Trump snubs — then trolls — White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Excerpt from the AP's story:

" . . .With President Donald Trump sending his regrets, the attention was no longer focused on an in-person roasting of the commander in chief and his humorous remarks about politics and the press. The red carpet that once featured Oscar winners, TV stars and a few major-league athletes barely turned heads.

"Instead, speakers at the dinner promoted press freedom and responsibility and challenged Trump’s accusations of dishonest reporting.

The stars of the night were Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein . . .Trump became the first president since Ronald Reagan in 1981 to skip the event — and Reagan was recovering from an assassination attempt."

The whole story

 

Heritage minister calls for overhaul of news business

Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly called for a “true redefinition” of the Canadian media industry Friday, as the Liberal government continues to study ways to support the beleaguered news business in the digital age, the Star's Alex Ballingal reports.

A range of options remains on the table, from tax changes to the creation of a fund for media projects, but Joly said it’s too early to say what Ottawa will do to help Canadian news outlets, which have seen huge drops in profits and also job cuts in recent years.

She said that government action must include players in the media industry as well as corporate titans such as Google and Facebook, which gobble up huge portions of digital ad spending, according to a prominent report published in January on the withering media sector.

Joly said she expects to present some of the government’s proposals for Canadian media later this year.

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Three local Shaw TV stations get the axe as Corus redirects funds to Global News

Three local Shaw TV stations will be shut down later this year as Corus Entertainment redirects funding towards Global News, J-source reports.

In a press release sent out April 26, Corus and Shaw Communications announced that about $10 million would be put towards Global News to boost community reporting, including establishing city hall bureaus and municipal affairs specialists. However, the Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton Shaw TV stations will close in August, affecting approximately 70 positions.

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iPoliticsLive, Facebook Canada announce partnership for Facebook Journalism Project

iPoliticsLive and Facebook Canada announced Thursday they are partnering to expand iPoliticsLive’s reach and help promote media literacy in Canada, as part of the Facebook Journalism Project.
Through the project, which launched in January, Facebook aims to establish stronger relationships with the news industry internationally in order to achieve a number of goals. Those objectives include supporting independent media, assisting in the development of new storytelling formats, advancing news literacy and combatting the spread of false news and hoaxes on Facebook, among others.
The new partnership between iPoliticsLive and Facebook Canada marks the social network’s most recent step to meet those goals and represents its most extensive collaboration with a Canadian media organization to date.
iPoliticsLive President Andrew Beattie called the partnership a “game-changer.”
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Canada drops four places to slip out of Top 20 in press freedom index

CP's Colin Perkel writes:

"Canada has slipped for the second straight year in an index ranking freedom of the media, in part because of police spying on journalists and demanding reporters turn over background materials.

"The four-place decline to the 22nd spot overall, on top of last year’s 10-spot fall, leaves Canada out of the top 20 countries in terms of media freedom, Reporters Without Borders — or RSF — said Tuesday.

In announcing its 2017 World Press Freedom Index, RSF said Canada went through a “series of scandals” last year that highlighted the importance — and fragility — of the confidentiality of journalists’ sources."

The whole story

CBC opens Moscow bureau

 

CBC's Vancouver reporter Chris Brown has been named the network's Moscow correspondent as the network establishes a permanent bureau in the Russian capital. He will be joined by field producer Corinne Seminoff and shooter/editor Pascal Dumont.

The CBC's Jennifer McGuire said Brown will go to Moscow after the upcoming B.C. election. The CBC has covered Russia on an off-and-on basis with a so-called "pocket bureau" last headed by Susan Ormiston.

 

 

CBC, CFTO veterans pass on

CBC Broadcaster Rex Loring, best known for his work on World Report, has died at age 91.
Link
Long-time CFTO/Glen Warren Productions executive Allan Chapman has died at age 78.
Link

Postmedia and its union reach an agreement to save 21 jobs at Vancouver Sun and Province

Sean Craig reports in the Financial Post:
Union members at the Vancouver Sun and Province approved a new collective agreement with Postmedia on Wednesday that will save 21 jobs at the two publications.
Postmedia Network Inc. announced it would lay off 54 people at Pacific Newspaper Group, its British Columbia subsidiary that oversees the two newspapers. That followed 38 voluntary buyouts at PNG in January, which Unifor said taken together with the layoffs would have amounted to a 42 per cent reduction in staff levels.
Under the terms of the new CBA, all non advertising employees agreed to work nine days every two weeks, thus taking a ten per cent pay cut in order to save their colleagues’ jobs. Advertising staff will also see a ten per cent salary cut, but will still have to work the same full time hours with the opportunity to make up the reduction in pay through commission.
Unifor Local 2000 members voted 82 per cent in favour of the new agreement at a meeting held Wednesday evening.
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Lots of comment about O'Reilly's departue from Fox

