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 …
Canwest Global Communications Corp. received another two-week extension, until May 19, in talks with debt obligations with senior lenders and U.S. bondholders. Noted the Hollywood Reporter, “The latest extension came as Canwest Global faced a Tuesday night deadline to make an overdue $30.4 million payment to 8% U.S. bondholders.” The Canwest press release is here.
Journalists who are not American — and thus protected by that country’s constitution — are working under tough new restrictions imposed by NATO in southern Afghanistan, reported Canadian Press. The story notes that the Canadian military “has tried unsuccessfully” to reverse the new policy, which mirrors American military media policy in Iraq. Canadian journalists are now…
The New York Times looks at the conundrum of whether coverage exacerbates a crisis. An excerpt: Without the news media the public would be dangerously unaware of the swine flu outbreak, but perhaps without saturation coverage on cable news networks and the velocity of information on the Internet, the public would not be so hysterical,…