What came first, dropping advertising revenue or dropping newspaper sales (v. freebies at coffee shops)?     Which re-raises a recent question: should the federal gov't throw money at newspaper publishers?  And if so, all of them or just certain ones?

Well put.    S-a-a-a-y, could that be the reason TorStar is for it while National Post and the Globe + Mail aren't?

Something weird was going on with Canadian
Press a couple of weeks ago, when they issued a news report about Unifor buying television advertising during the Superbowl. The report incorrectly stated that Unifor would be buying more ad time for the GOLDEN GLOBES, (already over for this year) when of course they should have said the Academy Awards/Oscars.

Newstalk 1010 and GNR am 640 were on autopilot that day, and must have used the C.P. copy as their source because neither newsroom caught the error during their early morning news breaks, and multiple news readers reported on both talk radio stations that Unifor had plans to advertise during the Golden Globes.

Who knows why this small mix-up slipped by so many people, but it did. It's unusual for C.P., Newstalk 1010, and GNR am 640 to make such a careless mistake.

Copy editors are usually among the first to get cut, was this a fluke, subtle sabotage, or just a sign of the times....

Dale Patterson wrote:

betaylored wrote:

Something weird was going on with Canadian
Press a couple of weeks ago, when they issued a news report about Unifor buying television advertising during the Superbowl. The report incorrectly stated that Unifor would be buying more ad time for the GOLDEN GLOBES, (already over for this year) when of course they should have said the Academy Awards/Oscars.

Newstalk 1010 and GNR am 640 were on autopilot that day, and must have used the C.P. copy as their source because neither newsroom caught the error during their early morning news breaks, and multiple news readers reported on both talk radio stations that Unifor had plans to advertise during the Golden Globes.

Who knows why this small mix-up slipped by so many people, but it did. It's unusual for C.P., Newstalk 1010, and GNR am 640 to make such a careless mistake.

Copy editors are usually among the first to get cut, was this a fluke, subtle sabotage, or just a sign of the times....

Well, that's just it. When you cut staff to the bone - and in many cases the bone marrow - mistakes will happen despite the best efforts of the best editors. When I left CP in 2010, I couldn't imagine any more staff cuts but there have been plenty. The workload was heavy back then; I can't imagine what it's like now. It must be brutal.

I do get that mistakes happen, but this was a large number of news people; writers, and editors on the Canadian Press end of it, plus two entire Toronto radio station newsrooms that didn't catch the error. For that many people to goof up such a simple fact, suggests a serious systemic, dispirited attitude and/or lack of attention.

I agree Dale, it must be brutal, and very discouraging at times to work in journalism these days.

At Harvard university, the Nieman Journalism Lab (part of the Nieman foundation) is studying the future of news, not just in North America, but around the world.

I follow them on Twitter, @NiemanLab (niemanlab.org) and they are a great resource, and tweet lots of articles from their own work, plus retweeting other organizations, and media reports on all aspects of news, and media, some of which is of course good for show prep if you work in radio/television and or newspapers.

Chances are some big yellow boarders already read the Nieman Lab Twitter feed, but I thought I would mention them for those who haven't come across their work yet.

The research they have reported on paywalls is especially eye opening.

Last edited by betaylored (February 13, 2019 3:00 am)

splunge wrote:

question... there seems to be opposition to news media accepting funds from the government.  what if the gov't set up an independent body to receive and then disperse the funds.... say the RTNDA or CAB.... would that be more acceptable?
After all, nobody seems to complain about "bias" at the NFB, FACTOR, or other funds set up to develop canadian perspectives.  (yes i know FACTOR is supported by broadcasters, but only via CRTC mandates)
just thinking out loud.
 

 
The logistics would be bind-moggling, but I'm sure government would be willing to commission a Commission to take a gander....