Ted Byfield dead at 93

 Ted Byfield, who has died aged 93, was a firebrand magazine publisher who harnessed the ideologies of Western Canadian alienation into a viable political movement that, for a time, was the bright future of Canadian conservatism.

He was also an educational pioneer whose nostalgia for the strict Christian schooling of boys led him to create three boarding schools that rejected the contemporary model of student-centred learning in favour of discipline, faith, rote learning, and self-sufficiency. (National Post)

Link to NatPost

Wendy Freeman steps down as head of CTV News

Wendy Freeman, vice president of CTV News, has announced that she has decided to step down at the end of 2021 after more than 25 years at CTV. “It is with a great sense of pride and accomplishment that I announce today that I am leaving my position as Head of CTV News,” said Wendy Freeman. “I am extremely grateful for all the wonderful people that crossed my path over the past 25 years, some of which have become great friends over the years. While I am sad to leave such a great team, I am excited for the next chapter of my career.”  

 Wendy has led the CTV News division at Bell Media since 2010, responsible for news, information, and current events programming including CTV News, BNN Bloomberg, CP24, as well as the current affairs shows POWER PLAY, QUESTION PERIOD, and W5. 

 https://www.bellmedia.ca/the-lede/press/wendy-freeman-steps-down-as-head-of-ctv-news/?fbclid=IwAR3FzjvgukRouA__OqLlqBb81OVknG-UGMnLKPpxjO69iHyojYNeaEEbW1A

Norman Webster has died

 Former Montreal Gazette and Globe and Mail editor-in-chief Norman Webster died Friday morning in the palliative care unit of the Magog Hospital from complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 80. (Montreal Gazette)

Link to Gazette obit

Wendy Mesley retires

 Wendy Mesley has retired from the CBC after 38 years. Mesley fronted many programs during her career, including Marketplace and as a backup anchor of  The National.

Last year, she became embroiled in a controversy surrounding her use of the N-word on two separate occasions during editorial meetings in 2019 and again in 2020 while preparing for a segment of her program “The Weekly” that focused on anti-racism.

The allegations sparked an internal investigation that led CBC News to take disciplinary action against her.

Mesley later tweeted that she used the word “not as a slur,” but as a reference to what another journalist, who they were considering booking as a panelist on the show, had been called.

Canadian media outlets sign licensing deal with Google

Google Canada is partnering with eight publishers in a licensing agreement that will see the firm pay for news content as part of parent Alphabet Inc.’s US$1-billion global commitment to media companies.

The tech giant is launching a product called Google News Showcase in Canada this fall, a platform that will see the company pay news organizations across the country for access to content and give media companies an opportunity to sell online advertising around their stories, as well as sign up new subscribers.

 Google is teaming with the Globe and Mail, Black Press Media and Glacier Media, both headquartered in B.C., Quebec-based Métro Média, Nova Scotia’s SaltWire Network, Manitoba’s Winnipeg Free Press and two other Ontario publishers, Narcity Media and Village Media. Collectively, the publishers own more than 70 national and regional media platforms.

Globe and Mail story

Matthew Fisher dead at 66

Long-time free-lance war correspondent Matthew Fisher has died at age 66. He died of liver failure after a short illness in Ottawa on April 10. He was the son of the late Douglas Fisher, a long-time parliamentary journalist and previously an NDP Member of Parliament. Matthew covered conflicts around the world and was published in the National Post, the Sun and other poublications.

Former CFTO-TV broadcaster Tom Gibney dead at 84

Tom Gibney, a longtime news anchor with CFTO-TV, has died. Gibney anchored CFTO New from 1973 until his retirement in 2007. He was 84. The cause of death was not immediately known.

BuzzFeed has shut down HuffPost’s Canadian operations.

BuzzFeed has shut down HuffPost’s Canadian operations, the Star’s Jacob Lorinc reports..

On Tuesday, the company announced it was laying off 47 workers in the U.S. and shuttering HuffPost Canada and HuffPost Quebec.

The closures of its Canadian offices are believed to affect 23 staff and four managers.

“As of March 9, HuffPost Canada will no longer be publishing content,” a message reads on HuffPo Canada’s website.

“Existing content will be maintained as an online archive.”

  The closures were a surprise for HuffPost’s Canadian employees, who had filed to form a union with CWA Canada just two weeks ago.

BuzzFeed bought HuffPost from its former parent company, Verizon Media, in November. The acquisition was believed to be a sign of confidence in HuffPost’s future, as it paired with a like-minded digital media outlet of mid-aughts vintage.