By David Farrell
Trudeau gov’t getting tough on election meddling
Among things the government wants to do is to ensure foreign actors or money aren’t involved in elections, require more transparency for political messaging on social media and prevent political parties from setting up ostensible advocacy groups to support them and help skirt spending limits. Under consideration is a compliance reg to make internet companies legally liable for the content that appears on their platforms. – Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press
Rogers seeks buyer for magazine assets
Rogers Communications wants out of the magazine business. The Toronto-based telecommunications and media company is soliciting ... – The Globe & Mail (subscription required)
BC newspaper launching online radio station today
Okanagan Valley Newspaper Group — publisher of The Okanagan Weekend, The Daily Courier in Kelowna, Penticton Herald, Courier Extra and Herald Extra papers — is launching OkanaganValleyRadio.com on today at 9 am.
For the first two weeks, the station is to broadcast 9 to 11 a.m. Monday to Friday with a sample of upcoming shows.
Good Morning Okanagan will be produced and hosted by veteran radio personality Allan Holender, who ran digital oldies and jazz station Peachland Radio from 2013 to 2015. – Steve MacNaull, The Daily Courier
Radio Waterloo doc spans almost 60 years of hyper-local programming
Radio Waterloo is the story about the advent of community radio in Canada as told by the people who struggled to create it. The story follows Radio Waterloo (later known as CKMS) and CKWR through the development stages in the 1960’s, until now, 2017. You will hear DJs from the early days of Radio Waterloo provide details about how Radio Waterloo was established, others provide insights from the University of Waterloo referendum which left CKMS without funding, and then current DJs share how these events have led to the current format and state of the station. Join us as we re-live the painful dedication of local DJs who fought to keep the community voice heard on FM radio. – Radio Waterloo promo
EU to fine social media platforms that take more than 1 hour to remove extremist content
The upcoming legislation builds on guidelines first prescribed by the EU in March for removal of radicalizing online content within one hour. Following this, the European Parliament located in Brussels promised to review the progress made by companies and come up with new legislation.
Julian King, the EU’s commissioner for security, told FT that the regulations would help to create legal certainty for platforms and would apply to websites of all sizes. – Vishwam Sankaran, TNW
The great streaming war is just getting started
This is the age of the subscription, in which Netflix and Spotify are just the beginning. Just as more people are cutting their television cable, for instance, in comes Netflix, Crave, TMN Go, Amazon Prime, CBS All Access and other streaming services to scoop up the money we thought we’d saved. Even Disney plans to get in on the action next year, with exclusive content from its Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel brands. – Raju Mudhar, The Star
Interview relaunch proves there's life yet in high-end magazines
Despite hard times – print advertising spending among the 50 largest advertisers fell $420m last year, according to the Association of Magazine Media – Condé Nast’s long-awaited enunciation of a strategy, along with Anna Wintour as “indefinite” creative director, Interview’s relaunch, and an expansion of Dow Jones’ WSJ Magazine, speak to a measure of optimism at the glossiest end of the publishing business.
“In the magazine sector as a whole there has been enormous over-supply problem, and why we’ve seen such a car crash in the middle market where advertising has practically collapsed,” says Douglas McCabe, an analyst at media research firm Enders.
“But high-end magazines with a commitment to high-end editorial values, well-heeled demographics and a high-end supply of advertising have been living in a much less volatile market,” he says. – Edward Helmore, The Guardian
How to use Google Podcast
Google Podcasts is not ready to compete with the plethora of third-party podcast apps for Android, but it has great potential. One of Google’s goals is to eventually use artificial intelligence to improve the listening experience, according to Lifewire. – Punch
The future of television is…more television
We live in an era where Netflix is eating the world, where kids and grown-ups alike can disappear down a YouTube rabbit hole for hours on end, where the amount of time we spend watching video on our phones only ever goes up rather than down. In that world, it’s easy to extrapolate to a time where old-fashioned television is dead, killed off by a slew of younger, nimbler disruptors. The reality, however, is that TV’s business model is secure, its revenues are gargantuan, and the barriers to enter its industry have never been higher. – Felix Salmon, Wired
The facts and figures on how much TV stars take in
How badly did Netflix want David Letterman on its platform? Enough to pay him an estimated $2 million per episode for a six-episode commitment for an in-depth interview series. That number has sent jaws dropping throughout the unscripted TV community. So did Katy Perry’s deal to preside as a judge over ABC’s new iteration of “American Idol.” Nevertheless, it’s two daytime syndication stars who pace the race for big paychecks among reality, news and host talent. DeGeneres has seen her salary and profit participation on “Ellen” soar in recent years. “Judge Judy” boss Judith Sheindlin is right behind her, and she stands to reap another eight-figure check this year on the sale of the show’s library to CBS. – Cynthia Littleton, Variety
