By David Farrell
The Globe and Mail turns 175 in March
In March 1844, a Scottish immigrant – and future Father of Confederation – named George Brown launched The Globe, a weekly Toronto newspaper with a mandate to champion the drive toward a system of representation by population, rouse public opinion and attack political opponents.
Brown’s insistence on the most detailed news reports and his use of the latest printing presses helped The Globe become the most widely read and influential daily paper in British North America by the mid-1800s. He died in 1880 after he was shot by a dismissed employee in his office.
In 1936, the paper acquired a smaller rival, The Mail and Empire. The merger resulted in this newspaper’s current name (although most loyal readers still refer to it simply as The Globe). –– Gayle MacDonald, The Globe and Mail
The London Free Press turned 170 on Jan. 2
The London Free Press began as the Canadian Free Press, founded by William Sutherland, and first started printing as a weekly newspaper on January 2, 1849. In 1852, it was purchased for $500 by Josiah Blackburn (and Stephen Blackburn), who renamed it The London Free Press and Daily Western Advertiser. In 1855 Blackburn turned the weekly newspaper into a daily.
From 1863 to 1936 The London Free Press competed for readership with the London Advertiser, which was a daily evening newspaper. The Free Press has usually been a morning paper, but for many years, it also published an evening paper. Both morning and evening editions were published from the 1950s through to 1981 when the evening edition was permanently retired.
The Blackburn family was also involved in other forms of media in London. They established CFPL in 1933, CFPL-FM in 1948 and CFPL-TV in 1953. Corus Entertainment now owns the radio stations, and the television station by Bell Media.
The sudden death of publisher Martha Blackburn in the summer of 1992, due to a heart attack after water skiing on Lake Huron, set the stage for the eventual sale of the family-owned newspaper. In 1997 the Blackburn family sold the paper to Sun Media Corporation, with new, London-born publisher John Paton introducing a Sunday edition. Later the same year, Sun Media was acquired by Quebecor Inc.
In late August 2005, Quebecor announced that starting in 2007, The London Free Press would no longer be printed locally at its press at 369 York Street; instead, it would be printed at a new press facility to be built north of Toronto, resulting in a loss of 180 local jobs. However, in September 2007, the move was suspended to allow the Free Press to present a business case for the printing department and staff's retention. The Free Press has one of the few printing presses in southern Ontario, and it prints several papers for Sun Media newspapers in the area. In 2015, Sun Media was acquired by Postmedia. –– Wikipedia
First newspapers in Canada
The first newspapers in what is now Canada were published in Nova Scotia and Québec in the early 1750s, followed by Upper Canada in the 1790s.
The Halifax Gazette was the first newspaper published in what is now Canada. Its first edition, a two-page paper, was printed on 23 March 1752. It was started by John Bushell, a printer who had arrived in Halifax months earlier to run the city’s first printing press. The first editions of the HalifaxGazette published excerpts from British and European publications, as well as news from the British colonies in America and the Caribbean. Halifax had been settled just three years before the HalifaxGazette was founded and had a small population (about 4,000 people). As a result, local coverage was small but grew over time. About one-quarter of the Halifax Gazette was dedicated to Nova Scotia news, including proclamations, notices of ship arrivals and reports of stolen goods and even runaway slaves. –– The Canadian Encyclopedia
Expat JAZZ.FM91 personalities launch JazzCast portal
Toronto’s beleaguered pubcaster JAZZ.FM91 is seemingly unable to catch a good day in the news. Legal entanglements, controversies and staff expulsions are now followed by new year’s news that former personalities Dani Elwell, Garvia Bailey and Heather Bambrick are in the process of launching a jazz-themed online station. Now magazine’s Chaka V. Grier has the scoop.
Bought for a buck, now priceless: Indigenous Alberta media archive set to be digitized
There are 2,000 reel-to-reel audio tapes and about 1,000 reels of 16-mm film, as well as piles of other defunct and deteriorating analogue media and obsolete computer formats and most in the Cree tongue. – The Canadian Press
CES 2019: 31 'Innovation' winners, highlighted by transparent Samsung TV
What can a company do to make a new TV look really cool and different?
How about making it transparent, so it blends into the wall and shows nothing but what's behind it when no video is being displayed.
The new Samsung Window TV, which is debuting at the 2019 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show, is one of 31 winners of the "Innovation Awards," which are given out on the eve of CES. – USA Today’s Talking Tech has the highlights.
RAIN News offers a wisdom of predictions for the industry in 2019
The list is long and includes Alan Cross, Fred Jacobs, James Cridland – read more by linking to the headline above.
Is radio measurement about to be rebooted?
Drive Time Metrics (DTM) has received patent approval for a data collection system it claims offers real-time measurement and analysis of in-vehicle media consumption measurement and analytics. This includes AM/FM/HD/DAB radio, satellite radio, stored media such as MP3 and CD/DVD, streaming media, Internet radio, audio books, podcasts, audio/video ads, and other forms of audio/video content. And, all content from any in-vehicle entertainment system and integration with a smartphone or media player via wired or wireless connectivity, including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. –– Radio Ink (via Sowny.net)
RIP
-- Former CBC Vancouver Executive Producer Len Chapple died in Victoria January 2, a month short of his 97th birthday. He began his long and distinguished broadcasting career at CKMO Vancouver shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. His work as an Executive Producer with CBC and other networks took him to the Olympic Games in Mexico City, Munich, Montreal, and Calgary; the first World Masters Games in Toronto and the Goodwill Games in Seattle. In 1978 he led CBC as host broadcaster for the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. – Times Colonist Obituary
-- Former Vancouver broadcaster Neil Arnold died from cardiac arrest at Vancouver General Hospital on December 12th. Arnold, whose real name was Neil Waldman, worked as a news anchor at CFUN, CJOR, CKWX and CKO-FM Vancouver during the 1970s and '80s. He is reported to have been about 74 years old.
-- Former Vancouver broadcast engineer Bob Service died December 14 at age 84. He was born in Duncan BC and grew up in small towns all over the province before graduating from high school in Chilliwack. As Chief Engineer, Service helped put CHQM AM 1320 Vancouver on the air in 1959, and spent 35 years at CBC-TV. No service was held per his request. – Sun/Province Obituary
-- Editor's note: Today's obituaries by way of the Northwest Broadcasters web portal
