“The anger and hostility towards journalists has gotten worse, and the nature of that anger is far more personal than it ever was.”
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – In the past, CBC’s foreign correspondents covering wars first underwent “hostile environment” safety training before being deployed into a danger zone. The syllabus includes such topics as risk evaluation, stress management and resilience, and civil disorder.
However, over the past two years, as accusations of “fake news,” first fueled with a fury by the truly awful former U.S. president Donald Trump during his regular rallies and tweets, gained momentum during the Covid-19 pandemic by…
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TORONTO — News industry association RTDNA Canada today launched a new website featuring its new-look logo (above), an easy-to-navigate menu and a new career section with job listings from its network partners (there are currently two jobs at CTV National News and one at CBC News listed).
In a message today from RTDNA Canada president Fiona Conway, she writes that the association’s conference co-chairs have been busy developing an engaging lineup for its annual conference, scheduled for June 3. The event “will be virtual, live and interactive, focusing on topics relevant to the dramatic shifts our industry has…
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MONTREAL — On National Canadian Film Day, Telefilm Canada Wednesday released a new study on Canadian audiences and audiovisual content consumption habits, which reveals an overwhelming majority (73%) of Canadians would like to see more promotion of Canadian content.
The study was commissioned by Telefilm and conducted by Leger as a web-based survey between October 23 and November 6, 2020, among English- and French-speaking Canadians 18 years of age and older. A sample of almost 100 Canadians aged 13 to 17 were also surveyed. In total, 1,875 respondents completed the full questionnaire.
Here are some highlights of the study:
On…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Monday’s federal budget, the first in two years, but the first ever delivered by a female Finance Minister in Chrystia Freeland, promises to deliver more money for rural broadband, but will find the government collecting less tax from foreign digital services as compared to their domestic counterparts.
Jay Thomson, CEO of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance, which represents more than 100 independent TV, phone and internet providers serving mainly rural communities, was “pleasantly surprised” that the budget allocated an additional $1 billion over six years toward the $1.75-billion (now $2.75 billion) Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) unveiled…
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Digital services tax on company revenue pegged at 3%
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The federal government is proposing a $1-billion top-up to the $1.75-billion Universal Broadband Fund as part of its mission to get high-speed internet access to all Canadians by 2030.
The additional money, outlined in Monday’s federal budget, will be allocated over six years, with $272 million in planned spending starting in 2021-2022, $344 million for the next fiscal year, $129 million afterward, and $126 million for each of the two years that follow. With the top-up, the government says it has now allocated a little more than $7…
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TORONTO — CBC and Radio-Canada Distribution, the public broadcaster’s international content licensing arm, announced today several European production companies have acquired the format rights to the CBC original series Fridge Wars.
The unscripted series’ format sees world-renowned chefs competing against each other “to create top-notch meals that have to please the discerning taste buds of the average family, using only the ingredients found in their fridges,” reads the CBC distributor’s press release.
Fridge Wars is co-produced and co-created by CBC and The Gurin Company Inc. Hosted by Canadian comedian and actress Emma Hunter, the series first premiered on CBC in winter…
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LONDON and TORONTO — Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) and Toronto-based LoCo Motion Pictures today announced WBITVP has acquired the global distribution rights (excluding Canada) to How to Buy a Baby, an International Emmy-nominated CBC digital original series.
Created by Wendy Litner, How to Buy a Baby is a dark comedy drama that follows a couple who are struggling to conceive a baby.
“The series provides a voyeuristic view of a marriage under pressure and shows just how much suffering a couple will endure for a bundle of joy. Deeply moving and awkwardly hilarious, How to Buy a Baby proves…
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TORONTO — CBC today announced its podcast lineup for spring 2021 will include two new original series — Life Jolt and A Death in Cryptoland, launching April 27 and May 25, respectively.
Life Jolt, prison slang for a life sentence, provides a powerful look at the realities of life inside a women’s prison. For this nine-episode series, the production team gained unprecedented access to Grand Valley Institution for Women, a federal penitentiary in Kitchener, Ont. Individual women’s stories explore a wide range of issues including parenting behind bars, segregation, the over-representation of Indigenous women, addiction, trauma and the many…
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TORONTO — The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) announced today the two recipients of this year’s CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellowships.
Riley Yesno and Shayla Sayer-Brabant (pictured above, left to right) are two early-career Indigenous journalists who will be hosted for one month (remotely) at the CBC News Indigenous Unit in Winnipeg, as they explore Indigenous issues of interest.
Yesno is an Anishinaabe woman from Eabametoong First Nation who grew up in Thunder Bay, Ont., and she is graduating this year from the University of Toronto with a double major in Indigenous studies and political science. She plans to explore the challenges…
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TORONTO – The first round of casting for CBC and BET+ original series The Porter (8 episodes x 60 minutes each) has been confirmed with (above, left to right) Aml Ameen (I May Destroy You, Yardie), Mouna Traoré (Self Made, The Umbrella Academy), and Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Star Trek: Discovery, Pretty Hard Cases) to co-star in the 1920s drama.
With the series set to start production in Winnipeg, Manitoba later this spring, more additions to the cast will be announced in the coming weeks.
Inspired by real events and set in the roar of the 1920s, The Porter (which is a…
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