Foreign news channels

For some reason, I'm really intrigued by news channels from other countries. It's fun seeing what others are talking about and how they're doing it. It wasn't possible in the past due to language barriers, but now there's a slow stream of English-language foreign news channels making their way online.

As I posted before, I subscribed to Al Jazeera English which offered an interesting perspective. Earlier today, I tuned in to Press TV, Iran's new news channel online, for free. Then I fell upon France 24 and am now tuned in to Russia Today, which is pretty impressive. It was interesting seeing their reporter outside the White House and to hear the sad story of a family in Moscow that had been evicted and had taken their story public with Russia Today hoping they'd get the help from abroad that they weren't getting from within Russia.

In weather, they had weather for Toronto and Ottawa, but not Montreal.

Check 'em out and compare them to Newsworld, CNN, and the BBC.

What you can do as a reporter -- and what you can't if you're not

All he wanted to do was meet his hero and he found a way to do so. Except it could have cost him seven years in prison.

Shea ban for Mets fan (SI.com)

A piece of advice for Ryan: get into j-school!

Memorable Quote

Friday, December, 1, 2006 @ 11:43 a.m.

"Journalism is not a welfare system." - Darcy O'Brien

(During a verbal outburst on student team members -- not his own -- who aren't up to the challange and need someone to prop them up, then go on to complain about it)

The CBC of the Future

Has our prof, who happens to be a former CBC insider, been passing on ideas from our short essays to the Mother Corp?

I swear, it sure seems like it!

"We'll be looking at a more strategic multi-platform treatment of stories that moves audiences from radio to the web, readers of the web to television, and so on," Burman said. "We're heading into a world where we're all going to become content providers, not TV stations, not newspapers, not radio stations."
[emphasis added]

CBC-TV kills Canada Now (Toronto Star)

And from November 2nd:

To fulfill this desire, National Public Radio should be prepared to let go of "radio" and replace it with "media."

It is clear that public radio cannot survive as such. There needs to be a multi-platform offering in order to survive. And that means getting online, with audio, video, and multimedia.

...

NPR has made a good effort to prepare itself for the future. All it needs to realize now is that the R at the end will from now on be an M, and it needs to start thinking that way.

(Sikander Hashmi, Critique of NPR's Blueprint for Growth, JOUR 343 -- Broadcast Public Affairs)

The only thing I had thought of but didn't mention in the critique was that, like NPR, the CBC should think like the CMC and not the CBC.

What does this mean for us? It's great!

Want radio, TV, online news, blogs, podcasts, videocasts, internet-broadcasts, and mycasts?

You've got it!

This is the first time I've paid for online content...

...and I don't regret it one bit.

I hesitatingly shelled out $5.95 (US) to watch Al-Jazeera International (English) online for a month. It's been only two days but I can feel myself getting my money's worth every time I watch the high-quality live stream.

I've learned about hot mud taking over an entire Indonesian village thanks to drilling by a gas company, Zimbabweans jumping off trains into very dangerous territory while being deported from South Africa, why Afghan farmers are still into poppy production, the Gulf's first sportswoman, how a Rabbi in Gaza is trying to protect Palestinian farmers from attacks by settlers, the environmental fallout of China's progress and its effects on ordinary citizens, not to mention extensive coverage of the conflict in Darfur.

But don't take my word for it.

New York Times: Not Coming Soon to a Channel Near You

CBC Editor-in-Chief Tony Burman: Al-Jazeera should be available in Canada

The Republic

Remember, remember, the eighth of november
when the republic finally awoke.
There was no talk of treason,
there was no reason,
the people merely rose up and spoke.

Remember, remember, the eighth of november
and the lesson that it wrote,
that the freedom for people,
from an endless torment
often begins with a vote.

Wrestling with the Digital Revolution

We are told that public broadcasters are trying to figure out how to survive the digital revolution. The top brass are trying to figure out a strategy that uses the power of computer networks to supplement what they are trying to achieve. Meanwhile, producers across the continent are trying to somehow incorporate the Internet into their programs.

Seems like the ones out of all the important discussions and decision-making for the future are the audiences of the future.

I'm surprised that I haven't seen any of these powerful folks on campus to get ideas. Perhaps it'd be worth tapping the young minds who are growing up with the technology, are actively using it, and who will be running the show in the future.

Here's a tip for public broadcasters: Start focusing on young audiences -- not by dumbing down content -- but by giving us meaningful content that appeals to us, packaged in a way that's not dull and boring. This is the demographic that will decide your fate. Earlier you catch on to them and build a relationship, the better.

Yes, the Hour is a start. But there's much more that can be done.

Want to know how?

Come talk to us.