melt into one.”

And here is some non-local media news that I found interesting this week:

Here are the winners of the 2019 Pulitzer Prizes.
Amazon’s Alexa is getting the ability to read you longer news stories than are currently available in the flash briefing.
Nieman Lab’s Joshua Benton says that “local newspapers are basically little machines that spit out healthier democracies.” He highlights a new paper in Urban Affairs Review which found that “cities served by newspapers with relatively sharp declines in newsroom staffing had, on average, significantly reduced political competition in mayoral races.”
AT&T has sold its 10% stake in Hulu for $1.43 billion. “AT&T is exiting Hulu as the telco’s WarnerMedia division gears up for a late 2019 launch of its own subscription streaming services.”
From The Colorado Sun: How the media unwittingly helped create a Columbine narrative that has inspired murderers ever since.

Follow Edmonton media news using the hashtag #yegmedia and be sure to check out Mediagazer for the latest media news from elsewhere. You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here. If you have a tip or suggestion for future updates, let me know.

At Taproot Edmonton we’re working hard to ensure that local journalism has a future in our city. Join us to be part of the movement.

Published by Mack Male