J-Links for Aug. 15: More cuts at Postmedia; Canada’s TV ownership; former BBC head named new CEO of New York Times Co.

In Canadian media:

More cuts from Postmedia shifts editorial decisions to Hamilton

As Postmedia continues to cut costs, its newspapers across the country will share pages built in Hamilton for their non-local content and the editors in Hamilton will decide the front page stories. This comes just days after the Edmonton Journal announced it would outsource printing of the paper and the Montreal Gazette’s decision to turn its paper into a newsmagazine by publishing two sections instead of three and focusing on analysis rather than breaking news.

Canada ranks highest in G8 countries in media ownership in TV industry

Among all of the G8 countries, Canada has the most concentrated TV industry ownership and the second most concentrated TV audience, according to a new report. The Analysis Group is looking at the impact of Bell’s proposed acquisition of Astral Media and the report says that 81.4 per cent of the value of Canada’s market is controlled by companies that also create content.

On plagiarism: are journalists taking on too much?

The Globe and Mail’s senior media writer, Simon Houpt, wonders if journalists who are caught plagiarizing are being stretched too thin. When CNN’s Fareed Zakaria was caught plagiarizing he was also hosting his own show on CNN, writing for some of America’s biggest publications, giving speeches as well as blogging regularly. When Jonah Lehrer’s blunders were brought to light he also had his hands full with contributing to numerous magazines, giving speeches and writing books.

In international media:

BBC head, Mark Thompson, named next CEO of New York Times Company

Former BBC director general, Mark Thompson, will be replacing Janet Robinson as the New York Times Company’s president and chief executive. Robinson resigned in December and the company had been searching for a replacement for eight months. Thompson’s candidacy was rumoured for several months but was viewed as an unusual choice as he previously worked for a public broadcaster and had no experience with a publicly traded company, reports The New York Times.

Today’s read:

Three Canadian cities included in top 10 of the world’s most livable cities

Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary are all on the list of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s ranking of the world’s most livable cities. The cities ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively, just below Melbourne in first and Vienna in second. The report surveys 140 cities and considers more than 30 factors including: the state of healthcare, education, infrastructure and culture and environment. No American cities made the list.