By David Farrell
Top court rules reporter must turn over materials to police
Vice Media reporter Ben Makuch challenged an Ontario ruling that ordered him to hand over his background materials for stories on an accused terrorist to the RCMP. The Supreme Court said Friday it's important for media to gather news without government interference, but society's interest in investigating and prosecuting crimes can outweigh that right. – Catharine Tunney, CBC News
Former CBC radio host launches book: From Trapline to Deadline
Patti-Kay Hamilton is plugging her new book in the Northwest Territories this week. It's the story of how she, a trapper, became a host for the CBC radio show Bush Radio. – CBC News
Veteran Vancouver radio host celebrates 35 years at CKNW
As Jon McComb greets this reporter in the lobby of Corus Entertainment on West Georgia Street, no introductions are needed. It’s a voice that’s been heard on air for almost 50 years, first as a DJ, later as a news broadcaster and finally as a speaker and vocal advocate for people living with a mental illness. – Sandra Thomas, Vancouver Courier
Indigo CEO talks the future of book stores
For more than 20 years, as the founder and chief executive officer of Indigo, Heather Reisman has been at the helm of a Canadian business that she has had to help to adapt as the way people read — and shop — has changed. – Aleesha Harris, Vancouver Sun
Fagstein’s Media News Digest
– Steve Faguy
Nexstar to acquire Tribune Media for $4.1B
The deal to purchase Tribune’s 42 stations and WGN America cabler will make Nexstar the nation’s largest owner of TV stations by volume with more than 200 outlets. Nexstar already owns 170 stations covering nearly 39% of U.S. TV households. – Cynthia Littleton, Variety
Ariana Grande breaks record with 50M YouTube views in 24 hours
The 25-year-old actress-turned singer’s “Thank U, Next” video is a bona fide overnight sensation: It has smashed YouTube’s record for most views in the first 24 hours of release.
The video, an homage to female-driven movies from the early 2000s, dropped at 12 p.m. PT on Friday after weeks of buildup — and set the record in just under 22 hours. – Todd Spangler, Variety
How media companies let Netflix in the henhouse
Like other tech companies, it has focused on and arguably perfected delivering content, building its own platform of instant gratification that has been the mark of the current tech era.
And it did so with the cooperation of creators of high-end content, the major entertainment companies, despite the risk that Netflix’s business represented to their TV networks. To them, Netflix’s willingness to license their libraries of old movies and TV shows represented a welcome source of extra cash. – Tom Dotan, The Information
What’s the difference between a millennial and a baby boomer? Money!
A report by the Federal Reserve this week debunked a lot of the insufferable horseshit we've had to endure for the past decade about the new species of human beings called Millennials.
"Millennials are no different from their baby boomer parents — they're just poorer." Reads a headline in the Financial Post about the report.
The authors of the report say, “We find little evidence that millennial households have tastes and preference for consumption that are lower than those of earlier generations...”
Research and strategy hustlers have been unrelenting in selling baloney about Millennials to marketers -- which is what they do every time they conjure up a "new generation." It's good business.
As we've been saying for years, there's no bigger sucker than a gullible marketer convinced he's missing a trend. – Bob Hoffman, The Ad Contrarian newsletter
When the tech mythology collapses
Locally and nationally, the tech industry has gone from bright young star to death star. Not only have Silicon Valley companies turned out to be roughly as dirty in their corporate maneuvering as any old oil company or military contractor, but because of the Valley’s founder worship, they’ve been almost uniquely controlled by a tiny number of people.
And as in most things, Facebook distills, or at least embodies, these industry-wide practices. – Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic
Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now
Technology has radically altered the news landscape. Once-powerful newspapers have lost their clout or been purchased by owners with particular agendas. Algorithms select which stories we see. The Internet allows consequential revelations, closely guarded secrets, and dangerous misinformation to spread at the speed of a click.
In Breaking News, Alan Rusbridger demonstrates how these decisive shifts have occurred, and what they mean for the future of democracy. In the twenty years he spent editing The Guardian, Rusbridger managed the transformation of the progressive British daily into the most visited serious English-language newspaper site in the world. – Amazon sell-sheet
