Bell has released a fact sheet with regards to its recent restructuring, apparently prompted by what the company sees as inaccurate information circulating, writing “As some distort the truth, here are the facts about Bell’s restructuring as announced on February 8.” Bell goes on to say it “far exceeds its regulatory obligations for local news” by airing more than 25,000 hours of local news per year (150% more than the CRTC requires). The company confirms its April 11 appearance before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage “to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing our industry.”
Friends of Canadian Media are urging the federal government to close a loophole it says continues to extract over $13 billion in advertising revenues from the Canadian economy every year. Updated figures from the media advocacy not-for-profit suggest the exception that allows Canadian businesses to claim tax deductions for advertising on foreign digital media like Facebook and Google, has worsened in the intervening years since Friends initially raised the issue in 2017, going from garnering one-third of all Canadian advertising revenues to over two-thirds since the first study.
CPAC (Cable Public Affairs Channel) anchor Omayra Issa has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. The Forum of Young Global Leaders was established in 2004 to unite outstanding leaders under the age of 40 from around the world. Every year 100 Young Global Leaders are carefully selected and handpicked out of thousands of applications to take part in the three-year program. Issa joined CPAC at the end of January after working with CBC News for almost a decade. Read more here.
Connie Walker
Connie Walker is being honoured with an honorary degree by the University of King’s College. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist will be awarded a Doctor of Civil Law “for her determination in seeking justice where it has been denied, and her dedication to telling the stories that must be told for true reconciliation to be possible.” Walker has spent most of her broadcasting career focused on missing and murdered Indigenous women. While a reporter with the CBC, in 2013 Walker co-created and was the lead reporter for the CBC Indigenous Unit. Her work, which more recently includes the podcast Stolen: The Search for Jermain and Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s, has exposed the crisis of violence in Indigenous communities and the devastating impacts of intergenerational trauma stemming from Indian Residential Schools in Canada and the U.S.
The Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma has announced the winners of its Mindset Awards for excellence in mental health reporting. In the category for reporting on the mental health of young people, Laura Lynch (with Rachel Sanders and Catherine Rolfsen) wins first prize for “Emily’s story: one activist’s journey through climate anxiety“ broadcast on CBC Radio’sWhat on Earth. Kenyon Wallace of the Toronto Star received an Honourable Mention for “Minds Lost in the Maze” within multi-author series “The kids aren’t all right.” In the category for reporting on mental health in the workplace, Jeremy Hainsworth wins first prize for his five-part series “Existential crisis: There’s a mental health problem in B.C.’s courts“ published by Vancouver Is Awesome. Jana Pruden (with Kasia Mychajlowycz) received an Honourable Mention in the same category for“Helen in Hell”, episode 2 of Globe and Mail podcast series In Her Defence. The awards will be presented May 31 at the Canadian Association of Journalists national conference in Toronto.
Jesse Winter
The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) is awarding the CJF-Edward Burtynsky Award for Climate Photojournalism to Vancouver photojournalist Jesse Winter. Winter won for his series of images from the frontlines of B.C.’s 2023 wildfires published in The Narwhal. The $5,000 award, launched in 2022 by the CJF in partnership with internationally renowned photographer and filmmaker Edward Burtynsky, celebrates provocative, impactful and inspirational climate photography.
