Ontario spending on new press space!

The Ontario government is spending about $310,000 on a new space for press conferences, which opposition parties say duplicates a room that already exists at the legislature and will mean less access for the media. 

The Progressive Conservative government used its new "communications centre" this week for the finance minister's budget press conference and a technical briefing for journalists.

But it now intends on using the room, in the basement of a legislative precinct building connected to the main legislature via a tunnel, for all on-site government press conferences, senior government officials told The Canadian Press.

That's despite there being a room that already exists for that purpose.

The media studio inside the main legislative building has for decades hosted press conferences by government ministers, opposition members and advocacy groups.

But that space is a neutral one operated by the Speaker of the Legislature on behalf of the press gallery, and journalists are not limited in the number of questions they can ask a minister.

Not so in the new government communications centre. Journalists there will be allowed to ask one question and one follow-up, the sources said, similar to the format of off-site press conferences with the premier or government ministers. (CP)

La Presse apologizes about its cartoon

 Quebec newspaper La Presse has apologized for publishing a cartoon Wednesday that depicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the vampire from the film Nosferatu after criticism that the caricature used antisemitic imagery.

The image published online portrayed Netanyahu with pointed ears and long sharp fingers, evoking a sequence in the 1922 silent film in which the vampire Count Orlok hides away on a ship in pursuit of his human prey.

A text overlay identified the caricature as “Nosfenyahou” on his way to the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, which Netanyahu this week said would be targeted by a ground invasion, despite international appeals against the assault. La Presse removed the cartoon from its website Wednesday morning.

Many commentators and politicians denounced the image as an expression of antisemitic tropes, with some noting the German film’s echoes in Nazi propaganda and ties to historical depictions of Jewish people as vampires. (CP)

Associated Press in trouble!

 Gannett, publisher of USA Today and hundreds of local newspapers, will stop using the Associated Press’ content starting next week, a significant blow to the not-for-profit wire service collective that still relies on memberships for revenue.

Gannett will eliminate AP dispatches, photos and video as of March 25, according to an internal memo from chief content officer Kristin Roberts, obtained by TheWrap.

“We create more journalism every day than the AP,” Roberts said in the Tuesday statement, adding that not paying for AP content “will give us the opportunity to redeploy more dollars toward our teams and build capacity where we might have gaps.” (Reported by "The Wrap")

Vice Media laying off people!

 Vice Media plans to lay off several hundred employees and no longer publish material on its Vice.com website, the company’s CEO said in a memo to staff Thursday.

Vice, which filed for bankruptcy last year before being sold for $350-million to a consortium led by the Fortress Investment Group, is also looking to sell its Refinery 29 publishing business, CEO Bruce Dixon said in his memo to staff.

It’s the latest sign of financial problems buffeting the media industry. Digital sites the Messenger, BuzzFeed News and Jezebel have all shut down in the past year, and legacy media outlets like the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal have also seen job cuts.

Once a swashbuckling media company geared to a younger audience with an immersive storytelling style that encompassed digital, television and film outlets, New York-based Vice was valued at $5.7-billion in 2017. (AP)

Heather Butts New CTV Weekend Anchor

.Heather Butts has been named the new weekend anchor for CTV National News.

Currently the television news program's Toronto correspondent, Butts will take on the role previously held by Sandie Rinaldo, who has been CTV National News' weekend anchor for over 35 years.

Rinaldo now anchors the early evening edition of CTV National News on weekdays at 5:30 p.m. ET