By Greg O’Brien
THERE ARE NO MODERN parallels for the Covid-19 crisis which is exacting a toll on every man, woman and child in the world. There is nothing to which we can compare it.
You can find tallies of confirmed cases, and worse, and what each Canadian province and city are doing about it on many platforms, because the main constant in all of this for Canadians has been journalism. Of course, video can be seen everywhere, but it’s the TV broadcasters who are filming everything and carrying the heaviest load in getting the word out.
TV channels from CBC to…
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CBC/RADIO-CANADA SAID the industry collaboration of major media and technology organizations it joined in 2019, will direct itself to rapidly identify and stop the spread of harmful coronavirus disinformation.
Starting today, partners in the Trusted News Initiative will alert each other to disinformation about coronavirus, including “imposter content” purporting to come from trusted sources, said a CBC release on Friday. Such content (like the lie that 5G technology caused Covid-19) will be reviewed promptly to ensure that disinformation is not republished.
This will complement work already underway by CBC and Radio-Canada to expose mistruths and disinformation around the global…
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REGINA –SaskTel announced today it has extended the waiving of data overage charges (wired and wireless) until April 30th, so there will be no data overage charges (domestic data) for business or consumer customers, on SaskTel’s postpaid wireless plans, noStrings prepaid wireless plans or SaskTel fusion Internet plans until the end of next month.
“As the Covid-19 outbreak continues, we are listening to our customer’s needs for additional data as more and more people self-isolate and work from home,” said Doug Burnett, president and CEO. “As this situation evolves, SaskTel employees are working hard to maintain our world-class networks to…
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OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada has announced it is delivering special access to content across all of its platforms, including news, educational resources for kids and parents, and a wide variety of programming to keep Canadians entertained when they need a break.
“The situation continues to change each day. Canadians need to know what’s happening and to understand what it means for them and for their family and friends. Our news teams are working around the clock to keep all Canadians on top of the latest developments here in Canada and around the world,” said CBC CEO Catherine Tait in a statement.
“We’re…
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CALGARY — Shaw Communications said today it is donating $1 million to Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC) to support food banks and agencies across the country, while also providing two months’ service credit to Shaw Internet customers using the federal Connecting Families program for low-income families.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of our lives and has significantly increased the demands placed on the organizations that are helping to provide food and resources to the most vulnerable Canadians,” said Brad Shaw, CEO of Shaw Communications, in a news release Tuesday. “As long-time partners of Community Food Centres Canada…
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TORONTO – After a wave of criticism of its decision to suspend local newscasts due to the unprecedented challenges presented by the Covid-19 outbreak – which viewers and others complained providing coverage nationally and locally is what the CBC is for – the public broadcaster announced Tuesday it will restore lost local newscasts over the next two weeks.
As we’ve reported, CBC News decided to temporarily scale back local supper-hour English language newscasts “for operational reasons due to the surge in Covid-19 related live news stories across the country. To be clear, this was a temporary measure to ensure…
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TORONTO — With many consumers feeling anxious about not only their physical health but also the health of the economy as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic, marketers and brand managers are faced with developing campaigns during these uncertain times.
Thinktv, the marketing and research association dedicated to the advancement of commercial TV in Canada, has compiled some resources, research and insights from industry experts to help ensure the brand decisions made by marketers today also set them up for success over the long term.
In its latest email newsletter, the organization cautions advertisers to take care during a time…
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By Greg O’Brien
ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, millions of Canadians are working from home, or sadly just staying home after their job was placed on indefinite hold. Students don’t know when they will go back to class and seniors are being told going for groceries is dangerous because of the deadly Covid-19.
Politicians of all stripe are telling us to stay home – a call which most of us are thankfully heeding – and one which we will need to obey for some weeks to come to try and slow the spread of the virus.
We’ve hunkered down at home with our…
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By Greg O’Brien
TORONTO – Facing a wave of criticism from within and without, CBC leadership attempted Friday to again explain why it was absolutely necessary to temporarily suspend English language local newscasts across the country while providing national coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.
CBC staffers received three different pieces of correspondence Friday: from their CEO and head of English services; the general manager of news, current affairs and local; and the editor-in-chief of CBC News.
The message was clear: Given the virus protections needed for staff and a never-before-seen demand on news resources, we really had no choice.
CBC announced the…
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TORONTO – Ontario’s public educational broadcaster TVO today launched a new learning initiative it says is designed to provide enhanced access to its various digital learning products during the current school closures.
As of this writing, all of Ontario’s schools are closed until April 5th due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic and these initiatives are aimed at helping familes help their kids keep learning.
Launched as part of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Learn at Home program, the initiative provides online, easy access to learning tools for students from K-12, says the press release. Through direct online links, students will be…
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