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Media Beat, Aug. 17, 2023

By David Farrell

Conrad Black: An improbable supporter of the CBC

A desultory debate over the principle of public broadcasting, and in particular the performance of the CBC, has been waged in this country for decades and seems to be escalating again as we approach another federal election. Some people have been more vociferous in their criticism of the network than I have, but few have been more consistent. Just as the media has changed radically in the 50 years that I’ve been peripherally involved in this discussion and have intermittently appeared on the CBC, the argument should have evolved, as well. But instead, it tends to be the same stale exchange between people who are not listening to each other, in which one side demands the defunding or the outright sale of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the other side recites rather tired pieties about national identity. There is some truth in the arguments espoused by both sides… – Conrad Black, National Post


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Blocking of news in Canada by Meta affects media outlets that don’t produce news

The blocking … is affecting satirical websites and university radio stations

The Beaverton, which describes itself as a "satire and parody publication," was blocked by Meta on Facebook and Instagram a week ago after the technology conglomerate mistakenly lumped it in with news providers in Canada. Its readers, however, could once again see its content online by Thursday. – CBC News

Meta is not the biggest threat to Canadian newspapers

Broadcasters would be the biggest winners under C-18 if Meta and Google complied with the law by negotiating with news outlets to compensate them for using their content. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has estimated that fully three-quarters of the $329-million in annual compensation Meta and Google would be required to pay would go to the CBC, Bell, Rogers, Quebecor and other broadcasters. – Konrad Yakabuski, The Globe and Mail

Alberta’s CKUA Radio gets a tsk-tsk from the CRTC for regulatory violations

Despite terms of licence breaches, the regulator imposed no sanctions and renewed the broadcaster’s licence. – Jonathan Bradley, Western Standard

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Global refugee statistics

  • 100 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of conflict, persecution, human rights violations and violence. Now, humanity is witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record.

  • Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar account for two-thirds of people displaced across borders.

  • 42 percent of forcibly displaced persons are children under the age of 18. – The UN Refugee Agency

More and more asylum seekers are coming to Canada. Is it enough to stem a global tide of refugees?

Canada processed almost 60,000 applications from asylum seekers looking to take refuge here so far this year — the highest count in almost a decade. – Vanessa Balintec, CBC News

Top 10 origins of asylum seekers coming to Canada

The homeless refugee crisis in Toronto illustrates Canada’s broken promises

Canadians live in a time of threadbare morality. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Toronto’s entertainment district, where partygoers delight in spending disposable income while skirting refugees sleeping on sidewalks. The growing pile of luggage at the downtown corner of Peter and Richmond streets resembles the lost baggage section at Pearson airport but is the broken-hearted terminus at the centre of a cruel city. – Alexa Gilmour, Broadview

There is no housing crisis

… The highest-paid CEOs in Canada earn the equivalent of the annual income of average workers in just one morning. People need to work, and if the jobs available are low paying, they have no choice but to accept them. The wages these workers take home represent but a small portion of the total value of their work; executives and shareholders pocket most of that value. This is legal and widely accepted, which doesn’t mean it is not exploitation. On the contrary, it is exploitation because laws, institutions, and moral norms allow some people to enrich on the backs of others. Unless tightly regulated, labour markets enable exploitation. – Ricardo Tranjan, The Walrus

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Notable

SiriusXM sued by SoundExchange over US$150M royalty underpayment claimVariety

Musk's X delays access to content on Reuters, NY Times, social media rivalsReuters

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A strike scripted by Netflix: The writers are trying to roll back changes that the streaming service already made a new normal – James Surowiecki, The Atlantic

Student project creates an accessible database of Canada's first newspapersU of T

CNN lineup changes give Christine Amanpour an anchor roleLos Angeles Times

Times obituary writer Damian Arnold on how to make a living out of death: If you’re not on the books already, you might have the good grace to die early in the morning. Or late at night. And ideally, if you can, with some warning. Especially if you’re a big deal. – Killian Faith-Kelly, Press Gazette

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Diljit Dosanjh photographed by Lane Dorsey on July 15 in Toronto. Styling by Alecia Brissett.

Diljit Dosanjh photographed by Lane Dorsey on July 15 in Toronto. Styling by Alecia Brissett. On Diljit: EYTYS jacket, Levi's jeans.

Music

Diljit Dosanjh Has Arrived: The Rise of a Global Star

The first time the Punjabi singer and actor came to Canada, he vowed to play at a stadium. With the Dil-Luminati Tour in 2024, he made it happen – setting a record in the process. As part of Billboard's Global No. 1s series, Dosanjh talks about his meteoric rise and his history-making year.

Throughout his history-making Dil-Luminati Tour, Diljit Dosanjh has a line that he’s repeated proudly on stage, “Punjabi Aa Gaye Oye” – or, “The Punjabis have arrived!”

The slogan has recognized not just the strides made by Diljit, but the doors his astounding success has opened for Punjabi music and culture.

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