RTDNA Canada has handed out its 2018 National and Network Awards

RTDNA Canada has handed out its 2018 National and Network Awards. On the Network side, The Trina McQueen Award for best TV News Information Program went to CTV W5, while CBC’s The National took home the Bert Cannings Award for best TV Newscast. CBC News The World At Six won the Byron MacGregor Award for best Radio Newscast. National Awards in those categories went to CBC Vancouver for best Radio Newscast (large market), while Global Calgary took the award for best TV Newscast (large market). CTV Regina won best TV News Information Program for Indigenous Circle.

The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology is shifting the focus of its statutory review of the Copyright Act to the radio, film, music and TV sectors. The committee is encouraging Canadians to submit briefs on the topic of copyright and music, as well as copyright and television, film and radio, as early as possible. Briefs must not exceed 2,000 words and can be sent to indu@parl.gc.ca.

Ipsos and RTDNA Canada have conducted a new online survey that shows trust in the media fell four per cent in the past year. The survey of 1,000 Canadians, conducted May 16-21, found 65 per cent of Canadians asked had lost trust in the media compared to 69 per cent of those surveyed in 2017. 79 per cent of respondents said they were still likely to believe the media over government, while 53 per cent consider media coverage of Canadian political leaders fair. The number of Canadians turning to online media for news is up two points to 42 per cent, as is the number using newspaper websites (37 per cent). Just 51 per cent of those asked said they watched television news (down from 58 per cent in 2017). News radio (41 per cent) and talk radio (29 per cent) gained listeners, up one and four points respectively.

The National Post has now been ordered to pay $450,000 in costs for a defamatory 2008 column on former NBC foreign correspondent Arthur Kent. The Alberta Court of Appeal has increased the cost award with the courts previously ordering the paper to pay Kent  $200,000 in damages and $250,000 in costs. The article, by former columnist Don Martin (now host of Power Play with Don Martin on CTV News Channel), carried the headline “Alberta’s Scud Stud A ‘Dud’ On The Campaign Trail” and was critical of the Calgary-based journalist’s bid for a seat in the Alberta legislature. The Post failed to speak to Kent prior to publication. It was later revealed Martin’s source was Kristine Robidoux, legal counsel to the Kent campaign.

The Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma has handed out five Forum Freelance Fund (FFF) bursaries for hostile environment training. The 2018 winners, chosen by an independent international jury, are: Leyland Cecco, a freelance reporter and photographer from Toronto who started his career in Egypt during the Arab Spring; Anna Cunningham, freelancing from Nigeria for CBC, BBC, The Toronto Star, and Elle Canada; Shannon Gormley, from Brentwood Bay, B.C., a freelance reporter and columnist for The Ottawa Citizen; Sarah Lawrynuik, a former CBC producer now freelancing in Antibes, France, from which she covers the Middle East; and Sabrina Myre, a former Radio-Canada journalist from Quebec, who is now a Jerusalem-based freelancer. 

The Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB) 84th Annual Conference takes place at the Fairmont Banff Springs from June 6-7. Registration is still open. For further details on the golf tournament, and speakers lineup featuring Arlene Dickinson, visit wab.ca.