J-Links: Journalism and TIFF; CBC to broadcast 2015 Pan Ams; NBC breaks even on Olympics

In Canadian media:

Journalism and TIFF

In their latest video, The Globe and Mail’s media reporting team of Simon Houpt and Steve Ladurantaye explain how journalism functions at the Toronto International Film Festival. Houpt, who is an accredited reporter at the festival, explains the embargos that are placed on film reviews and why, as well as how access to celebrity interviews is determined.

CBC awarded broadcast rights to 2015 Pan Am Games

CBC announced today that it has been awarded the host and domestic broadcast rights of the 2015 Pan/Parapan Am Games. The games, which land the year between the 2014 Sochi and 2016 Rio Olympic Games that CBC recently won the broadcast rights for as well, are expected to make money for the broadcaster, according to executive director of CBC sports properties Jeffrey Orridge. Coverage will be in both official languages and will take place on multiple platforms, CBC said in its release.

In international media:

NBC Sports head says network broke even on Olympics

Bloomberg is reporting that NBC, citing strong ratings for the telecast, broke even on its broadcasting of the London Olympic Games. Advertising sales for the games totaled about $1.25 billion, which was almost 50 per cent more than that of Beijing four years ago. NBC faced harsh criticism of its coverage of the games, which included tape delays of marquee events.

Today’s read:

Canada cuts diplomatic ties with Iran

The Globe and Mail reports today that Canada has cut diplomatic ties with Iran, shutting down its Tehran embassy and giving Iranian diplomats in Ottawa five days to leave Canada. It’s not clear why Foreign Minister John Baird chose now to sever ties with Iran, but the Conservative MP said they were uncomfortable having Canadian diplomats in Iran who did not “sign up to be put in harm’s way.”