The AP's Tali Arbel writes:
Fox might also have found it financially risky let O’Reilly remain. Otherwise, the network risked developing “a reputation as unfriendly to women, potentially turning off a lot of people,” said Charles Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova University. Advertisers may have been reluctant to return if there were continuing harassment complaints. It could also have alienated employees.
Full story in the Globe and Mail

Chronicle Herald buys all Atlantic Canadian Transcontinental papers

The Chronicle Herald, operating under the name SaltWire Network Inc., has announced the acquisition of Transcontinental's daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, news websites and printing plants in Atlantic Canada.
The Chronicle Herald announced Thursday that it has acquired the Atlantic Canadian newspaper and publishing holdings of Transcontinental Inc.
With the acquisition of TC Media's 28 newspaper and web properties, the new Herald-owned company SaltWire Network becomes the leading media company in the region, the Herald said in a release.
“SaltWire has journalists on the ground in over 30 communities in Atlantic Canada  — more than any other media organization in the region,” said Mark Lever, president of both the Chronicle Herald and the new company.
But the Chronicle Herald still has 54 journalists alienated from its grounds — newsroom employees who have been on strike for more than 15 months. It is not clear how the acquisition will affect stalled negotiations with the newsroom.

CBC says it didn’t mean to offend with history series Canada: The Story of Us

The CBC has apologized after a barrage of complaints about a Canadian history series that has been savaged in two provinces, criticized by the Premier of Quebec and now earned a failing grade from several historians, the Globe and Mail's Ingrid Peritz reports..

The public broadcaster says it never meant to offend "anyone or any group" and did not intend to "diminish the importance" of stories that were left out of Canada: The Story of Us, which was meant as a marquee program to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the country.

"After the first two episodes, some people felt misrepresented and for that, we apologize," the CBC said in a statement released on Tuesday after a week of attacks.

Full story

Real estate exec donates nearly 25,000 NY Times images to Ryerson

Real estate executive Chris Bratty has bought the New York Times’ Canadian photo collection and will donate the nearly-25,000 images to Ryerson University’s photography collection.

“It’s an incredible improvement of our collection and an incredible resource for studying Canadian history,” said Paul Roth, director of the Ryerson Image Centre told the Toronto Star.

The photos span nearly the entire 20th Century, from the years leading up to the First World War through the 1990s.

Opened in 2012, the Ryerson Image Centre has, to date, been based primarily around the Black Star collection, over 290,000 black and white photos from the archives of New York-based Black Star photo agency.

Link to Toronto Star story

Jian Ghomeshi has a new project

Jian Ghomeshi Tweeted this morning:
Hi. For those interested, here is something I’ve been working on... http://TheIdeationProject.com

Tony Westell has died at age 91

Veteran journalist, journalism teacher and author Tony Westell has died in Toronto on April 1 at the age of 91, Westell's career spanned half a century and bridged the worlds of journalism and academia.
The family's death notice in the Globe

These high school journalists investigated a new principal’s credentials. Days later, she resigned.

Excerpt:
“There were some things that just didn’t quite add up,” Balthazor told The Washington Post.
The students began digging into a weeks-long investigation that would result in an article published Friday questioning the legitimacy of the principal’s degrees and of her work as an education consultant.
On Tuesday night, Robertson resigned.
Full story

Ryerson apologizes for students’ depiction of Niagara Falls

From the Ryersonian:
Ryerson University has publicly apologized to the mayor of Niagara Falls, Jim Diodati, for a student film made in connection with the School of Image Arts.
The four-minute documentary questions whether the city’s image of being a glamorous tourist destination is an accurate portrayal of the realities of everyday life in Niagara Falls.
The film “As Niagara Falls” frames itself on Vimeo as “a short documentary about Niagara Falls’ image to the world, and what truly lies within the city.” The video now has over 33,000 views on Vimeo.
Not produced by the journalism department.
Link to full story in The Ryersonian

Media tradition of April Fool’s Day jokes isn’t so funny now: Star's Public Editor

Kathy English, the Toronto Star's public editor writes:
"Truth is our currency — the foundation of our credibility. In this time of concern, confusion and complaints about fake news, why would we present false news as real and seek to fool readers into believing something that is untrue is true? Just for laughs?"
Her column