Bell has slapped Quebecor with a $150 million lawsuit over its “Fair Value” campaign in the latest development in the Bell v. Group TVA carriage dispute saga. Quebecor revealed in a post to its corporate website that it received notice of the suit last Thursday. The company says that instead of responding to its invitation to negotiate, Bell has chosen to use “diversionary tactics” and accuses the company of “monopoly behaviour.” Read more here.
Bell has announced a new hybrid cloud connectivity solution that enables Bell Cloud Connect business customers to connect to the Google Cloud platform globally via Bell’s private network through Google Cloud Partner Interconnect locations in Toronto and Montréal. With dedicated fibre links to Google Cloud, business customers can select from a variety of data speeds up to 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps).
Boyd Kozak and Bob Ridley have been announced as this year’s inductees into the Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB) Hall of Fame. Kozak retired last year as news director at QX104 (CFQX-FM) Winnipeg. His 59-year career started right out of high school in 1959 at CFSL-AM Weyburn, SK, quickly moving on to CHAB Radio & TV in Moose Jaw, CFQC-AM Saskatoon and then CKRC-AM Winnipeg where he landed in 1963. He joined CFQX-FM in 1995 as news and community relations director. Bob Ridley, who just passed the 55-year mark in his career, started out working weekends at CJDV Drumheller while attending Mount Royal College. Upon graduation he got his first full-time job at CKSW Swift Current as a disc jockey and hockey and baseball play-by play voice. In 1966, he moved to CKKR Rosetown before landing at CHAT Medicine Hat as sports director in April 1968. He’s been the voice of the WHL Medicine Hat Tigers Hockey Club since the team’s introduction in 1970. In 49 years as the Tigers’ play-by-play announcer, he has missed just a single game, calling over 3,900 contests. This year’s induction ceremony will take place June 6, at the WAB President’s Dinner & Awards Gala at the Fairmont Banff Springs. The WAB Leader of Tomorrow Award as well as the Gold Medal Awards for Community Service and Digital Innovation will also be presented. Find ticket info here.
RTDNA Canada will bestow its President’s Award to its volunteer Regional Chairs: Dan Appleby, Rhonda Brown, Ron Kronstein, Liam Nixon, Manny Paiva, Jill Smith, Les Staff and Kathryn Stewart. They’ll receive their awards at the President’s Reception on May 10 during the 2019 RTDNA National Conference & Awards Gala.
The 2019 Michener-Deacon Fellowships will be awarded to journalists Corbett Hancey, Greg Mercer and Jim Poling. This year, the foundation has awarded two fellowships for investigative work, each worth $40,000 plus $5,000 in expenses. Corbett Hancey will produce a series of investigative articles for both print and broadcast on the recent federal government move to allow Canadian defence contractors to sell weapons to Ukraine to fight Russian-backed rebels. Greg Mercer and Jim Poling are proposing to examine the hidden problem of occupational disease in Canada, to promote better understanding of why the situation is so under-reported and victims rarely compensated. The resulting series will be published widely in print and on media websites. Governor General Julie Payette will host the Michener Awards ceremony at Rideau Hall on June 14.
Agence Science-Presse, an independent, Montreal-based non-profit media organization, is the recipient of the CJF-Facebook Journalism Project News Literacy Award, presented by the Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) and the Facebook Journalism Project. Agence Science-Presse‘s eight-week winning effort took place in a Montreal high school, where a journalist-in-residence helped students verify the news found on social media and explored disinformation in science with a critical eye. Once debunked, the rumour became the subject of a written, audio or video document published to the agency’s website in the “Détecteur de rumeur” (Rumour Detector) section. The award, which carries a $10,000 prize, celebrates journalistic efforts that encourage Canadians to better understand and assess the quality of news they consume and promote news literacy, generally. The winner will be presented with the award at the annual CJF Awards June 13 at the Fairmont Royal York.
Rogers is donating $50,000 to the Canadian Red Cross to provide support to flooded communities in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Rogers is also offering rocket sticks and loaner phones to emergency centres to help those displaced stay connected. The company says many of the communities impacted are home to its employees.
On the latest episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, Bryan Press, director of sales, for NABS Media. Since 1983, NABS Canada, the National Advertising Benevolent Society, has quietly been working behind the scenes as a support system for media, marketing and communications professionals who find themselves in need of counselling, financial assistance or career advice. With demand for its services at an all-time high, this May marks the second annual NABS month, raising awareness of the charity.
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