How Europe fights fake news

Anya Shiffrin writes in the Columbia Journalism Review:
"This month, a new law against hate speech will go into effect in Germany, fining Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media companies up to €50 million if they fail to take down illegal content from their sites within 24 hours of being notified. For more ambiguous content, companies will have seven days to decide whether to block the posts.
"The rule is Germany’s attempt to fight hate speech and fake news, both of which have risen online since the arrival of more than a million refugees in the last two years.
"Germany isn’t alone in its determination to crack down on these kinds of posts. For the past year, most of Europe has been in an intense and fascinating debate about how to regulate, who should regulate, and even whether to regulate illegal and defamatory online content."
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Steve Ladurantaye won’t return as managing editor of CBC’s The National

The former managing editor of The National, who was reassigned in the wake of a cultural appropriation controversy, will not be returning to the CBC’s flagship news program, The Canadian Press reports.
Steve Ladurantaye was reassigned in May for what the public broadcaster called “an inappropriate, insensitive and frankly unacceptable tweet” he made as part of a controversial online debate over cultural appropriation.
At the time, the CBC said Ladurantaye had been reassigned to work on digital “storytelling strategies” and added that he would reach out to Indigenous communities “as part of his learning process.”
In a memo to staff, CBC News editor-in-chief Jennifer McGuire also said Ladurantaye’s future with The National would be reassessed in the fall.
On Wednesday, McGuire said Ladurantaye “won’t be going back to The National.”
She said Ladurantaye is now the managing editor of the CBC’s “content verticals,” which include the business, health and arts units.
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Fashion photog Terry Richardson dropped by brands over allegations of abuse on shoots

Hannah Ellis-Petersen of the Guardian writes:
"A string of fashion magazines and brands have said they will no longer work with the photographer Terry Richardson, who has been the subject of allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour at photoshoots for almost two decades.
"News that the fashion houses Valentino and Bulgari would stop commissioning Richardson, known for his often explicit material, came shortly after a decision to drop him by Condé Nast, the publisher of the glossy magazines Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ.
"Richardson is one of the most successful photographers in the world. His trademark style is highly sexualised and he often appears naked in pictures alongside his subjects. Despite years of allegations about his behaviour, he has photographed everyone from Barack Obama to Oprah Winfrey and Kate Moss, and has directed music videos such as Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball and Beyoncé’s XO."
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A new TV show, Political Blind Date, sends Canadian politicians — who are at odds over issues such as marijuana or transit — out on a ‘date’ to see if they can find common ground

The Star's Alex Ballingall writes:
"Blind dates are by definition risky, with so many looming questions, but a new TV show promises to raise the stakes even higher by hooking up opposing politicians who already disagree on a big public issue.
Political Blind Date debuts Nov. 7 at 9 p.m. on TVO and tvo.org . The six-episode first season features politicians from all levels of government who take each other on outings in an effort to bolster their perspective on a given issue.
"The first episode matches Conservative MP Garnett Genuis and Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, who travel to a weed dispensary and an industrial marijuana factory as they continuously bicker about the Trudeau government’s plan to legalize the drug."
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Former CTV broadcaster Steve Vogelsang accused of robbing 2 Alberta banks

Former Winnipeg broadcast personality and Red River College journalism instructor Steve Vogelsang has been charged with two counts of robbery involving two separate banks in Alberta.
The 53-year-old was the news director and longtime sports anchor at CKY, now known as CTV Winnipeg, beginning in the early 1990s. He became a journalism instructor at Red River College in 2002 and resigned in 2011. (CBC)
CBC story

Young subscribers flock to old media: Politico

Politico's Jason Schwartz writes:

"As President Donald Trump wages daily war against the press, millennials are subscribing to legacy news publications in record numbers—and at a growth rate, data suggests, far outpacing any other age group.

"Since November's election, the New Yorker, for instance, has seen its number of new millennial subscribers more than double from over the same period a year earlier. According to the magazine's figures, it has 106 percent more new subscribers in the 18-34 age range and 129 percent more from 25-34.

"The Atlantic has a similar story: since the election, its number of new subscribers aged 18-24 jumped 130 percent for print and digital subscriptions combined over the same period a year earlier, while 18-44 went up 70 percent."
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Avery Haines leaves CITY-TV to join W5

W5's Kevin Newman posted on social media:
"I am very excited to share that Avery Haines will be joining W5 starting tomorrow as a correspondent. We've only met a few times as she considered our offer, but I know our viewers and team will take to her immediately. She is a brave and brazen foreign correspondent, the kind of broadcaster who connects to her audience, and incredibly humble and fun to work alongside. I've rarely met someone I've clicked with as quickly and admired so thoroughly. She will be missed at CITY-TV, where she was adored, but the chance to explore long form and investigative journalism was the challenge she was looking for. I know Avery will be a strong addition to W5."

Former cabinet minister, broadcaster, environmentalist, and author Rafe Mair dies

Charlie Smith writes in "Straight:"
"A legendary B.C. broadcaster and environmental crusader has passed away at the age of 85.
"Rafe Mair wore many hats in his lifetime. Born and raised in Vancouver, he became a lawyer after graduating from the UBC law school, practising in Vancouver until 1968.
"That's when he moved to Kamloops, where he was elected as a Social Credit MLA in 1975 when the right-wing party came roaring back into power under its new leader, Bill Bennett.

"Mair held several cabinet posts, including health, environment, and constitutional affairs. In 1981, he suddenly quit to become a talk-show host on CJOR Radio, which was owned by Jimmy Pattison.

"When Mair's soaring ratings started eating into "Top Dog" CKNW's audience, he was snapped up by the rival station. He spent 19 years on the air with CKNW but was fired even though his audience numbers were exceptionally high."
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Young Japanese reporter works herself to death, dies with cellphone in her hand

A young journalist’s gruelling work schedule — including a single month with 159 hours of overtime and just two days off — triggered the heart failure that killed her at age 31, Japanese labour regulators ruled.
Authorities officially attributed Miwa Sado’s death to “karoshi” — the Japanese word for a death due to overwork — according to information released this week by NHK, the public broadcaster that employed her.
Sado, a political reporter, had been covering elections for Tokyo’s government and the national parliament in the months leading up to her death in 2013. She died three days after the elections for Japan’s upper house.
NHK had not released information that regulators had compiled about the death until this week. (Washington Post)
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Google ending paywall policy for digital news; publishers to decide how many stories will be free

The Globe and Mail's Susan Krashinsky Robertson writes:

"Google Inc. is ending a decade-old policy that asked publishers to open up their paywalls to Google News users, or see their traffic from the search giant drop. And it is announcing that it will work with publishers to help them promote their digital subscriptions.

"The shift comes as the digital giants are facing pressure over their dominance of the information ecosystem online. Both Google and Facebook Inc. have in recent months announced initiatives to promote journalism and to work more collaboratively with news publishers. Google's policy, known as 'first click free,' mandated that publishers with subscription-based websites must allow users clicking on links in Google News to bypass their paywalls on a minimum number of articles each day. Those who did not participate saw their Google News listings ranked lower. It will now replace 'first click free' with what it calls 'flexible sampling,' which will allow publishers to decide how many stories Google News users can read for free before being asked to subscribe. The change is based on tests Google did with the Financial Times and the New York Times."

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