MANY YEARS AGO, AFTER a particularly chaotic day in a newsroom, a couple of colleagues and I shared a deep breath, a relieved laugh and shook our heads in dismay.
“If only they knew,” one of us said of the readers we sought to serve, “… if only they knew.”
I decided then that If Only They Knew would be the title of my first book, a sort of Tales from the Crypt regarding the inner workings of those, at the time, large and chaotic newsrooms. The aim was not so much to debunk the romantic mythology of journalism as depicted…
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GEORGE SERENTSCHY WROTE an interesting piece in the Financial Post on Thursday, which I think is comprehensively mistaken. A former telecom regulator in Austria, Mr. Serentschy became dismayed with the state of investment in European mobile networks, and has been testifying effectively against the idea of MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) ever since.
I have had the pleasure of talking with Mr. Serentschy at breakfast in Ottawa last year, and his views are sincerely held and not without foundation. In his experience and opinion, European regulators set the price of interconnection too low, with the result…
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OTTAWA – The news that consumer complaints to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) increased by 73% compared to the same period last year should be investigated and fixed by the CRTC, said the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
“Canadian consumers are sending a clear message they are being poorly treated by, and are suffering from misleading sales practices of, Internet, wireless, home phone and subscription TV services,” said John Lawford, PIAC executive director and general counsel in a press release.
PIAC also noted the CCTS report released Tuesday revealed that the leading complaint…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has dismissed a complaint against OMNI Regional’s parent Rogers Media that alleged non-compliance with the service’s third-language news requirement.
The complaint, filed last October by Unifor on behalf of media workers at OMNI, claimed that Rogers’ decision to hire Fairchild TV to create its Cantonese and Mandarin newscasts rather than produce them in-house violated its condition of licence. The Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations (CSALC/UARR) filed a similar application.
The applicants also raised concerns about the loss of editorial diversity and local news coverage for Chinese-speaking Canadians due to…
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QUISPAMSIS, NB – The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) has released the shortlisted nominees for the 2018 Tuned-In Canada Awards – the annual nationwide competition designed to shine a spotlight on the great work performed by independent local providers of internet, television and telephone services across Canada.
“This year’s collection of nominations came from members in more communities than ever before,” said CCSA CEO Jay Thomson, in the announcement. “We also introduced some new categories, which have allowed us to capture even more stories about their great efforts to connect Canadians from coast to coast.”
Judges Greg O’Brien (president of FindTV,…
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QUISPAMSIS, NB – Nominations are now closed and judging is underway for Tuned-in Canada: The CCSA Awards 2018.
Judges Greg O’Brien (president of FindTV, and editor & publisher of Cartt.ca), Suzanne Lamarre (Lawyer, engineer, consultant and Québec Commissioner at the CRTC from 2008-2013), and Matthew Polka (president and CEO of the American Cable Association), are currently combining a shortlist of nominees in the categories of:
– Best content: community channel programming– Best people: on-camera community channel personality– Best people: celebrating your office hero – Best story: making your community stronger– Best photo: what does…
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Nearly 10,000 submissions, most by people who didn’t read the proposal
GATINEAU – The FairPlay Coalition has a fight on its hands.
Last week saw the passing of the deadline to respond to the CRTC’s call for comments on the public proceeding opened to consider the FairPlay Coalition’s call for a new agency to help fight online piracy of content.
In January, the coalition of Canadian artists, content creators, unions, guilds, producers, performers, broadcasters, distributors, and exhibitors proposed the CRTC establish something called the Independent Piracy Review Agency (IPRA), which would assist it in identifying websites blatantly engaged in content theft –…
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WINNIPEG – As long as the federal government and their provincial counterparts keep allowing Netflix to do business in Canada without at least collecting sales taxes, they are perpetuating a structural imbalance in favour of the big U.S. streamer (and others) over Canadian competitors.
That deduction is part of an enlightening new discussion paper called Netflix in Canada released Wednesday by Winnipeg’s Communications Management Inc., which takes a deep dive into the numbers.
CMI’s paper references research from the likes of CBC’s Media Technology Monitor and Solutions Research Group, but it relies most heavily on a large 2016 Statistics Canada survey…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – All wireless service providers must be ready and able to distribute wireless public emergency alert messages on their LTE networks in Canada by April 6, as was directed by the CRTC.
Emergency alert messages are issued by federal, provincial and territorial governments and emergency management officials to warn the public of imminent threats, such as fires, tornadoes, floods, water contamination and Amber Alerts.
Alerts received via mobile devices will contain the same alert tone as those distributed from the radio or television, plus trigger a unique vibration cadence. They will also include the information Canadians need for…
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DARTMOUTH – Newcap Radio is asking the CRTC to approve its purchase of FM radio stations CKEC-FM and CKEZ-FM New Glasgow, NS from Hector Broadcasting for $2.7 million.
The proposed acquisition was made public last November when Newcap released its third quarter results. Newcap is also requesting new broadcasting licences to continue the operation of the undertakings under the same terms and conditions as those in effect under the current licences.
According to Commission records, the current licensee (Hector) appears to be in non-compliance with certain regulatory obligations for both stations which will be examined in the context of this…
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