Ivison launches his Trudeau chronicle at the Métropolitain
National Post columnist John Ivison‘s soaring stature always begets tall jokes, but in her opening remarks at the launch of Mr. Ivison’s book, Trudeau: The Education of a Prime Minister, last Wednesday evening at one of political Ottawa’s favourite watering holes, the Métropolitain, Toronto Star Ottawa bureau chief Susan Delacourt, who introduced Mr. Ivison, opted to […]
Enemy of the People?
If you’ve never been to Baltimore, you may not want to trust Donald Trump’s Yelp review. Instead, maybe consider the range of artists who’ve each depicted distinct Baltimores—Barry Levinson, John Waters, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Anne Tyler, David Simon, among others—that are somehow all authentic and indelible. Baltimore is a microcosm of the United States in all its gritty, diverse, yearning, tough, tense, […]
Feds have to ‘correct mistakes’ of not qualifying foundations for media tax measures, says Le Devoir editor
The panel responsible for guiding the government on which journalism organizations should benefit from a controversial $595-million media bailout fund have recommended that the Canada Revenue Agency be put in charge of deciding which organizations qualify. But the editor of Le Devoir, whose publication is supported in part by a not-for-profit foundation, says the government […]
As ratings continue to drop, MPs, former journos still split on CBC The National’s four-host format
Nearly two years following the CBC’s revamp of its flagship nightly newscast, politicians and former CBC journalists remain divided on the program’s success, with one MP saying he remains a loyal viewer in spite of the changes, not because of them. Following longtime host Peter Mansbridge’s departure from the anchor chair in the summer of […]
Globe and Mail still a ‘great paper,’ but losing ‘huge amount of institutional knowledge’ from buyouts, says veteran journalist
The Globe and Mail is losing decades of combined editorial experience, as multiple veteran journalists have confirmed they are accepting voluntary buyouts from Canada’s national newspaper. The Globe and Mail made the offer for the voluntary buyouts in early May, giving employees until May 29 to enrol in the program. The Canadian Press reported that The Globe offered […]
Liberals accuse Conservatives of promoting anti-abortion movie, reopening abortion debate
As an American film with an anti-choice message is set to premiere across Canada, Liberals say Tory MPs have been promoting the film and are trying to re-open the abortion debate. “Fact: conservative politicians screened this film on parliament hill[.] Fact: conservative politicians have been petitioning on the films behalf,” PMO chief of staff Katie […]
Mainstream media already has itself on the ropes in the fake news fight
OTTAWA—Months after the 2019 budget announced the details $600-million bailout meant to help the fledgling and inflexible Canadian news media industry, they’ve been complicit in spreading disinformation. Canadian mainstream media needs to check itself. Over the Canada Day weekend, right-wing political advertiser and digital media platform Canada Proud tweeted a video of an interaction between […]
Advertising coalition launches political ad transparency platform to help standardize ‘complicated’ disclosure process
The Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada unveiled a new political advertising program aimed at helping both federal political parties and third-party advertisers meet new transparency requirements under the Canada Elections Act. This is the first time in Canadian history there is a designated ‘pre-writ’ period, which came into place on June 30 and is meant […]
Public servants handcuffed by unreasonable expectations of political neutrality
OTTAWA—On June 25, Blacklock’s Reporter broke a story that a prominent quasi-partisan Twitter personality, Neil Waytowich (a.k.a. “Neil Before Zod” on Twitter), was actually a former public service worker by day and anonymous Twitter political commentator and podcaster by night. Hot on the trail were MPs who quoted the public service code of conduct on […]
Time has come to legislate all political advertising 365 days a year
OTTAWA—Twitter received kudos last week for finally announcing the suspension of political advertising during the summer. The social media feed was late to that party, having been publicly scolded by Democratic Reform Minister Karina Gould for its silence on recent government legislation limiting social media advertising. Michele Austin, head of government and public policy for […]
