John Doyle: Who will anchor CBC's The National? Machinations abound

John Doyle writes:

"Oh, just quit telling me that nobody cares who anchors the national news on TV. Just quit it. Diligent journalistic labour – reading the mail and listening to people who stop me on the street – tells me you are wrong.

Which brings us to the announcement last Thursday, about Wendy Mesley’s upcoming TV show. That was interesting.

"Early in 2018, CBC says, Mesley will host a live Sunday morning show that 'will focus on the intersection of media, technology and politics.' Which sounds a lot like Undercurrents, a media-heavy series Mesley anchored for five years and that ended in 2001. Like that series, any new excursion into media analysis in Canada will be a challenge. CBC is big media here and, generally, thin-skinned about criticism. Good luck with that."

Full column

New York Times tops profit estimates as digital subscriptions soar

The New York Times Co reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday as the newspaper publisher signed up more digital subscribers, making up for falling print sales, Reuters reports.

The company said it had 2.3 million paid digital-only subscriptions at the end of the second quarter ended June 25, soaring 63.4 per cent from a year earlier.

The Times has tried to boost digital revenue by offering discounts to attract paying subscribers to its online edition as well as to non-news offerings such as daily crossword puzzles and cooking recipes.

The company said it had 2.3 million paid digital-only subscriptions at the end of the second quarter ended June 25, soaring 63.4 per cent from a year earlier.

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The clock may have just run out on the White House press corps

Jennifer Palmieri, who served as White House communications director from 2013 to 2015 and was communications director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, writes in the Washington Post.

"When I was White House communications director for President Barack Obama I would warn the White House press corps that they were living on borrowed time.
"At the Obama White House, we often chose to go outside regular channels to communicate with the American public. Still, we respected the institutional importance of the press corps and the importance of engaging with journalists dedicated to covering the president day in and day out.
"But in a digital age, with the proliferation of communication platforms, the media was eventually going to need a better answer for why 50 or so reporters deserved daily access to the White House — access not available to other outlets and the general public.
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Guelph's post-Mercury blues: How an Ontario city is coping without its local newspaper

A year and a half after its daily paper stopped printing, Guelph has become a living laboratory for the loss of traditional local media – a rising risk in communities across Canada, the Globe and Mail says. Reporter Simon Houpt explores what Guelphites have lost, and who's trying to fill the void.
The story -- Warning: It's long!

The end of anchors?

H.G. Watson writes on the J-Sourse web page:

"If you watched the early evening newscast on CityNews in Toronto recently, you might have noticed someone missing — the anchor.

"That’s because since 2015, CityNews has been experimenting with cutting out the middleman during their early evening newscasts. At 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. there are now no anchors to be found. Instead, reporters are running the show, throwing to each other’s stories from the field and in the studio. It’s a model that CityNews is looking to export as they expand to five new markets in the next year.

"Dave Budge, Rogers Media’s vice president of news and information for television told J-Source that the new anchorless newscast model emphasizes the work journalists are doing in the field. 'What we’ve found is the audience trusts and responds to those working reporters even more profoundly than they do to an anchor who is in a studio who is doing little more than reading introductions to those reporters’ stories,'” he said.

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John Doyle: Now a huge obsession — who will anchor CBC’s The National?

The Globe and Mail's John Doyle writes:

"Andrew Chang was only a few minutes into anchoring The National on CBC the other evening when readers were onto me with opinions: “He seems very nice.” And, “He seems agitated.”

"In homes and cottages and, probably, at Tim Hortons across Canada, the post-Mansbridge future of The National is being discussed with vim and vigour. Or so it seems.

"Recently, I wrote about the mail I’d received, unprompted, on the matter, calling it a “small obsession” in Canada. And I invited more feedback. Well, it was a deluge. This thing is big and getting bigger."

The full column

Veteran telecom and broadcast executive Ian Scott named CRTC chairman

Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly has announced Ian Scott as the new chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, iPolitics reports.

Scott, who starts his five-year term on Sept. 5, was most recently executive director of government and regulatory affairs at Telesat Canada. He has also held executive roles at Telus (TSX:T), Call-Net Enterprises and the Canadian Cable Television Association.

Scott replaces Jean-Pierre Blais, who did not reapply for the job when his term came to an end earlier this year.

Joly also announced Caroline Simard as vice-chairwoman (Broadcasting) and Christianne Laizner as interim vice-chairwoman (Telecommunications).

