TekSavvy, Distributel and EBOX are among the independent internet service providers (ISPs) calling for government intervention following the CRTC’s move to backtrack on a 2019 decision compelling big telecom to offer smaller competitors more affordable rates to access their networks. TekSavvy is petitioning the Liberal Government to overrule last week’s decision, saying “a CRTC chairperson should not participate in proceedings about which they have a clear bias.” TekSavvy argues Ian Scott, a former Telus VP, should be removed from his position or be required to recuse himself from decisions involving wholesale- and facilities-based competitors. EBOX also asserts Scott “appears to be biased by his clear preference for infrastructure-owning competitors…A person in a position of authority to regulate a market should not be biased towards a specific form of competition.”
Bell has announced it’s accelerating its capital investment plan in response “to the support for infrastructure investment reflected in recent federal regulatory and policy decisions.” The $1.7 billion in accelerated Bell investment for 2021 and 2022 is in addition to the approximately $4 billion in capital Bell has typically invested each year in network expansion over the last decade. Bell says with an additional $200 million also invested in capacity and coverage in 2020 to respond to unprecedented usage demands due to COVID-19, its total capital investment from 2020-2022 will be as high as $14 billion.
CTV News Vice-President Wendy Freeman is being recognized with an RTDNA Canada National Lifetime Achievement Award. Since 2010, Freeman has presided over the network’s news, information, and current events programming, including CTV National News and flagship shows like Question Period, Power Play and W5, in addition to CTV News Channel, BNN Bloomberg, and CP24. Under her leadership, CTV National News has been recognized with eight consecutive RTDNA Bert Cannings Award for Best Newscast, as well as six Canadian Screen Awards for Best National Newscast since 2014. Prior to joining Bell Media, Freeman worked at WPIX-TV New York, WXYZ-TV Detroit, Canadian all-news network CKO Radio News, and Citytv Toronto, where she began her television career. Read more here.
Scott Metcalfe, who officially retired as Rogers Sports & Media’s National Format Director of News in late April, is the recipient of the RTDNA Canada 2021 Distinguished Service Award. The award honours a member who has played a major role in the continuing success of RTDNA Canada, recognizing outstanding contribution and exemplary distinguished service for the benefit and advancement of electronic and digital journalism in Canada. RTDNA will celebrate its National Award winners Thursday night at its 2021 Awards Gala, from 7 – 9 p.m. ET. The event is free, but registration is required. Read more here.
CTV’s W5 is among the multiple award winners at this year’s Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) Awards. W5 won in the Scoop category, in addition to taking the CWA Canada/CAJ Award For Labour Reporting for their investigation into the Canadian migrant worker program. Tom Cardoso, whose Bias Behind Bars entry was published in The Globe and Mail, was chosen as the winner of the McGillivray Award and also won in the data journalism category. Data journalism pioneers David McKie and Fred Vallance-Jones were also honoured with the Charles Bury Award for their outstanding contributions to Canadian journalism. Find the full list of winners here.
The 2021 Webster Awards are now open for submissions with the deadline July 31. New categories include Best Reporting in a Language other than English, Excellence in Technology Reporting, Excellence in Health Reporting, and Excellence in Environment Reporting. Excellence in Digital Reporting has also been revised to Excellence in Multimedia Journalism. Stories published between June 1, 2020 and May 31st, 2021 are eligible.
Global News has announced a new scholarship program that provides renewable entrance scholarships for Black students pursuing post-secondary studies in journalism. The initiative sees an overall investment of $140,000 to a number of journalism programs. Recipients will also have the opportunity to receive mentoring from seasoned Black journalists who currently work for Global News. The program was partly inspired by joint calls to action from the Canadian Association of Black Journalists (CABJ) and Canadian Journalists of Colour (CJOC), and is part of Corus’ multi-year Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Action Plan. Global News has also announced a new scholarship for Black, Indigenous and Racialized (BIR) students in partnership with the Radio Television Digital News Foundation (RTDNF). The Global News BIR Scholarship is open to all BIR students registered in an accredited journalism program in Canada.
The Ryerson School of Journalism has voted to change the names of its masthead publications in time for the new academic year starting this fall, with 2020-21 the last year in which The Ryersonian will use its name. Earlier this year, The [ ] Review of Journalism elected to pause using the Ryerson name in the title of their publication. A committee will be formed to carry out the recommendations of a working group, which the school says will include engaging students in the process and supporting Indigenous creatives in design and branding efforts.
