CTV reporter Paul Bliss was fired for repeated sexual misconduct, network alleges

CP's Colin Perkel writes:
"A veteran television reporter who left CTV after a woman accused him of lewd behaviour at the Ontario legislature was fired for repeated sexual misconduct involving young women, new court documents allege.
In an untested filing in Superior Court, CTV and its owner Bell Media say they began investigating complaints against Paul Bliss after a former freelancer, Bridget Brown, went public in January 2018 with accusations against him.
“'The investigation revealed that Mr. Bliss had been engaging in sexual activities in the workplace with multiple individuals on multiple occasions for over 10 years,' Bell Media says in its statement of defence. 'The investigation also revealed that Mr. Bliss continued to send sexually inappropriate messages using work resources, despite being warned by Human Resources previously that the conduct was not acceptable.'
The document served on Tuesday was filed as part of a $7.5-million defamation lawsuit Bliss launched a year ago against CTV, Bell Media, Brown and others."
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The story of a successful legislatures newsletter

Megan O'Toole writes in J-Source:
"In the late summer of 2017, after months of contraction and dozens of layoffs in the Canadian media industry, Allison Smith’s digital newsletter service was growing.
"Smith, the founder and publisher of the Ontario legislative chronicle Queen’s Park Today, saw her chance to launch a sister outlet in British Columbia, where a provincial election had resulted in a dramatic power shift: An NDP-Green coalition had taken office after 16 years of Liberal rule. Smith issued a call for reporters, and B.C. journalist Shannon Waters answered it, coming on board just in time to cover the throne speech on Sept. 8, 2017.
"Since then, Smith has hired five additional staff members – a salesperson, a copy editor, a part-time news editor and two more reporters – and launched a third legislative newsletter in Alberta. Her revenues have doubled in the past year as she has transitioned from a one-woman, Ontario-based operation to a fully fledged, cross-country news service."
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Former Rob Ford chief of staff Mark Towhey will be replacing James Wallace, who left to become deputy chief of staff for Doug Ford

Canadaland reports that on Friday pundit and commentator Mark Towhey announced on Twitter that he was to be the new editor-in-chief of Sun News, responsible for the Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Calgary Sun newspapers. After helping elect Ford to the Toronto mayoralty, and serving in his office as director of policy and strategy and later chief of staff, Towhey co-authored a book — Mayor Rob Ford: Uncontrollable – How I Tried to Help the World’s Most Notorious Mayor — that both detailed his knowledge of Ford’s frequently dangerous, abusive, and illegal activities, as well as his efforts to cover them up in the press and keep the mayor’s reelection viable. (In the book, he maintained that he never lied on the mayor’s behalf, merely dissembled.)
He later helped run Patrick Brown’s successful campaign for the leadership of the PC Party of Ontario but did not follow him to Queen’s Park. Brown subsequently wrote in his own book that, once he became leader, he had the party’s lawyer draft confidentiality agreements for his staff so that they “could not do to me what Mark Towhey, former chief of staff to Ford, did to the mayor of Toronto, namely, write a book about Ford’s time in office.”
Since November 2013, Towhey has hosted a Sunday afternoon show on Toronto’s Newstalk 1010, a job which he indicated he will be continuing. He has also acted as a consultant, obtaining a $100,000 sole-sourced contract from the Town of Caledon, Ontario, in 2015.

Peter Calamai dead at 75

Peter Calamai died at his home in Stratford, Ont., today (Tuesday). He was 75.

Calamai  began his professional career at the Hamilton Spectator before moving to Southam News and postings that took him to London, Nairobi, Washington, Vancouver and Ottawa.Calamai then served as editorial page editor of the Ottawa Citizen before moving to the Toronto Star in 1998 and the job of national science reporter. He retired from the Star in 2008 but stayed active as a freelance writer and editor.
Star obit by Bruce Campion-Smith

Reporter who helped expose corrupt FIFA official killed in professional hit, employer says

An investigative journalist in Ghana who helped expose a high-ranking official at world soccer body FIFA as corrupt was shot dead by gunmen on a motorbike as he drove home alone at night, police said Thursday.
His employers said he was assassinated.
Ahmed Hussein-Suale was killed late Wednesday, shot twice in the chest and once in the neck at close range while driving in the suburb of Accra where he lived. He died immediately, according to police.
Tiger Eye PI, the investigative journalism house Hussein-Suale worked for, said it had the hallmarks of a professional hit. (AP)