Lawyer skips court for CP24 interview; apologizes to judge

After an emotional apology for skipping a sentencing hearing to do interviews for CP24, lawyer and frequent media commentator Ari Goldkind avoided being cited for contempt of court by a Toronto judge on Monday morning, the Star's Alyshah Hasham reports.

Addressing Superior Court Justice Michael Dambrot, Goldkind admitted to making a “very poor decision” and said his failure to attend court was not just “inconvenient or disruptive but disrespectful to (the judge) personally and to the court as an institution.”

Goldkind’s lawyer Scott Hutchinson told the court that on June 7, Goldkind was “offered a professional opportunity from a media outlet” and attempted to reschedule the June 8 sentencing hearing to accommodate it.

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Financial Post take on the Chronicle Herald situation

The Financial Post writes:
"From his office window, Mark Lever has a view of Halifax’s picturesque Northwest Arm, an Atlantic Ocean inlet dotted with small boats and bordered by some of the city’s glitziest houses.
"His view also includes a smattering of pickets on the sidewalk below, including one man standing next to a flag calling for a boycott of the Chronicle Herald, the flagship news organization within Lever’s growing publishing business.
"The Herald’s unionized newsroom workers have been on strike since January 2016. On July 13, the Nova Scotia government announced that an Industrial Inquiry Commission will attempt to push the two sides to an agreement through mediation.
“'After 18 months with no resolution, it is clear this is an exceptional circumstance that needs action,' Derek Mombourquette, the province’s acting labour minister, said in a statement.
Full story

Nova Scotia Government to mediate Halifax Chronicle Herald strike

The Nova Scotia’s government is stepping in to try to put an end to an acrimonious 18-month labour dispute at Atlantic Canada’s oldest and largest independently owned newspaper, the Globe's Susan Krashinsky Robertson reports.

On Thursday, the province’s Department of Labour and Advanced Education announced an unusual move, launching an “Industrial Inquiry Commission” that will impose mediation between the Halifax Chronicle Herald and its striking employees beginning on Aug. 4.

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CBS News forms partnership with BBC, replacing Sky

Reuters reports that the CBS News division has signed a new editorial and newsgathering partnership with BBC News to share video, editorial content and other resources across the globe.

For CBS, the BBC deal replaces a previous arrangement it had with Sky, which is being acquired by 21st Century Fox, pending regulatory approval. For BBC News, CBS replaces a deal it had with Walt Disney Co's ABC.

The partnership will enable both news organizations to strengthen coverage of complex international situations such as the crisis in Syria and Iraq, said David Rhodes, president of CBS News.

The deal also gives BBC more resources to cover the United States, particularly the Donald Trump presidency, in which there was a lot of international interest, he said.

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John Doyle keeps getting mail on Mansbridge's successor

Excerpt:

"However, the fact that readers are speculating about The National is good news for CBC. It’s not as if nobody cares. The flow of suggestions about The National also comes simultaneous with the 2017 Reuters Institute Digital News Report, which covers Canada as well as several other countries.

"The report finds that Canadians surveyed still view traditional media as the most trustworthy news source. About 70 per cent get some of their news from TV. Many Canadians get their news online, but that means the online offshoots of TV channels, plus newspapers and magazines.

"A summary of the report says, 'Canadians are concerned about unreliable information and fake news, especially since the U.S. election campaign where such content was widely circulated. But their level of trust in the media remains relatively strong in comparison to other countries.'”

Full column

Racism, sexism — and a press conference gone horribly wrong: Martin Patriquin

An excellent piece by Martin Patriquin about what not to do at a news conference. Excerpt:
"On June 29, Jocelyn Wabano-Iahtail and her group, Wabi’s Village: A Community of Hearts, did exactly this. (booked the Charles Lynch press theatre) An activist from Attawapiskat First Nation Reserve in northern Ontario, Wabano-Iahtail had booked the room to speak about her group’s frustration over the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls National Inquiry.
"Slow, disorganized and beset by departures of key staff, the MMIW inquiry is a worthy target — particularly because it served as one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s main wedge issues in the election campaign against Stephen Harper. Wabano-Iahtail could have made a compelling case that, for all his talk, Trudeau’s devotion to the cause was like the Haida tattoo on his left bicep — barely skin deep.
Instead, Wabano-Iahtail resorted to sexist and racist comments to get her point across."
Full story