October 1, 2022
Mercifully this past week did not prominently feature Conservative MPs attacking Canadian journalists and media.
Mainstreet Research tweeted interesting polling results on public attitudes towards politicians’ media bashing.
What was not surprising was how much Conservative supporters like it. What was a little surprising was the traction media-bashing also gets from Liberal voters. The hashtag #CanadianMediaFailed often tunes you in to how grumpy some Grit supporters get about news coverage that doesn’t go their way.
Lest this report be misinterpreted as “whataboutism,” I appreciated the reality check provided by Lawrence Martin in his recent Globe column.
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The Commons Heritage Committee began study of Bill C-18, the Online News Act, otherwise known as the FaceGoogle-Must-Pay-for-News-Content legislation.
I posted a short synopsis of the key provisions of the Bill and some possible trouble spots.
The timeliness of C-18, and an ominous portent for local news, was revealed this week by a report in the Globe that the co-owners of the Toronto Star have fallen out, quite possibly over job cuts. Nordstar 50/50 partners Paul Rivett and Jordan Bitove are off to court.
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The political theatre over Bill C-11 the Online Streaming Act is not as bad as it was last spring during the Conservative filibuster of the Heritage Committee hearings, but the less partisan Senate deliberations are still generating as much heat as light.
I posted about a sleeper issue in C-11 that got some deserved attention this week at the Senate hearings: the Bill gives federal cabinet sweeping powers to override the CRTC on detailed regulatory matters.
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Canada’s Journalists for Human Rights held a fund raising gala on Thursday night featuring journalists from Afghanistan (Humaira Habib) , Kenya (Wanja Gatu), and Canada (the Globe’s Mark MacKinnon). Unifor National President Lana Payne, a former journalist, also spoke.
The event was emceed by TV anchor/reporter Lisa LaFlamme and singer/actress/activist Jann Arden who together charmed the crowd with a duet of Arden’s “Steady On.”
The fundraising campaign can be found here.
MediaPolicy.ca 