Media Beat: November 27, 2018

By David Farrell

Ottawa tiptoeing through a minefield with media subsidies

The Toronto Star began as a union newspaper but was soon snapped up by Toronto business interests anxious to promote the cause of Wilfrid Laurier's Liberals.

The National Post was founded as a vehicle for the muscular conservatism of its owner, Conrad Black.

Even now, media use their political stance as a marketing tool. In the United States, for instance, both the New York Times and Washington Post have found it profitable to take on Donald Trump. Attacking the president earns them digital subscriptions.

Conversely, Fox News has found it profitable to support Trump. – Thomas Walkom, Hamilton Spectator

Gov’t commits $50M to Creative Commons licensed news content

Having embraced the Creative Commons licence as part of the solution to increasing the creation and distribution of local news content, the government should pursue additional steps in support of openly licensed news content, including incorporating the CBC into the initiative. Given the public tax dollars used to support the public broadcaster, the CBC should be exploring ways to make its local news content openly available. Moreover, the government itself should unlock its content, by eliminating crown copyright and adopting open licensing when it posts content on sharing services such as Flickr. – Michael Geist blog

CRTC investigates consumer complaints about telecom services

The federal watchdog for telecom complaints handled 14,272 complaints from consumers in 2017-2018. More than 40 per cent of them were about wireless service, and 29.2 per cent were about internet service. – Susan Noakes, CBC News

From Facebook to climate change: how to bury bad news

Have you smeared George Soros or need to release an awkward climate change report? There’s really no better moment. – Luke O’Neil, The Guardian