It’s time to catch up on all the open tabs I’m finally reading, while my computer is overheating
Nate Erskine-Smith: Good Media Outreach on Student Housing in Hamilton
Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Nate Erskine-Smith is a refreshing politician, IMO. I’ve found him honest, forthright, and thoughtful about good policy.
His team sent me an email last week seeking to discuss Hamilton policy specific to Hamilton. I do not have the time to do so at this time. I am hopeful I will in mid-to-late July.
Facebook Not That Interested in “Stealing” News by Linking To It
The chatter in Canadian journalism circles is this fall is going to be terrible for journalism employment as the federal government’s shakedown of Google and Facebook on behalf of its media friends has not worked.
It appears that both Google and Facebook are prepared to respect the wishes of Canada’s establishment media and stop linking to establishment news sites. The establishment media falsely claims Internet links are “theft.”
In the United States, websites are unhappy at decreased traffic from Facebook.
No links, no traffic, no web advertising revenue.
Adding to the establishment media’s problems, Rebel Media’s legal challenge against the Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization media funding program is proceeding in the Federal Court.
The chatter is the federal program will not be renewed.
Disney Sells Its Last Radio Station
The decline of terrestrial radio continues. Last week, Bell Media shut down a bunch of its radio stations. It is selling its under-performing (an understatement) AM radio stations to a “undisclosed third party.”
We’ll have to wait and see what becomes of AM 820 and AM 1150 here in Hamilton.
This brings us back to Disney’s sale of its last station, a clear channel 50,000-watt daytime AM station in Los Angeles to a religious broadcaster.
This is what is becoming of the AM dial, a mix of right-wing political talk and religious stations. (Talk and religion are separate station-types, not a mix of the two on one station)
I used to listen to ABC Radio on shortwave, and would tune into Hamilton’s AM 900 CHML for the hourly news updates while away doing my military training back between 2001 and 2003.
“With the sale, Disney’s once-massive broadcast portfolio has been reduced to eight big-city television stations.”
Pat Sajak Retiring
Growing up, and while in the Canadian Forces, watching Wheel of Fortune at 7:00 p.m. was a fixture of life. Pat Sajak’s been the host my entire life.
It was a different time, before streaming. Other channels’ 7:00 p.m. offerings could not compete.
Sajak’s retirement is one of those milestones in the progression of time.
The British Parliament Still Has Behaviour Standards
Politicians may be humourable people, but here in Canada and the United States, the “professional” is one that does not even attempt to uphold any honour.
This is not the case in the United Kingdom where former Prime Minister Boris Johnson hastily resigned to avoid sanction for misleading the House of Commons.
A Tory member of the House of Lords is being sanctioned for his behaviour towards a journalist. “A prominent Conservative peer and donor bullied and harassed a female journalist after she publicly criticised him and an organisation he runs, the Lords standards commissioner has ruled.”
BBC reports on a UK Conspiracy Theory Newspaper
“The Light, which prints at least 100,000 copies a month and has more than 18,000 followers on the social media site Telegram, grew to be a focal point of the UK conspiracy theory movement with its anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown stance during the pandemic,” reads a BBC story.
The distribution method and conspiracy theories remind me of a publication we have been distributed in Hamilton that also promotes the “Nuremberg 2.0” bullshit.
Use comments to explain (and defend) your work
What worked well in the past can work better in the future – this is my opinion on why I need to restore comments as a centrepiece of my websites. The fun days of the Joey Coleman blog included lively amounts of comment discussion.
When I went to work for Maclean’s, my first editorial dispute came two months into the job when my blog there did not yet allow for reader comments. [Macleans had something called the “Macleans 50,” fifty really intelligent people who were the only persons able to comment on the website.]
Reader comments lead to stories, new blog posts, and more information for people willing to read the comments.
Eventually, media websites adopted unmoderated comments. These became toxic, and good commentary moved to Twitter and other social media platforms. Those platforms have become toxic as well, which combined with “cancel cultures” has left the discussion to the polarizated extremes of our political spectrum.
Where’s the link Joey?
Joy Mayer at the American Press Institute writes “Online comments also represent a rich opportunity for journalists to tell the story of their work, get on the record about their integrity and answer questions about their ethics and process.”
The API article outlines strategies for encouraging good comments.
Transforming the Slurpee for a New Generation
7-Eleven is a big brand. People know what it is, even here in Hamilton where there are only two remaining locations.
AdWeek has 7-Eleven’s Exec Vice-Pres Marketing on its podcast discussing the brand and how it is marketing its iconic “Slurpee.”
Here’s the related article: After 57 Years of Chilling Out, 7-Eleven Is Stirring Things Up With a Slurpee Makeover.
Journalistic Ethics and the Unabomber’s Manifesto
The New York Times discusses the debate back in 1995 when Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski’s manifest arrived at newspapers with a threat. Either publish the manifesto within 90 days or he kill again.
The article explores the impact of publishing the manifesto, media practices regarding manifestos today, and what experts think on the topic.
“The manifesto provided critical clues to his identity, and six months and two weeks later, the Unabomber — Theodore Kaczynski, who died in a federal prison cell on Saturday — was captured. But to many in the profession, acceding to Mr. Kaczynski’s demands set a terrible precedent, undermining journalistic independence and doing the bidding of law enforcement.”