By David Farrell
Canada’s telecom among world’s best in affordability and value
In addition to the Economist and PwC reports, other studies have found that Canada’s telecom industry offers superior value. For example, a U.S. industry association-commissioned study found that Canadian wireless subscribers receive more value for their dollar – or “more bang for their buck” – than customers in all other G7 countries plus Australia. – Robert Ghiz, The Star
Slowly but surely the government is gathering the media into its ghastly embrace
I don’t want to alarm you, but you might like to know that the federal government is about to take over the media.
Perhaps you will think I am exaggerating. But before the spring is out, based on its own announced timeline, there won’t be a patch of grass on the media landscape – broadcasting or newspapers, digital or analog, curated or user-generated – that the government does not either regulate or subsidize or both. If takeover is not the word, what is?
Broadcasting, of course, fell to the state long ago. – Andrew Coyne, The Globe and Mail
Billionaires push to derail hedge fund takeover of local US newspapers
Two unlikely billionaires may be close to derailing a massive newspaper deal that would've likely resulted in the loss of hundreds of local journalism jobs across the country.
Maryland hotel magnate Stewart Bainum Jr. and Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss have reportedly agreed to put up more than $600 million of their own money to help finance a roughly $680 million bid for Tribune Publishing, the parent to many of America's most iconic newspapers.
Other wealthy individuals are apparently eyeing ways to help save their local papers from takeover bids by private equity giant Alden Global Capital. – Sara Fischer, Axios
Corporate America is wading into the voting rights brawl
Major corporations' foray into the election policy debate, which experts called unusual, comes as Republicans across the country work to advance hundreds of restrictions, changes that voting rights advocates and civil rights groups argue would disproportionately affect voters of color. – NBC News
China turns Uyghur controversy… into a musical
A new state-produced musical set in Xinjiang inspired by the Hollywood blockbuster La La Land has hit China’s cinemas, portraying a rural idyll of ethnic cohesion devoid of repression, mass surveillance and even the Islam of its majority Uyghur population. – Agency Presse-France
'Kill the Bill': Protests across the UK over new bill to give police more powers
Hundreds of people marched Saturday through central London and other cities across England and Wales to protest the British government's plan to hand the police new powers to tackle demonstrations.
The demonstrators were upset at the Conservative government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is currently going through parliament. Under the terms of the bill, which covers England and Wales, police will be able to ban or shut down protests. – AP
US corporations called out for zero tax calculations
The deceptive marketing game of "brand purpose" took a big hit this week as the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy issued a report saying that over 50 of America's largest corporations paid no federal taxes last year. According to the NY Times, Nike paid zero for the third consecutive year.
How much damage are corporations doing by not paying a fair share of taxes? In 2017 Nike estimated that by stashing its profits offshore it was saving over $4 billion a year in federal income taxes. Also, in 2017 it was reported that US corporations had almost $3 trillion stashed offshore. – Bob Hoffman, The Ad Contrarian
RIP
Montreal radio personality Buddy Gee, real name Jerzy Delman, died this past Sunday at age 78, reports The Montreal Gazette.
