By David Farrell
Chinese media compares Canada to 'frightened bird' in Huawei spat
On Sunday, China’s state-run Global Times published a scathing op-ed titled “resignation reveals political interference.” The publication said Ottawa was now as “sensitive as a frightened bird” for dismissing Canada’s ambassador to China, John McCallum. – Yahoo News
How Canadian reporter Daniel Dale fact-checks Trump
According to Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale's fact-checking database, U.S. President Donald Trump has made over 4,000 false claims since taking office – CBC podcast
Trent Radio invites musicians to record new music
The Ontario community FM will also organize workshops to help with the creative and recording process, and a listening party when it's done. – The Peterborough Examiner
The UK could ban social media sites in the wake of teen's death
The suicide of a young girl in the U.K. is prompting a heated debate about the responsibility of social media sites to remove harmful content. Her family says she had been viewing disturbing content about self-harm on Instagram and Pinterest. Now the British government is considering banning certain platforms if companies don't comply. – CBC News
Community radio enjoying resurgence as campus stations face uncertainty
Sixty per cent of the National Campus and Community Radio Association members are now from the not-for-profit community sector, which is carving out an unexpected niche filling the void created by the rise of syndicated voices on many small market, commercial stations. In 2016, of the 15 new radio licences issued by the CRTC, 11 were awarded to non-commercial entities. – Connie Thiessen, Broadcast Dialogue
Chisasibi radio celebrates 35 years of connecting Cree
A Cree radio station based in Quebec wrapped up a year-long, 35th-anniversary party with a feast and a dance on Monday. – CBC News
Media industry loses about 1,000 jobs as layoffs hit news organizations
BuzzFeed announced Wednesday that it would lay off 15% of its workforce, or about 220 employees; Verizon announced it would cut 7% or approximately 800 jobs from its media division, which includes brands like HuffPost, AOL and Yahoo News; and Gannett slashed dozens of jobs at newspapers across the country. – CNN Business
Why fashion brands are launching podcasts
Saks joins a wave of fashion and beauty companies turning to podcasts. Longform audio serves as another platform, like video before it, for these brands to speak directly to their most loyal fans, offering what’s positioned as an authentic glimpse behind the scenes. And the audience, though still small for many branded podcasts, has potential to grow along with the medium; in 2018, 48 million people in the United States alone tuned in to podcasts each week, a number that’s up six million from 2017, according to Edison Research. – Jessica Shiffer, Business of Fashion
Spotify and Pandora duke it out for podcasting prominence
Marketers go where the eyeballs are, but digital audio giants Spotify and Pandora are placing their bets less on screen time and more on ear time. – George P. Slefo, AdAge
Podcast apps keep pushing toward the money
While the podcast industry raked in over $300 million in ads in 2017, that number is estimated at $400 million for 2018 and is expected to cross $600 million by 2020, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. That’s a tiny sum relative to newspaper and radio ad sales, which are around $17 billion each. Still, it’s up from nearly nothing in just a few years. – Glenn Fleishman, Fast Company
Axios, the fast-twitch media darling, is celebrating its 2nd anniversary—and virtual profitability
The start-up, forged by former Politico all-pros, had revenue of $25 million in its second full year. What’s next? Subscriptions, naturally. – Joe Pompeo, Vanity Fair
Meet the man behind a third of what's on Wikipedia
The online encyclopedia now boasts more than 5.7M articles in English and millions more translated into other languages – all written by online volunteers. Steven Pruitt was named one of the most influential people on the internet by Time magazine in part because one-third of all English language articles on Wikipedia have been edited by him. An incredible feat, ignited by a fascination with his own history. – CBS News
6 ridiculous things the Super Bowl media asked the Patriots and Rams to do
Super Bowl media availability — particularly on Opening Night, what used to be known as “media day” — is an annual opportunity for things to get very weird with players and coaches, and Super Bowl 53 in Atlanta has turned out to be no different.
The Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots have handled some of the weirdness well, either laughing about it, deflecting it, or just jumping in and participating, knowing full well Super Bowl week tends to get bizarre before the most-watched event in the country.
Here’s a roundup of what we’ve seen so far from availability this week – Charles Curtis, For the Win
Deep space radio waves baffle astronomers; aliens not ruled out
Appearing on ABC News Live, Senior SETI astronomer Seth Shostak talked about the fascinating find: "Could that be aliens that are in those galaxies and they have some need to get in touch... well maybe."
RIP
A well-travelled voice in news and talk radio in the prairies has fallen silent. John Himpe died of a catastrophic brain aneurysm in a Calgary hospital on Jan. 25. He was 38.
A graduate of SAIT’s Broadcast News program, Himpe worked his way up Saskatchewan’s Rawlco radio ranks over 15 years to become the province-wide program director for interactive and then news talk radio. Himpe also became a morning voice for Regina’s CJME radio as a co-host and show producer.
He made his way west to join Global News Radio 770 CHQR in Calgary as a reporter and then executive producer in the last year of his career in broadcasting.
His work in Calgary would include curating coverage for the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, the Calgary Olympic plebiscite, legalization of marijuana, the study of HIV drug PrEP for use in Alberta and the sale of the Trans Mountain pipeline. – Global News
– Former Vancouver announcer/engineer Ed Jurak died Jan. 26 at age 75. He had been battling several health issues over the last few years. Jurak hosted weekends and fill-in at CKLG/CKLG-FM Vancouver 1963-66 was on air at CHTK Prince Rupert from 1966-71 and station engineer from 1976-79.
