News about news
Yesterday 10 women editors met to congratulate @IreneGentle, new editor @TorontoStar. Many of us had never met in person before. Many thanks @AdrienneBatra for making it happen. cc @jmcguirecbc @sarah_fulford @alisonuncles @semmons @AnneMarieOwens @CathrinBradbury (+ @alau2) pic.twitter.com/lWPH6bo9mI
— Jessica Johnson (@ejessicajohnson) July 20, 2018
- A marketing company has started a new online news outlet covering the eastern part of Montreal (basically everything east of St-Michel or Pie-IX Blvds.). So far the news stories out of Est Média Montréal are not exactly earth-shattering, but it’s still early.
- Canadaland’s Jesse Brown sits down with Pierre Elliott Levasseur of La Presse to discuss its future.
- The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., has apologized to readers after a review of journalist Anne Blythe’s work found several instances of plagiarism. She has been terminated and editor’s notes appended to her stories.
- A La Presse story almost four years ago criticizing a decision not to charge a police officer who was driving 80 km/h over the speed limit in an unmarked car and crashed into another vehicle killing a five-year-old boy has finally resulted in that officer, Patrick Ouellet, being convicted of dangerous driving causing death. As several people have noted, that conviction would never have come without media coverage, which prompted public outrage that led to political intervention.
At the CRTC
- CKKI-FM (89.9 KIC Country) in Kahnawake has had its licence renewed for five years. The short-term renewal is because of failures to provide two years of financial statements, failure to respond to commission questions and failure to implement a public alerting system.
- The commission has begun the process of looking into high-pressure sales tactics of telecom providers, following orders from the government.
Ethical reviews
- CBC Montreal was not required to seek additional criticism to the Quebec government’s plan to postpone school board elections, and critics’ views can be presented in other stories on the matter of school board election reform.
- CBC’s Sunday Edition host said Canadians had voted against electoral reform in provincial referendums. A listener complained that wasn’t true. The truth is actually more complicated.
TV
- Global has renewed its hostage-negotiation drama Ransom for a third season.
- LCN is extending its daily political panel discussion show La Joute to 120 minutes this fall, and bringing in several new contributors to replace Bernard Drainville and Luc Lavoie, who were dropped because of a new Quebecor policy against allowing its TV personalities to also have jobs in radio. New contributors include Thomas Mulcair and Stéphane Bédard.
- A new Chinese version of Saturday Night Live isn’t doing so well, partly because it avoids talking about politics.
- The World Cup Final between France and Croatia had 3.9 million average viewers on CTV/TSN/RDS.
Radio
- Changes to the regular guest lineup at CJAD: Thomas Mulcair, the former NDP leader and soon-to-be-retired MP, will appear twice daily, at 7:35am and 5:05pm. But Michael Farber, who was a regular with Andrew Carter in the mornings, has been dropped. The CJAD and CTV News stories on Mulcair joining the station don’t mention Farber for some reason. (Farber remains a regular on CJAD’s sister station TSN 690.)
- Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver has picked up the rights to the Vancouver Giants WHL team. The station will air all its games, in addition to the Vancouver Canucks, which it also grabbed from TSN. TSN 1040 holds on to rights for the CFL, the Whitecaps MLS team, and Canadians minor-league baseball team.
- Netflix is launching a comedy channel on Sirius XM.
Always
Be
Bemusing
Audiences pic.twitter.com/5I10y1EYRg— Barry Hertz (@HertzBarry) July 20, 2018
Online
Business
- The FCC is pushing back against the proposed merger of Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media.
- Comcast is moving on Britain’s Sky after dropping its bid to acquire 21st Century Fox.
- Chance the Rapper bought Chicagoist.
News about people
- Canada has a new heritage minister. Mélanie Joly has been shuffled to the less prestigious role of minister of official languages, la francophonie and tourism. She’s replaced on the heritage file by Pablo Rodriguez. Heritage is responsible for cultural agencies including the CRTC.
- Rogers has terminated Dave Wheeler, host of Wheeler in the Morning on CITI FM in Winnipeg, after he made comments seen as transphobic. Rogers says there were “multiple disciplinary incidents” and this was the last straw. This has prompted some discussion about populist talk radio jocks.
- Tina Tenneriello, who was hired as a journalist with CityNews in preparation for the launch of a local newscast in Montreal, is leaving to host a documentary web series. She follows Cora Macdonald, who was also hired for the same purpose but left to join Global.
- The Montreal Gazette’s Susan Schwartz profiles Breakfast Television Montreal host Derick Fage about fecal incontinence.
- Photographer Lucas Oleniuk is leaving the Toronto Star.
- Jamar McNeil has joined the morning show on CHUM 104.5 in Toronto.
- Monique Scotti (formerly Monique Muise) is leaving Global News for a new job doing communications for a defence company association.
