John Boynton, Publisher, Toronto Star; Bob Cox, Publisher, Winnipeg Free Press; Phillip Crawley, Publisher and CEO, The Globe and Mail; James C. Irving, Vice President, Brunswick News; Jonathon J.L. Kennedy, President and CEO, Glacier Media Group; Pierre-Elliott Levasseur, President, La Presse; Brian Myles, CEO, Le Devoir; Rick O’Connor, President and CEO, Black Press Media; and Lyne Robitaille, President and Publisher, Quebecor have signed an open letter to the federal government urging the implementation of measures that would force Facebook and Google to subsidize content. Accusing the digital giants of exploiting tax loopholes, the letter calls on the Canadian government to follow the lead of France and Australia which “have set deadlines to have mandatory solutions in place by July. That means paying for copyrighted content and sharing the advertising dollars and data that flow from it.”
APTN and The Discourse have launched IndigiNews, a new digital platform for local news serving First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. Based in BC’s Okanagan Valley, the joint venture will soon expand to Vancouver Island with an eye to addressing a long history of poor representation in Canada media and perpetuated stereotypes about Indigenous communities. To start, IndigiNews will distribute coverage produced by a team of Indigenous reporters hired by The Discourse with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative. Content will also be published by The Discourse and APTN.
The Digital Publishing Award nominees have been announced recognizing Canadian digital publications and their creators. The Globe and Mail and CBC are tied for the most nominations with 21, while Radio-Canada earned 13 nominations. Dmitry Beniaminov is the 2020 winner of the Digital Publishing Leadership Award. A 20-year tech consultant and digital marketing advisor, under the banner of web design firm Pixel Studioz, Beniaminov has worked on projects for The Walrus, Running Magazine, Avenue Calgary, Canadaland, Cottage Life, Canadian Living, Elle Canada, The Hockey News, Toronto Life, Fashion Magazine, Wedding Bells, and Quill and Quire, among other outlets.
Amazon Prime Video has launched the Prime Video Store in Canada, giving customers the opportunity to rent or buy new movie releases from major studios, including Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount and Lionsgate, with recent titles like Jumanji: The Next Level, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Joker available to watch now. Amazon customers can rent or buy titles in the Prime Video Store through primevideo.com and the Prime Video app on Smart TVs, Android mobile devices, game consoles, streaming media players including Amazon Fire TV, and select MVPDs. The Prime Video Store had already rolled out in the U.S., UK, Germany and Japan, and in addition to Canada expands to Australia, France, Italy, and Spain.
Knowledge Network is now available on the Roku app and Roku devices. The BC public broadcaster can also be streamed on its website, iOS and Android devices, as well as Apple TV.
