Originally published in the Nov. 5, 2026 edition of The Weekly Briefing

Fred Jacobs, President of Jacobs Media, has announced he’ll be stepping down at the end of the year, ending a 43-year run leading the media research and strategy company he founded. Jacobs will be succeeded as president by his brother, Paul Jacobs, but stay on as Chairman and remain involved in select areas of the business. Read more here.

Lisa Xing is CBC News’ new Beijing correspondent as the public broadcaster proceeds with its plan to shore up its international presence. Xing, who has previously covered the Ontario legislature and served on CBC Toronto’s investigative team, has deployed to China on several occasions, including covering the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Jorge Barrera has been named CBC’s permanent correspondent in Mexico City. The Venezuela-born journalist, who has been in Mexico on a temporary deployment for the last year, previously worked with CBC’s Investigative and Indigenous units. Read more here.

Isha Bhargava has joined CBC News Peel Region bureau as a reporter/editor. Bhargava has been with CBC since 2021, most recently as a reporter in London.

Terri Theodore has announced she’ll retire in January after more than 28 years with The Canadian Press (CP) and Broadcast News. Most recently the News Editor for B.C. and Yukon, Theodore has been a reporter and editor with the newswire service since 1998. Prior to that, she was a news anchor and reporter with News 1130 (CKWX-AM), QMFM (CHQM-FM) and CFUN in Vancouver.

Gerard Murphy has signed off from Ocean 100 (CHTN-FM) Charlottetown after more than 43 years in radio in the market. Murphy’s roles over the years have ranged from music director to programming, promotions and marketing, and more recently afternoon drive. Corey Tremere assumes the 3 – 7 p.m. AT time slot.

Hayley Cattell has joined Rawlco Radio’s Z99 (CIZL-FM) Regina as a Marketing and Advertising Consultant. Cattell arrives from KPMG, where she’d been a Regina-based senior consultant since 2023.

Emilie Houle has departed Bell Media after a decade. Based in Montreal, Houle held the title of Senior Manager, Strategy & Insights. Prior to joining Bell in 2016, she’d been an analyst at Groupe V Media.

Jason A. Chiu is joining the Toronto Star as Managing Editor, Multimedia and Visual Storytelling. Chiu arrives from The New York Times where he was a Visual Editor working with the experimental storytelling team. He previously worked with The Globe and Mail for a decade.

FX Plante has started a new role as Ottawa Bureau Chief for Village Media’s The Trillium. Plante’s reporting background includes roles with CBC/Radio-Canada, The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star.

Julia Seidl is now Chatelaine’s Editor-in-Chief, while Chantal Braganza takes up the role of Executive Editor. Braganza has been with the publication since 2020, most recently as Deputy Editor, Food for the last five years. Seidl is a former Hello! Magazine Fashion & Beauty Editor and past Editor of luxury lifestyle mag, Sur La Terre Switzerland.

Ariel Yang has joined CBC/Radio-Canada as Head of Digital Originals, Scripted Content. Yang will be in charge of building out the public broadcaster’s slate of short-form digital originals under Trish Williams, Executive Director, Scripted Content. An independent producer and production manager, Yang has previously worked with New Metric Media as a development executive.

Brendan O’Brien is joining CBC/Radio-Canada as Development Executive, Scripted Comedy. O’Brien arrives from Halfire Entertainment, where he’s been been an Associate Producer and Development & Production Coordinator since 2023.

Jean-François Desmarais O’Bomsawin has joined the National Film Board (NFB) as Director General, Indigenous Programming and Strategy. He joins NFB from the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO), where he’s served as Director of Communications and Francophone Initiatives for the last four and a half years. Prior to that, he spent more than a decade with APTN in Montreal, starting out in marketing and communications and then moving on to the role of Senior Manager of Programming for the Eastern Region. Read more here.

Chantal Côté has been appointed Deputy Director at the TELUS Fund, succeeding Elaine Jacques, Senior French Analyst and Operations Lead, as she retires at the end of the year. Côté, who arrives from the Executive Director post at the Quebec Chapter of the Canadian Academy of Cinema & Television, will succeed Jacques in supporting the Fund’s work in Canada’s French-language market while taking on broader responsibilities across the organization. Julie Lapointe, who joined the organization in March, is promoted to Operations & Communications Manager.