Shares of Canwest Global Communications plunged into freefall this week, dropping to historic lows before closing Friday at 13 cents, off from a 52-week high of $3.59. The fall comes on the heels of Monday’s reprieve from the company’s creditors, who gave Canwest yet another extension to reach a deal on a recapitalization plan —…
Have we hit bottom yet? Two recent media business developments suggest not. La Presse will no longer publish on Sundays, effective June 28, reported the Globe and Mail. Standard and Poor Poor’s deleted Torstar Corp. from its Canadian composite index, effective Monday June 15. (The rating agency deleted Canwest earlier.)
Associated Press will distribute stories produced by four non-profit news organizations that specialize in investigative reporting – ProPublica, the Center for Public Integrity, the Investigative Reporting Workshop and the Center for Investigative Reporting. It’s a six-month experiment sparked in part by a desire to stem the growing void of investigative reporting resulting from financial cuts among AP’s member news organizations. Hmmm, a legacy…
What, if anything, does Raitt-tapegate say about the practice of journalism? The story about cabinet minister, Lisa Raitt, the private conversation she had last January with her aide, Jasmine MacDonnell, the accidental tape recording which then fell into the hands of a reporter for the Chronicle Herald, certainly seems to be “sexy” judging by the…
Creditors of Canwest Global Communications Corp. (CGS) are bringing in a senior executive to lead a financial restructuring of the company, “possibly superseding chief executive officer Leonard Asper,” reported the Globe and Mail in a story quoted by Reuters and Bloomberg. Documents filed with securities regulators said the company’s creditors “have been granted several key…
Canwest missed another payment. So what? …
Jeff Lee, the Olympics reporter for the Vancouver Sun, was paid to write for the the official magazine of the International Olympics Committee, reported the online magazine thetyee.ca. But Lee is just one one reporter — and most of the mainstream media, especially in B.C., has some entanglement with the games.
Canwest negotiated a lifeline for itself worth $175-million, providing yet more breathing room for refinancing negotiations with banks, bondholders and possible investors. Under the new arrangement Canwest has until June 15 to complete a recapitalization agreement in principle, and a final agreement by July 15. The company has missed several previous deadlines for payments. A…
Scientists get media-savvy? It’s about time. The New York Times reports on “science for the Mediacene age, the unveiling at the American Museum of Natural History of a 47-million-year-old fossil that some claim “could revolutionize the understanding of human evolution.” Coinciding with “the publishing of a peer-reviewed article about the find (the event) is the…
A prank played by an Irish student who laid a trap for lazy journalists on Wikipedia — and caught some big prey around the world — proves again that journalists should check, double-check and check again all sources — especially sources on …