CRTC approves sale of CHEK to Victoria investor for $2

The CRTC has approved the sale of Canwest's CHEK-TV station in Victoria to a group of investors for $2. The federal regulator said Monday that the TV operations and related transmitters can be sold to a private numbered company owned by a consortium of local investors, 39 employees of the TV station and the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union. In its decision, the CRTC noted that CHEK-TV is losing about $12 million per year and "has not shown any marked improvement in profitability over the past three years."

Star editor takes his pencil to Cruickshank memo

In a move of "constructive revenge," a Star editor took his practiced pencil to the memo that chief honcho John Cruickshank sent to the staff, announcing cutbacks. He posted the result on the torontoist blog. Click on the title of this post to see it.

London tabloid did not tap phones, watchdog finds

Allegations of phone tapping by the Sunday tabloid News of the World have been dismissed by the industry's watchdog. The Guardian had claimed that thousands of high-profile figures - including former deputy prime minister John Prescott - had their phones hacked into by a private investigator working for the News of the World. The Guardian also alleged that the newspaper's publishers, News Group Newspapers, paid out more than £1million in out-of-court settlements to those whose phones were tapped.

But yesterday, the Press Complaints Commission ruled there were no signs of tapping by journalists at the Sunday paper.

Newspaper startup in Portugal surprises many

It would be hard to find a less promising country in which to start a newspaper than Portugal. Not only are readers defecting to the Internet, as they are elsewhere, but relatively few people ever picked up a paper to begin with. And print advertising has plunged by more than 40 percent this year. Yet while newspapers elsewhere are shutting down or grappling with an uncertain future, Portugal recently got a new one, called i, short for informação, or information. “Everyone was astonished that they went ahead with the launch when they did,” said João Palmeiro, president of the Portuguese Publishers Association.

Photo journalists concerned about flood of pix from PMO

The PMO is sending out a steady stream of publicity photos in the hope they will be used in newspapers and blogs across the country. But photojournalists believe Harper's handlers are going too far in trying to control his image.