- Global News journalist Lauren McNabb is joining the morning show on CJOB in Winnipeg.
- Sue Deyell, formerly of Rogers radio in Calgary, as morning traffic announcer at 660 News and weekend/swing announcer at Kiss FM, is joining 770 CHQR as morning co-host.
- Catherine Griwkowsky has left StarMetro Edmonton.
- Departing Radio-Canada news director Michel Cormier gives an exit interview discussing the importance of journalism.
- Kimberly Guilfoyle is leaving Fox News to campaign with her boyfriend, Donald Trump Jr.
- Ta-Nehisi Coates is leaving The Atlantic.
- La Presse profiles Jérôme and Jérémie Bergeron, two Radio-Canada Outaouais journalists with hearing impairments.
- Martine St-Victor shows some love for Mutsumi Takahashi in La Presse.
- Paramount Television has fired its president, Amy Powell, over comments she made that were apparently “racially charged”.
- Toronto Life magazine has a story about Albert Schultz, the former artistic director of the Soulpepper theatre company who was ousted after four women came forward accusing him of inappropriate behaviour. The story doesn’t talk to Schultz or the company but does detail the process that led to news outlets breaking the story.
Obituaries
Good reads
- CBC journalists Peter Tardif and Julia Stewart-Page took a tour of Quebec’s Lower North Shore region this week. You can follow their escapades through their Twitter posts.
Jobs
- Parliamentary reporter, CTV News in Ottawa (deadline: July 21) — this is Mercedes Stephenson’s former job
- Columnist/beat writer, Calgary Flames or Edmonton Oilers, The Athletic (deadline; July 23)
- Washington Bureau Chief, The Canadian Press (deadline: July 31) — this is Alexander Panetta’s former job
- Station manager, CJLO radio in Montreal (deadline: Aug. 2)
- Afternoon traffic reporter, Canadian Traffic Network in Montreal (providing traffic reports to Bell Media radio stations)
- Reporters (3), Report on Cannabis, Globe and Mail
- Assistant editor, Report on Cannabis, Globe and Mail
- Content editor, visuals, Report on Cannabis, Globe and Mail
So what’s going on at City Montreal? Reporters are jumping ship before it’s sailing the waters.
I guess they realize that being the no. 4 station won’t get them too far..
That’s a pretty bold conclusion based on a sample size of two. I’m willing to accept that it’s most likely a coincidence.
Where there’s smoke there’s fire.
All roads likely lead to the orignal staff for Rogers’ revolving door at their City Montreal HQ.
Doesn’t take a degree in HR to figure that out.
I hope this isn’t a case if wilful ignorance with the higher ups just to meet minimum requirements. Some of us keep trying to give this struggling station a chance.
Tina was easy to watch. Lovely as a host and clearly full of drive.
If Drainville and Lavoie are our because they are in radio as well as TV, how can Mulcair replace as he us to ‘ve on radio as well?
Mulcair isn’t doing radio in French, unless I missed something, which is probably a big difference. He’s also not hosting any shows in either radio or TV, but appearing as a political analyst on both. Quebecor’s policy isn’t being applied universally, either, so they’ve probably decided that they’re okay with this arrangement.
I may be mistaken but I thought I heard that he would also be doing French radio.
The people in charge at CJAD are idiots… They get what they deserve…
A coincidence that two new hires at a tv station resign for better opportunities elsewhere ….yup , true that !
Wonder with the short term licence renewal pf CKKI they will make changes to improve the station.
Public Alert system is a must. When all Montreal stations aired Amber Alert CKKI ignored it. They are just a trailer with no people who don’t relay storm information or other public safty info. I
I doubt a Public Alert system makes much sense to a shoe string outlet. What are the ratings for CKKI-FM 89.9
Sense is irrelevant. It’s a condition of having a CRTC licence.
The station is not measured by Numeris.
Every commercial station is supposed to have a public alart stystem.
CKKI is one of the few commercial radio stations in market without local programming besides the 4pm to 7pm Monday, Wedensday and Thursday. Weekends are all syndicated. I’m sure their ratings took a dip when they eliminated almost all of their local programming. I tuned out for a while because morning show was my favorite.
Mulcair on CJAD: another voice on the left. Tiring, tiresome and a tuneout.
A few things have popped up recently. Perhaps you can do a follow up on your next weekly media round up.
1 – CFGL-FM 105.7, has re-activated their HD Radio signal.
Only one stream is currently being transmitted. 105.7fm-HD1
2 – CBF-FM 95.1, their station ID call letters not present on their HD Radio info. It use to be there.
3 – WNNE-DT is now available over the air in Montreal. Its now the areas CW affiliate. Don’t understand why though. WPTZ-DT was already doing it on 5.2. All they did was keep 5.2 but station info now says its WNNE-DT. Nothing new really being offered.