Postmedia Reports that Calgary Herald’s Digital Initiatives One of Companies Most Profitable Divisions
Calgary Herald editors hold an editorial meeting on Sept. 29, 2011
The Globe and Mail reported on September 29, 2011 that Paul Godfrey escorted directors of Postmedia Network Canada Corp on a tour of the Calgary Herald earlier this year to showcase the struggling newspaper company’s digital future. The Postmedia chief executive officer presented a remodelled newsroom where teams juggled written and visual content for the Herald’s websites, social media platforms such as Twitter and its 128-year old newspaper. The Herald has been so much “quicker off the mark” with digital initiatives, Mr. Godfrey said, that it is now one of the company’s most profitable divisions, and a beacon for change at Canada’s largest newspaper publisher. Read the rest of the article on Calgary Herald’s digital initiatives…
Edmonton Journal to Host Live Debate With Tory Leadership Hopefuls on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
As the Alberta Tory leadership race heads down to the wire, visit edmontonjournal.com on Tuesday for a live online debate among the three contenders seeking to become the next premier. Doug Horner, Gary Mar and Alison Redford will all take part in the event, which runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, September 27. The Edmonton Journal’s political team will be on hand for the debate, in which a selection of questions from the public will be put to the candidates.
Digital Alberta Launch Event in Calgary and Edmonton on September 27, 2011
It’s a new era for digital media in Alberta! To celebrate Digital Alberta is launching a new website and new programs for 2011-2012 and we are holding a launch party! Come out for a drink and some appy’s, learn about new member services, exciting programs and events. Stay tuned for speaker and sponsor announcements!! Looking forward to seeing you all there! Read more 
McLuhan Thinkers Converge in Toronto, November 7 – 10, 2011
More than fifty years ago, writing from a modest outbuilding at the University of Toronto, Edmonton-born Marshall McLuhan gave voice to a vision that transformed the globe: of a society enmeshed in media, everywhere connected, culturally configured by mediating technologies of information and communication. In celebration of the centenary of Marshall McLuhan’s birth, The University of Toronto Faculty of Information, in conjunction with Ryerson University, York University, OCAD University, the City of Toronto, and numerous other city cultural institutions, will host a conference with a difference. McLuhan100 Then | Now | Next: International conference and DEW Line Festival to be held at the University of Toronto Chestnut Conference Centre in downtown Toronto, Canada from November 7-10, 2011 assembles a unique interdisciplinary group of Canadian and international experts on media and culture, drawn from the humanities, social sciences, and science and technology departments within universities, together with artists and leading public thinkers. Read more
Rogers Closes OMNI TV Edmonton and Calgary Studios
Omni television has shuttered its Edmonton and Calgary studios as part of a shift to national newscasts. The studios closed Sept. 15 as part of a national reorganization, with about 20 employees remaining in each city to produce news segments, liaise with communities, and help facilitate independent productions. “We’re launching national newscasts in Cantonese, Mandarin and Punjabi,” said Madeline Ziniak, national vice-president of the broadcaster. The new national broadcast will still feature a daily story from both Calgary and Edmonton in each of its three newscasts, Ziniak said. Fourteen employees were offered jobs within the Rogers Media organization: six are moving to the organization’s headquarters in Toronto, while most of the others will shift to Citytv Edmonton or Calgary. Six others were laid off. Ziniak said lower-than-expected viewership of local newscasts factored in the decision, but plans for national newscasts have been in the works for some time.
Global TV to Broadcast Alberta PC Party Leadership Debate on September 28, 2011
Global News iwill host a debate between the three remaining candidates for the Alberta PC leadership. Gary Mar, Alison Redford and Doug Horner will be in Global Edmonton Studios on Wednesday September 28th for a televised debate heading into the 2nd ballot vote. You can catch the hour long debate live on Global, starting at 6:30 p.m. The debate will be carried live on Global Edmonton, Global Calgary and Global Lethbridge as well as 630 CHED radio in Edmonton and CHQR in Calgary. They will be livestreaming the event here on www.globaltvedmonton.com.
