Weekly Roundup – April. 13, 2014 – April. 26, 2014
Sunday, April 13, 2014 – Saturday, April 26, 2014
The weekly roundup offers a convenient summary of this week’s happenings in Media Democracy news. You may also keep up to date every day by following our Twitter account @MediaDemocDay and our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/MDDVancouver
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Kitimat, BC, Votes “No” to Northern Gateway Pipeline in Plebiscite
One of the most divisive issues in Kitimat, B.C., in a generation came to a head Saturday night as residents voted ‘no’ against Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline project.
From the article: “The ballot count from Saturday’s vote was 1,793 opposed versus 1,278 who supported the multi-billion dollar project — a margin of 58.4 per cent to 41.6 per cent.
‘The people have spoken. That’s what we wanted — it’s a democratic process,’ said Mayor Joanne Monaghan in a statement on Sunday. ‘We’ll be talking about this Monday night at Council, and then we’ll go from there with whatever Council decides.’”
Vox.com’s Melissa Bell: ‘This is a chance to do journalism differently’
Melissa Bell, the co-founder of news website Vox.com discusses how the site provides the information to help readers stay in touch with news cycle.
From the article: “‘It’s not that people don’t understand the news, Bell explains. But an obsession with new information can be offputting to readers who are not up to date with an issue.’ The claim is backed by personal experience: in 2012 Bell moved from a reporting role at the Washington Post to take a more strategic position, directing blog strategy. ‘It was amazing to me as a reader how quickly I felt I fell off the news cycle,’ she says. ‘If I wasn’t paying attention to the rapid developments, it was difficult for me to understand what was happening in major news stories. When I took that step back I realised the challenge of being a reader.’”
Back in Time: BBC in 1930 Says “No News Today”
On 18 April the BBC decided there was nothing newsworthy worth reporting, so broadcast some piano music instead.
Watch the video here!
Laureen Harper Interrupted by Activist at Cat Video Festival
PM Stephen Harper’s wife dismisses a student’s remarks about missing or murdered indigenous woman.
From the article: “Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s wife, Laureen, was briefly interrupted during a speech at an online cat video festival in Toronto Thursday night after a university activist demanded she take a stance on a subject she considered to be much more serious.
She was just beginning her brief remarks ahead of Just for Cats: Internet Cat Video Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox cinema when 21-year-old student activist Hailey King began shouting from the crowd.”
Russian Politician Tells Aides to “Violently Rape” Pregnant Journalist
TV station Russia Today taking legal action after its journalist was threatened with sexual violence by a prominent Russian politician.
From the article: “Stella Dubovitskaya, a reporter with the state-funded TV channel Russia Today, asked Vladmir Zhirinovsky, leader of the pro-Kremlin nationalist party LDPR, if Russia would respond with sanctions to a recent Ukranian restriction on Russian men entering the country.
Mr Zhirinovsky unleashed a tirade, which included threats of sexual violence. ‘You are all bloodthirsty,’ he responded, ‘You women of the Maidan all have uterine frenzy.’”
Toronto Star’s Digital Journalists and the Market Devalue of Journalism
The Toronto Star recently laid off 11 full-time page editors and intend to hire 17 digital journalists for lower pay, who will lack the deep experience of the Star culture and maybe of serious journalism while still being expected to publish quality work.
From the article: “According to Unifor unit chair for the Star, Liz Marzari, the union is worried that the digital journalists are getting substantially lower pay for the same work. And, since, in the near future almost all journalism work will be digital, that means the new hires will set a new low bar for journalists working at the Star. ‘We object to the company trying to take an end-run around hard-won seniority,’ says Marzari. ‘We understand that if there were lay-offs the new digital journalist hires would be vulnerable, but let’s have a conversation about it, not just isolate them.’”
Public Health: A New Standard Set For Reporting on Mental Health
The Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma has unveiled an excellent guide on reporting on mental health that offers great advice to all working journalists.
From the article: “The guide is the result of its work with the CBC as a media partner, with help from the Mental Health Commission of Canada. It is the most thorough and well-explained advice for journalists that I have seen.
The guide offers advice on how to cover suicide, how to do interviews, how to deal with the legal issues and how journalists who can face very traumatic coverage at home and abroad can take care of themselves as well.”
Maximum Choice: CRTC Takes Aim at TV Broadcast Providers
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said it is exploring a way to force cable, satellite, and Internet-based TV providers such as Bell Fibe to offer a “skinny basic” package that subscribers could then top up with their own selection of discretionary services.
From the article: “While some TV distributors have taken steps toward that kind of offering in response to consumer demand, many industry leaders say channel-bundling helps keeps costs down for viewers and gives a fighting chance to services that provide diversity, which might not otherwise survive.”