RTDNA Canada will recognize Rick Cluff, Hudson Mack and Wayne Williams as recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award in the West Region on Apr. 21. Cluff hosted CBC Radio One’s The Early Edition in Vancouver from Sept. 1997 until his retirement in December. His career with CBC began in Ontario in 1976 as a sports commentator and reporter. Hudson Mack is best known as the face of television news on Vancouver Island, including nearly two decades as anchor and assistant news director at CHEK-TV. Wayne Williams, former senior director of news programming for CBC British Columbia, retired in January after more than 35 years in news.
Paul Bliss, the former CTV News reporter accused of sexual misconduct back in 2006, is suing the broadcaster, parent company Bell, and his accuser Bridget Brown. Bliss, who was initially suspended in January and fired last month, alleges Brown defamed him, with CTV then publishing and broadcasting the defamatory statements in its coverage. Bliss is seeking $7.5 million in damages.
J-Source wants to undertake an ambitious survey of newsrooms, journalism faculty, and other journalism workplaces across Canada to find out what strides women, transgender and gender diverse journalists have made. J-Source will hire a reporting fellow to undertake the survey, aimed at providing an industry benchmark to improve hiring practices and measure progress. The deadline for applications is Apr. 20.
Radio-Canada is launching a call for interest as it divests itself of its vinyl records, musical scores, sets and props, ahead of its 2020 move to the new Maison de Radio-Canada. There are 119,000 unique non-digitized vinyl records, 113,000 commercial musical scores, 7,000 pieces of furniture, 34,000 accessories, 12,000 tablecloths and draperies, and 1,100 wigs.
The work of directors like Pierre Mercure will be kept in CBC’s new Montreal digs, while the public broadcaster is in discussion with Library and Archives Canada to find a place for 4,000 handwritten scores, some dating back to 1908. Find more here.
Wendy Metcalfe, editor-in-chief/director of content at Brunswick News in Saint John, NB, and Martine Blanchard, host of L’heure de pointe Acadie on Radio-Canada Acadie in Moncton, will MC this year’s Atlantic Journalism Awards. The gold and silver awards will be presented on Apr. 28 at the Halifax Harbourfront Marriott Hotel. Finalists can be viewed online at www.AJAs.ca. Professional development workshops and a panel about the future of journalism in Atlantic Canada will be offered during the day.
Bell’s all-fibre optic network is now on in Toronto. The $1.5 billion Toronto fibre project is part of a reinvention of its network footprint with Bell fibre to the premises (FTTP) service now delivering Internet access speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) with symmetrical upload and downloads. Bell says speeds will increase to at least 5 Gbps next year and ultimately to 40 Gbps and beyond in future. Bell began the Toronto project in 2015, working closely with the City and Toronto Hydro. The build consists of more than 10,000 kilometres of new fibre installed to date on approximately 90,000 Bell and Toronto Hydro poles and underground via more than 10,000 manhole access points, as well as technological enhancements to 27 Bell central offices throughout the city.
The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) says in its mid-year report that it has had to add staff to deal with an uptick in complaints. The CCTS says it accepted 6,849 complaints between Aug. 2017 and Jan. 2018, a 73 per cent increase year-over-year. The commission credits, in part, recent media coverage surrounding telecom complaints for the increase. Bell retains top spot as the most complained-about telecom service provider, making up just over 33 per cent of accepted complaints. Complaints about Rogers made up just over 10 per cent of all complaints, while Telus was the target of 7.5 per cent of all complaints. Complaints about misleading or undisclosed contract terms from cel phone customers were most common, followed by incorrect charges and poor quality of service.
The City of Morden, MB has announced a utility-like fixed wireless internet service called Morenet, that will provide community-wide, ultra-high speed, free internet. Promising download speeds starting at 100mbps, Morenet will have no ongoing monthly fee after an initial hookup cost of $400. The service will be available in some neighbourhoods, starting May 1.
