• J-Source

    Media concentration: the Irvings versus an upstart

    Irving family companies control most of the media in New Brunswick. Now, they’re in court trying to stop an upstart from setting up a competing newspaper. CBC has a story about the case, and the Irving company’s complaint that a former publisher is using confidential information obtained while he worked for them to go into…

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    Rejigging the news for the Web

    Today’s New York Times has a piece about how American broadcaster ABC is reshaping its news cast for the Internet. There are some differences, and some innovations. Excerpts:Executives at the broadcast networks know they have opportunities online that they do not have on television — namely, to take chances by testing new forms of news…

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    Screams of panic: the revolution in journalism

     “The screams from newsrooms are those of panic,” Jim Lehrer, the well known American public television anchor, told a group of university students at Northwestern. Journalism is going through an “unpleasant” revolution, he said — but argued that the demise of mainstream media may be exaggerated. Lehrer is a guy usually worth listening to, imo.…

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    Protest against European photo censorship

    From today’s pres release about the “Perpignan Call,” a petition to oppose privacy rights that amounts to censorship of photojournalism in Europe.The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the regional group of the International Federation of Journalists, today announced its support to the “Perpignan Call,” a petition in favor of the right to information through pictures…

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    Newspapers holding their own, says report

    There’s cause for optimism among print journalists in a new report from the Canadian Newspaper Association:         TORONTO, Sept. 19 /CNW Telbec/ – Newspapers are continuing to hold their own in Canada’s increasingly fragmented media environment, Anne Kothawala, President and CEO of the Canadian Newspaper Association said today in a statement responding to the release…

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    Engaging writing

    One way I judge “good” print journalism is whether a story grabs me, sucks me in and holds my attention until the very last word, no matter my underlying interest in the subject. It helps if the story includes storytelling phrases that delight while delivering solid reporting. A great example of such writing is this Canadian…

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    Neo-conservative Standard closing

    The ideological Western Standard magazine will stop printing after three years and 82 publications, and remain an online entity only, says founder Ezra Levant according to reports. “It’s not that we’re an important part of independent journalism, sometimes we’re the only independent journalistic voice,” Levant told CanWest. “Sometimes we were the only people who had…

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    Internet: neutrality and CRTC hearings

    The CRTC will begin seven days of hearings Oct. 9 on wholesale Internet access, or as the commission says, “the regulatory framework for telecommunications wholesale services.” Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor will represent the industry; the Competition Bureau and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre are also expected to appear. Another Internet development this week is a…

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    Anna Politkovskaya’s murder

    On the anniversary of the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Reporters Without Borders staged a ceremony at the Trocadero human rights plaza in Paris. The press rights group displayed photos of Vladimir Putin and Politkovskaya alongside 18 coffins representing the 18 journalists killed in connection with their work in Russia since Putin became president…

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    Global axes 200 jobs

    Global television, part of the CanWest conglomerate, is laying off a total of 200 people, the company said Thursday. It’s part of the broadcaster’s plan to update the technology in four centres, in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto. A Canadian Press report said news-gathering staff is being cut in the Maritimes and in Quebec. A…