Judge criticizes Toronto’s JAZZ.FM91 over ‘acrimonious fight’ with members

Superior Court of Ontario judge chastised JAZZ.FM91 on Friday morning, saying the not-for-profit Toronto radio station had been “playing games” to prevent a dissident shareholder group from lobbying members for changes in the organization’s board of directors.

Justice Sean Dunphy directed the station to provide the e-mail addresses of its approximately 2,200 member-donors to Brian Hemming, a Toronto-investment relations consultant and founder of Save Jazz FM. The group was founded in the summer after an eruption of discontent among supporters.

The station had provided Mr. Hemming with names and addresses of members, but refused to include e-mail addresses or phone numbers, citing privacy concerns. Mr. Hemming argued that the move disadvantaged his group in its dispute, noting the station’s board frequently lobbies its members through e-mails.

Justice Dunphy said the station’s defiant stand “was clearly adopted to frustrate the applicants and not – as suggested – out of concern to maintain privacy.” Still, he denied Mr. Hemming’s request for phone numbers, characterizing that method of contact as intrusive.

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Thomson Reuters announced 3,200 job cuts over two years

Financial data and news agency Thomson Reuters announced Tuesday cuts of 3,200 jobs and dozens of office closures worldwide over the next two years as part of a restructuring.                            

Executives told an investor conference in Toronto that the staff reduction would impact 12 percent of its workforce, while the number of its offices would be reduced by 30 percent to 133 locations.

"The majority of employees have already been notified," spokesman David Crundwell told AFP.
He said Thomson Reuters routinely looks to streamline its operations. "This disciplined approach sometimes includes the need to make personnel, or other, changes which allow us to balance our internal resources with the needs of our customers in a highly competitive environment," he said.
The markets welcomed the company's cutbacks, sending Thomson Reuters stock up 1.17 percent to $50.40 at around 1830 GMT in Toronto and New York.
The announcement comes after the company sold a 55 percent stake in its financial and risk unit to private equity firm Blackstone Group in order to focus
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Watchdog to question Torstar staff as it narrows scope of Postmedia deal probe

The Globe and Mail's Susan Krashinsky Robertson writes:

"Five executives at Torstar Corp., including its chief financial officer, are to be interviewed under oath by investigators with Canada’s Competition Bureau, as the federal watchdog continues its probe of last year’s newspaper swap deal between the company and Postmedia Network Canada Corp.

"The Competition Bureau is also narrowing its investigation into the deal, in which 41 newspapers changed hands, and the majority were subsequently shut down. The federal watchdog is now solely pursuing a criminal investigation, under the conspiracy provisions of the Competition Act.

"The bureau’s review of the deal began on the day it was announced in November, 2017. At first, its investigation covered both the merger rules under competition law, which deal with whether a transaction leads to a 'substantial lessening or prevention of competition in any market in Canada,' as well as the conspiracy provisions, which can carry fines of up to $25-million, or up to 14 years imprisonment. The conspiracy rules include a number of prohibited activities, including 'market allocation' – competitors agreeing not to compete in certain geographic areas – as well as arrangements designed to restrict the supply of a product or to fix prices."

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Television holds ground for news, as print fades: US study

Television remains the biggest source of news for Americans, with print losing further ground to digital services, a survey showed Monday.
The Pew Research Center report found that 47 percent of US prefer watching their news, while 34 percent opt for reading and 19 percent prefer listening.
The survey suggests more troubles for the ailing newspaper sector, while television is holding its ground against online video.
Among those who watch their news, 75 percent said they prefer television to 20 percent for the internet.
But among news readers, 63 percent preferred digital and 17 percent print.
Overall, that means just seven percent of those surveyed chose the print format as their preferred way of consuming news, down from 11 percent in a similar 2016 study.
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Tristin Hopper: Really want to help print journalism, Ottawa? Stop CBC from undercutting us

Tristin Hopper writes:
"This week, Ottawa unveiled its plan to save Canadian journalism. As expected, the plan essentially boils down to throwing money at the problem; $600 million worth of money.
"But there’s a much easier and more egalitarian solution to all of this: Stop subsidizing a competitor that is viciously undercutting independent print media.
"Over the last few years — fuelled in part by a $675 million boost to its funding by the Liberal government — CBC has pursued an aggressive policy of expanding its online news site.
"This site is not a complement to its radio and television arms. Rather, it functions as a standalone news site, with opinion columns, reprinted wire content and stories specifically reported for print.
"The result is that CBC has suddenly become the country’s largest newspaper. Albeit with two major differences: This newspaper is free and it has bottomless resources."Running any business rapidly becomes much more difficult when the government opens up a competitor down the street offering all the same wares for free."
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