Alberta’s king of talk radio, Dave Rutherford, fired after criticizing station over flood coverage

Alberta’s  king of talk radio was unceremoniously booted from the airwaves Tuesday after criticizing his station’s inadequate coverage of the flood crisis in Southern Alberta, the National Post reports.
NewsTalk 770 was one of several Corus Entertainment radio stations evacuated from its downtown headquarters as the Bow River started to rise on Friday. In the meantime, the station broadcast an Edmonton news feed, while still putting Calgary music stations on the air, talk show host Dave Rutherford said.
The switch prompted a live, on-air rant from Mr. Rutherford: “It is with profound disappointment that I have to tell you that Corus in Calgary has decided to direct resources in places other than information radio,” he said. “I would completely understand if you went elsewhere for your information.”
The next day, he was told he was off the radio. However, the host said he was never told why.
“The manager said ‘you’re off the air.’ I obviously asked why and he said he can’t talk about it and that the legal department would be in contact with [me] and that was it,” Mr. Rutherford said Tuesday.
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Rising newspaper digital subscriptions are a small gain in a war of attrition: Guardian

The good news: things aren't going from bad to worse as quickly as expected. The Digital News Report 2013 from the Reuters Institute shows an increasing number of readers – including young readers – prepared to subscribe to newspapers that have built paywalls, and 9% of Britons, 10% of Germans, 12% of Americans and 13% of the French say they've paid up for digital news within the past year.
And the latest Newspaper Association of America review of the year shows press revenues dropped a mere 2%, the best result since 2006. Circulation money (including paywall subs) was up 5%. Money from sponsorship began to flow.
But if you want bad news, such surveys can instantly oblige. Print advertising was 6% down – and digital advertising, supposedly the wonder ingredient of newspaper salvation, only crawled up by 4%.
It's a long, hard war of attrition. And the central challenge, at root, may not be winning but losing more slowly while the trailblazers find other solutions.

Search warrants issued in RCMP's probe of Mike Duffy's expenses: CTV

Search warrants have been issued as part of the RCMP's criminal investigation of Sen. Mike Duffy, CTV News has learned.

Sources tell CTV the search warrants were recently filed in the Ottawa courthouse.

But the judge who granted the warrants also issued a sealing order. That means details of what the RCMP are looking for will be kept under wraps.

Sources say the search warrants would allow the Mounties to search Duffy's Ottawa-area home and his cottage in P.E.I.

The RCMP is also expected to get a production order to search Duffy's Senate office.

When asked if the RCMP had met with him Thursday, Duffy said: "It would be inappropriate for me to offer any comment."

CRTC approves Bell/Astral deal with conditions

The CRTC has approved BCE Inc.’s revised takeover bid for specialty broadcaster Astral Media Ltd., a $3.38 billion deal that will allow Bell to grow in Quebec and to bulk up to compete with emerging streaming services such as Netflix.

The Star reports that while analysts applauded the decision, saying it allows Bell an avenue for expansion in a country where opportunities are limited, consumer groups said it will mean less choice for Canadians and higher prices.

The ruling, which came after markets closed Thursday, also drew a rebuke from rival Rogers Communications Ltd., which had voiced concerns about Bell’s initial proposal last fall that was rejected by the watchdog on grounds it would unduly concentrate ownership.
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Bryan Cantley, key figure in Canada's National Newspaper Awards, dies at 66

Bryan Cantley, a former reporter and editor who oversaw the National Newspaper Awards for many years, has died. He was 66.
The awards organization says Cantley died Tuesday in hospital in Oakville, Ont., after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last month. He was executive secretary of the awards.
Cantley's decades-long journalism career included working as a reporter and editor at the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal and the Etobicoke Guardian before joining the Canadian Daily Newspaper Association, now Newspapers Canada.
He went on to launch in 1999 the Canadian Association of Newspapers, which replaced the Canadian Managing Editors Conference and broadened its scope to include editors of all levels.
After retirement, Cantley remained at the helm of the National Newspaper Awards, but was unable to attend this year's gala in early May.