The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to hear a challenge to the CRTC’s decision to grant Corus Entertainment regulatory relief of its Canadian content spending obligations, alleging the company has been delinquent on its obligations to independent content. In May, the commission reduced Corus’ PNI (programs of national interest) spending obligations from 8.5% of the previous year’s revenues to five per cent, as the company struggled in a bad advertising environment. The CMPA, which represents independent producers (the recipients of PNI funding), is alleging the CRTC should never have granted relief because Corus allegedly has not held up its part of the bargain, incurring a shortfall of approximately $41 million since 2017-18. Read more in our sister publication CARTT.ca (paywalled).
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) members and the board of the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) have ratified a one-year renewal of the National Commercial Agreement (NCA), which will be in effect through the end of May 2025. Two years ago, the ACA and ACTRA entered into an agreement after the Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA) walked away from the agreement and negotiations. The NCA establishes the terms and conditions for on-and-off-camera performers engaged in English-language commercial production.
The Michener Award for 2023, honouring excellence in public service journalism, has been presented jointly to The Narwhal and The Toronto Star for their reporting on the Ontario Greenbelt Scandal. Also awarded a Michener citation of merit were: The Canadian Press for A ‘predator’ at CSIS; CBC/Radio-Canada: The girls around Robert Miller/Le système Miller; The Globe and Mail: Montreal fire safety; Montreal Gazette: Staff haunted by suicide at the Lakeshore Hospital ER; and Radio-Canada: La face cachée de Neptune / The dark side of Neptune.
The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) has announced the winners of this year’s Media Awards competition. During its Annual General Meeting, RNAO will present eight awards to journalists who wrote or produced stories for The Recorder and Times, Waterloo Region Record, Toronto Star, Global News, Hamilton Spectator, CityNews and CTV News Kitchener. Find the full list of winners here.
The Winnipeg Free Press is this year’s recipient of the CJF Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism in the large-media category, open to media with more than 50 newsroom employees. The Free Press received the award at the Canadian Journalism Foundation Awards, recognized for The Inquest Files, which reported on two decades of inquests into fatal shootings involving Manitoba police forces. In the small-media category, The Montreal Gazette won for a series highlighting the preventable nature of six deaths at the Lakeshore General Hospital emergency room and exposing how the West Island Health Authority covered up the circumstances surrounding those deaths. Read more about the evening’s other honourees here.
RTDNA Canada is accepting nominations for its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to individuals who have distinguished themselves through outstanding service and continued excellence during the course of their careers in audio, digital and/or video journalism. If you have a colleague or former colleague who has demonstrated excellence over the body of their career, take a moment to nominate them.
