Washington Post expands international coverage

The Washington Post today announced further expansion 

to its global newsroom and new positions aimed at growing 

Post readership nationally and internationally. These latest 

additions build on years-long investments by The Post to cover 

the news from more locations than ever before and to produce 24/7 

live news coverage that is timely and accessible to people around 

the world at any time of day.

“There is an enormous opportunity to expand the reach of our 

Washington Post journalism and we are moving aggressively 

to seize it,” said Fred Ryan, publisher and 

CEO of The Washington Post. “This next phase of 

our expansion builds on an already strong foundation 

and will better position us to give audiences around 

the world an essential and timely news report that 

encompasses the authoritative coverage that 

The Post is globally renowned for.”

To support this initiative, The Post will add 15 new positions, 

largely based internationally. The majority of positions apply 

to the newsroom but also include advertising and subscriptions roles.

The newsroom positions will be dedicated to enhancing 

The Post’s around-the-clock news operation. The Post first 

established its global live news team in 2021 with the openings 

of news hubs in London and Seoul focused on covering breaking 

news as it unfolds around the world during Washington’s overnight hours.

 The new roles expanding this operation include a senior 

head of audience focused on international growth, visual 

reporters in both news hubs, global audience editors focused 

on SEO, social and analytics and two newsletter editors aimed 

at developing international audience growth through email.

Alesia Lewis, director of finance, and Sara Sorcher, head of the 

London hub, will take on leadership of an international

 coordinating group that has been studying and pursuing 

opportunities to elevate and expand Post offerings 

to global readers. Lewis will serve at the Vice President level 

of the company and Sorcher will take on a senior leadership 

role driving this new initiative.

The Post additionally is expanding its coverage of 

international issues with three new positions: A second 

correspondent in Ukraine, an investigative reporter focused 

on tech and misinformation and a visual forensics 

reporters focused on China.

Cuts coming at the Montreal Gazette

 After more than a decade of deep cuts to staff at the Montreal Gazette, many felt the incisions simply couldn’t go any deeper. But in January, the Postmedia chain (which owns the Gazette as well as the National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Edmonton Journal, and Calgary Herald, among many other newspapers) announced cuts across the board.

Already down to just 40 newsroom staff at the Gazette, employees were not told who would be getting laid off and who would stay. A backlash ensued that included a “reverse the cuts” petition, followed by some businessmen suggesting the paper should be bought out from Postmedia so as to preserve its local news coverage.

Postmedia has responded by establishing an advisory council that will attempt to come up with solutions to enhance community engagement and ensure the paper’s future.

One Gazette staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions at work, granted this interview to Canadaland. This reporter said the Gazette is, understandably, not a happy place to be at the moment: “It’s an atmosphere of absolute fear and loathing.”

Postmedia did not respond to our requests for comment. This interview is edited and condensed for clarity. (Canadaland)

Long-time TV and radio analyst noted that only 8 per cent video is consumed on smart phones

 Long-time broadcast analyst Barry Kiefl posted sone interesting points:

Memo to CBC: “…a live and on-demand streaming world.” Live and on-demand are sort of opposites. And, why is a broadcaster interested in readers? Audio is a separate issue but let’s consider the devices used to watch video.

6:11 PM · Mar 4, 2023

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Barry Kiefl

@BarryKiefl

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5h

Replying to

@BarryKiefl

“People are watching, listening and reading more than ever.” -CBC Memo to all news staff, March 3, 2023

Barry Kiefl

@BarryKiefl

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5h

Numeris data just released showed only 8% of all video in January 2023 was consumed on smartphones. Young adults 18-34 spent about 18% of their video time on smartphones. They, like older adults overwhelmingly watch video on TV sets.

https://twitter.com/BarryKiefl/status/1632156839226798081

Federal Government bans TikTok

The federal government will remove the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices on Feb. 28 in response to privacy and security concerns, Treasury Board President Mona Fortier announced Monday.

The government will also block the app from being downloaded on official devices in the future.

After a review of TikTok, the Chief Information Officer of Canada decided the app “presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security,” Ms. Fortier said in a statement. The popular app is used for making and posting short videos, which are often accompanied by catchy music and focused on trends, including dances and pranks. Rola Salem, a Treasury Board spokesperson, said in a statement that besides TikTok, no other social media apps are being blocked at this time, though the government is conducting a “broader review of social media applications on work devices.” (Globe and Mail)

Google is testing blocking access to Canadian news sites

 Google is testing ways of blocking Canadians’ access to news websites in response to the federal government’s online news bill, which would force the company and other tech giants to compensate news organizations for using their work.

The restricted access to global and Canadian news sites, which began earlier this month, will continue for five weeks, according to Google spokesman Shay Purdy.

Mr. Purdy said Google is “briefly testing product responses” to the bill, and that the tests will affect less than 4 per cent of Canadians using the search engine. “We run thousands of tests each year to assess any potential changes to Search,” he added.

But the office of federal Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez sharply condemned the move, saying Canadians won’t be intimidated by the tactic.

Laura Scaffidi, a spokeswoman for Mr. Rodriguez, accused Google of imitating Facebook, which in October said it would not rule out blocking Canadians’ access to news if the online news legislation, known as Bill C-18, passes without changes.

In Australia, in 2021, Facebook temporarily blocked access to news on its platforms in response to a similar law. Australians woke up to find that Facebook pages with local and world news sites were unavailable.

The platform lifted the ban days later, after an Australian minister held talks with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, and agreed to make amendments to the bill.

“It’s disappointing to hear that Google seems to be borrowing from Facebook’s playbook. This didn’t work in Australia, and it won’t work here because Canadians won’t be intimidated,” Ms. Scaffidi said. “At the end of the day, all we’re asking the tech giants to do is compensate journalists when they use their work.”

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, a member of the Commons heritage committee, which scrutinized Bill C-18, said Google is attempting to “intimidate Canadians,” and that the tactic would backfire.

“As opposed to what Google hopes to achieve here, my hope is that it has the opposite effect and makes Canadians realize why social media giants need government scrutiny and reasonable regulation,” he said. (CP)