It would be ironic, to say the least, if a bill purporting to save the Canadian news media were instead to hasten its demise. But that seems to be where we are heading with Bill C-18, the Online News Act.
The Media
Oxford Notes ‘Sharp Decline’ In Appetite For MSM News In Recent Years
According to Oxford University’s Reuters Institute, 47% of people are interested in the news, down from 63% in 2017. In the UK, the proportion is even lower.
What’s more 36% of people worldwide say they sometimes or often actively avoid the news.
Burnout?
In what may be a sign of information overload, the authors of the report said that there is evidence that audiences “continue to selectively avoid important stories such as the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis as they cut back on depressing news and look to protect their mental health,” according to the BBC.
Bell cutting 1,300 positions, shuttering six radio stations
TORONTO – BCE Inc. is cutting 1,300 positions, around three per cent of its workforce, and closing or selling nine radio stations as the company plans to “significantly adapt” how it delivers the news.
The company says the job cuts are in response to unfavourable public policy and regulatory conditions that it can no longer outwait.
The plan entails “moving to a single newsroom approach across brands, allowing for greater collaboration and efficiency,” said Richard Gray, vice-president of news at Bell Media, in an internal memo distributed to staff Wednesday morning and provided to The Canadian Press.
Report: Tucker Carlson Served with Cease-and-Desist Letter by Fox News
A cease-and-desist letter has reportedly been sent to Tucker Carlson from his previous employer Fox News over his new Twitter show that went public last week.
CNN chief Chris Licht out after just 13 months
The chief executive of CNN has stepped down after just 13 months in the job.
Chris Licht had been been under pressure after a recent article about him in the Atlantic magazine, for which he provided an unusual level of access, raised questions about his leadership.
The news network has also seen falling ratings and was widely criticised for its handling of a town hall interview with former president Donald Trump.
Parent company Discovery said “things did not work out the way we had hoped”.
‘Curiosity Is The Gravest Crime’: Tucker Carlson Returns And Tears Media To Shreds For Ukraine Coverage
Former Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson brought his show to Twitter for the first time Tuesday by posting a monologue about the Ukraine war and how the media is covering it.
Carlson spoke about the latest developments in the Russian war against Ukraine, beginning with a major dam explosion inside Russian-occupied territory Tuesday morning.
Ep. 1 pic.twitter.com/O7CdPjF830
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 6, 2023
‘CNN Staffers Are Shocked’: Brutal Magazine Exposé Leaves Employees Angry and Frustrated
Employees of CNN have expressed frustration and anger following a brutal exposé published in The Atlantic focused on newly-appointed CEO Chris Licht.
Brian Stelter, a former chief media correspondent who spent nearly a decade with CNN before leaving last August, publicized the sentiments of several employees admitting they were completely blindsided by the piece, written by Tim Alberta.
‘Business would be over’: Canada’s news publishers say ban by Google and Facebook would devastate them
OTTAWA—Canadian news publishers have shed new light on how journalism in Canada could be harmed if big tech platforms make good on their threats to block the posting of their content, should Ottawa’s online news bill pass unchanged.
Jeff Elgie, the CEO of community news company Village Media, told senators studying the bill that Google and Facebook generate more than 50 per cent of his digital company’s web traffic.
“If that traffic was lost, the business would be over,” said Elgie, whose company owns 25 local news publications across Ontario.
Our Unbiased Objective Media: Poilievre tweets so-called Kelowna homeless video
Poilievre compares Kelowna homeless encampment to “third-world country”
Sunshine, lakes, golf and wine.
Ask any Western Canadian what the Okanagan is best known for, and most answers will be those four topics.
These images are not from a faraway third-world country.
This is Kelowna.
After eight years of Trudeau & the NDP. pic.twitter.com/Oj9M2WtujO
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) May 30, 2023
This piece is dismissive of the video and its source, a citizen who documents the homeless situation.
It makes you wonder if they aren’t embarassed for having failed to have exposed this very real tragedy themselves.
I guess they have better things to do, like cover Trudeaus ass.
‘The Official Truth’: The End of Free Speech That Will End America
If legacy news corporations fail to report that large majorities of the American public now view their journalistic product as straight-up propaganda, does that make it any less true?
According to a survey by Rasmussen Reports, 59% of likely voters in the United States view the corporate news media as “truly the enemy of the people.” This is a majority view, held regardless of race: “58% of whites, 51% of black voters, and 68% of other minorities” — all agree that the mainstream media has become their “enemy.”
Majority Of Americans Know Regime Media’s Favorite Narratives Are Fake News
While the news from Harvard CAPS/Harris’ recent poll that received the most coverage was former President Donald Trump’s lead over President Joe Biden, the poll also demonstrates that a majority of American voters disagree with corporate media narratives. Journalist Glenn Greenwald drew attention to the report and key themes on Twitter over the weekend.
The Pulitzer Prize for Utter Failures in Journalism
The New York Times and the Washington Post were honored for bogus Russiagate reporting. Honorable institutions would return the awards.
The New York Times and the Washington Post are among the obvious losers in the Trump–Russia collusion hoax, as the report by special counsel John H. Durham, released last week, makes clear.
But don’t forget the Pulitzer Prize Board, which has earned a special shame in this mess. It was this organization that in 2018 awarded a joint Pulitzer to the two papers for their coverage of what ended up being an election-year deception. That neither the Times nor the Post has offered to return the undeserved award only discredits them further. That the Pulitzer committee hasn’t demanded their return is similarly damning.
Fox News Lays Off Entire Investigative Unit After Dominion Settlement
Fox News laid off its entire investigative unit of reporters one month after the cable news company settled with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, Rolling Stone reported.
Last month, Fox News settled Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million. Six days later, the cable news company cut ties with Tucker Carlson.
CNN Drops Below Newsmax in Prime Time Ratings Collapse
Struggling CNN dropped into fourth place behind Newsmax for prime time viewership ratings last Friday night, the slump following a rare climb to the top driven by Donald Trump’s town hall appearance.
Forbes reports CNN could only garner an average total audience of 335,000 viewers, trailing behind Newsmax’s 357,000 viewers during the evening.