CTV Expands Its Local Newcasts in Alberta
This fall three of four television networks in Canada are expanding their local newscasts in Alberta. First out of the gate is CTV. On August 29, 2011, they rebranded their A Channels across Canada and ACCESS TV in Alberta under the banner of CTV Two. The debut of the new channel was strategically timed to coincide with the launch of the network in high definition. They converted ACCESS from analog to digital none too soon. As of September 1, the digital conversion of all over the air television stations in Canada mandated by the CRTC, and thus the digital conversion of ACCESS, made it impossible for viewers without a cable provider to receive the station’s signal over the air. Read more
Edmonton Journal Announces Community Newsroom Advisory Panel
Mack Male (aka Mastermaq pictured here), Karen Lynch (Volunteer Alberta), Elsie Stoltz (Edmonton Journal), Franco Savoia (YMCA), Todd Cranshaw (CKUA) and ten or so other community leaders have been choosen to serve as the advisory panel for the Edmonton Journal’s new online community newsroom set to launch on September 29, 2011. [Launch since moved to the last two weeks in October 2011]. The advisory panel was selected from 96 people who responded to their invitation to become part of their community advisory group. The panel is tasked with making sure The Journal is listening, learning and finding even more ways to interact with their readers and to find new ways to tell stories, take photos or videos, and produce quality journalism, whatever the platform. There will be more opportunities for others to participate, including the soon-to-be-launched community newsroom and their expanding blog network. If the pilot project proves successful, Postmedia plans on rolling the community newsroom concept out to their other papers across Canada.
Strategic Media Communications Workshop for Citizen Journalists, Artists, Authors & Community Organizations, October 12, 13 & 15, 2011
Strategic media communications is becoming increasingly essential for bloggers and other citizen journalists. There are too many media outlets and many more communication tools to choose from to make effective use of any of them without a strategic media communications plan. Last year, Sun Media launched their UR portal and invited readers to submit stories, photos and videos. At about the same time, CTV Edmonton launched their MyNews portal and iNews (CHQT Radio) their iReporter feature and weekly newspapers like the St. Albert Gazette soon followed suit. On September 29, 2011, the Edmonton Journal is launching their online community newsroom. They are designing the project to make it as easy as possible for readers to contribute newsworthy stories, photos and videos on the special area on the www.edmontonjournal.com website. They are hoping that the initiative will be effective in artracting bloggers and citizen journalists to write, shoot and publish their own news and that this news will be of interest to their readers an, of course, to their advertisers. In other words, they hope to make money. This is as it should be. They are piloting the project and if successful they plan to roll it out to other Postmedia properties across Canada. Chalk another up first up for Edmonton. Read more
Eight Giller Nominees Attending Calgary’s WordFest October 11 to 16, 2011
Calgary’s WordFest feature eight of the recent nominees for the awards in a variety of events during the 6-day Festival, which runs from October 11-16, 2011. Marina Endicott, Dany Laferrière and Suzette Mayr will share from their nominated titles in the popular evening showcases and Lynn Coady will discuss the blurring of authorship in online media in Social Publishing on October 13. The Festival closes on October 16 with Curtain Call featuring David Bezmozgis Alongside several other artists. Zsuzsi Gartner will be celebrating the Year of the Short Story (YOSS) at Keepin’ it Short on October 14. 2011 Banff Distinguished Author Guy Vanderhaeghe will be reading from his nominated title at The Banff Distinguished Author Series event at The Banff Centre on October 15.
Art of Conversation LXI with Graham Hicks (Edmonton Sun), Rob Christie and Audie Lynds (Capital FM)
Join the Art of Conversation LXI, on Thursday, Sept. 29, in one of the region’s most attractive new destinations, the gorgeous and spacious Prairie Bistro in St. Albert’s brand-new Enjoy Centre – a boutique shopping centre within the new Hole’s Greenhouse! The Enjoy Centre’s boutiques and Hole’s Greenhouse are open until 9 pm. Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011 from 4 p.m. until whenever at The Prairie Bistro in the Enjoy Centre, 101 Riel Drive, St. Albert. Cash bar, snacks courtesy of Prairie Bistro Read more
City of Edmonton Book Prize Renamed to Honour the Late Robert Kroetsch
Robert Kroetsch at Wordfest 1998
One of Alberta’s most prolific authors was recently honoured on September 14th when the Edmonton City Council passed a motion to rename the $10,000 City of Edmonton Book Prize in memory of the late Robert Kroetsch. The motion was put forward by the Edmonton Arts Council and the Writers Guild of Alberta after receiving several calls of interest from members of the literary community shortly after his tragic death in a traffic accident in June 2011. Robert Kroetsch was closely connected with Edmonton. He was recognized internationally for his writings and was an important teacher and mentor for many Edmonton and Alberta writers. His 1969 novel, The Studhorse Man, set in Edmonton won the Governor General’s Award for Literary Merit. Read more
Marilyn
Jones is a corporate and social media advocate for individuals, small businesses
and nonprofit organizations in Alberta. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada and is the proprietor of RiverCity Productions. You can contact her
by phone at 780-695-5675 or by email at marilyn@mediamag.ca.