• J-Source

    Rogers to Mag Awards: Cancel the show

    According to a report in the Globe and Mail, Rogers Publishing CEO Brian Segal has told the National Magazine Awards Foundation to scrap this year’s program honouring magazine writers, photographers, illustrators and editors, because there is “no money for any activities outside of producing magazines.”

  • J-Source

    Any good news out there?

    This week’s Big Issue editor scoured J-Source for good news – and there was more than you’d think. It seems tough economic times get people thinking about what’s working right. Tough times also inspire us to be better journalists. So here’s a dose of our good news, with a challenge: share your own good news…

  • J-Source

    Hand over Hearst’s legacy to us, says reporter

    San Francisco Chronicle reporter Delfin Vigil has put his money where his job is: he’s taken out a substantial ad on page 9 of yesterday’s Chronicle, suggesting that if the guys in suits won’t or can’t save the newspaper (and other struggling papers across the country) then they should hand it over to the reporters.

  • J-Source

    Media “necessity” and fair, says Tory

    John Tory thanked the media for being fair in his speech announcing his resignation as leader of the Ontario Conservative party. Oddly, Tory’s full comments on media were not in the CTV Web story about the speech. The quotes below are from Bill Doskoch’s blog. I want to say thank you to you because I…

  • J-Source

    Regina journalism school founder dies

    Ron Robbins, a long-time Canadian Press and innovative CBC journalist before he founded the University of Regina’s school of journalism, is dead at the age of 92, reported the Regina Leader-Post. “So modest was Robbins that he had friends like (Nick) Russell promise to keep mum on his death and would allow only a small…

  • J-Source

    Is Mother Jones the answer for independent journalism?

    Mother Jones has become “a real-life laboratory for whether nonprofit journalism — a topic of the moment in mainstream news media circles — can withstand a deep recession,” reports the New York Times. The people behind the American magazine — which won a National Magazine Award last year for general excellence — have long evangelized…

  • J-Source

    Will CanWest sell New Republic?

    Folio: is reporting that Martin Peretz, editor-in-chief and former longtime part owner of The New Republic, is in negotiations to buy back the assets of the magazine from CanWest Global Communications. CanWest gobbled up the American TNR in Feb. 2007. At the time, it seemed like a good fit for CanWest and its controlling Asper…

  • J-Source

    Ethnic media thriving

    “As the economic downturn triggers layoffs for many traditional media outlets across the country, several ethnic media groups in the Greater Toronto Area appear to be thriving, according to industry insiders and observers,” reported CBC. The story quoted a source saying that unlike TorStar, CanWest and the CBC, “the ethnic publications aren’t struggling to find…

  • J-Source

    Help: we’re a nonprofit

    “Read 40 Papers for as little as $10 a month—become a friend of Sightline today!” says a solicitation for money from an environmental organization in the Pacific NorthWest. The email from Sightline Institute goes on: “I’m writing to you today because Sightline Daily needs your help. Your Sightline Daily editors get up at 5am every…