Former Star religion editor and columnist Tom Harpur dead at 87

Tom Harpur, a theologian and former Star religion editor who journeyed on foot from Nazareth to Bethlehem, met Mother Teresa and provided spiritual guidance to Torontonians through his weekly columns, died this week at 87, the Sar reports.

Harpur joined the Star as religion editor in 1971, where he met his future wife, Susan, who worked in the Star’s legal department. They were married in 1980.

Star obit

 

Norway to become 1st country to switch off FM radio

Norway is set to become the first nation to start switching off its FM radio network next week, in a risky and unpopular leap to digital technology that will be closely watched by other countries considering whether to follow suit, the CBC reports.
Critics say the government is rushing the move and many people may miss warnings on emergencies that have until now been broadcast via the radio. Of particular concern are the two million cars on Norway's roads that are not equipped with digital audio broadcasting (DAB) receivers, they say.
Sixty-six per cent of Norwegians oppose switching off FM, with just 17 per cent in favour and the rest undecided, according to an opinion poll published by the daily Dagbladet last month.
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Shift from traditional television to streaming picking up speed

The Globe and Mail's James Bradshaw writes:
"Video streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube are steadily eating into time spent watching traditional television, and a bigger shift could be in store as roughly half of all viewers have considered making more dramatic changes to their video digest.
"Growing numbers of TV customers are thinking either about shaving down their cable and satellite packages or ditching them altogether, posing a significant risk to the multibillion-dollar business model that sustains vast amounts of TV production.
"Traditional TV is still dominant, accounting for the lion's share of weekly viewing, but a trio of recent studies outlines a pronounced shift that promises to accelerate as younger viewers accustomed to getting TV shows, films and shorter-form video online eat into the market. . .
"About 3.4 million Canadian households, or 30 per cent of the total market, now have a dedicated streaming device attached to a TV set – such as Apple TV, Chromecast or Roku – compared with only 12 per cent three years ago, according to SRG's survey.
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Megyn Kelly Is Leaving Fox News for NBC

Jim Rutenberg writes in the New York Times:

"Megyn Kelly, who arrived at Fox News 12 years ago as a television news neophyte but rose to become one of its two biggest stars, has decided to leave the network to take on a broad new role at NBC News for an undisclosed salary, NBC announced Tuesday afternoon.

"The NBC News chairman, Andrew Lack, wooed Ms. Kelly away from Fox News by offering her a triple role in which she will host her own daytime news and discussion program, anchor an in-depth Sunday night news show and take regular part in the network’s special political programming and other big-event coverage.

"The move will herald a seismic shift in the cable news landscape, where Ms. Kelly had become the second-most watched host — after Bill O’Reilly of Fox News — and often helped define the national political debate, especially over the last year as Donald J. Trump regularly attacked her, at times in viciously personal terms."

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2017’s emerging media outlets face just as many challenges as old media: Salon

Salon magazine's take on saving the media (excerpt):
"It’s time for the elites in New York and Washington, the VCs and engineers in Silicon Valley, and the predominantly young white men launching 21st century news brands to do a gut check. They’d be well advised to fire their Growth Hackers and start prioritizing intellectual integrity over content farming. If they don’t, things will get much worse.
The bad news is this is highly unlikely to happen. The digital media ecosystem is completely rigged against ethical responsibility in ways that are potentially more destructive than the old media ecosystem."
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