Masthead Blogs
Monday, March 24, 2025
Gadget Blog
Martin Seto

OMG what is happening in the world today is utter chaos. Leaders of the world are astonished as the actions of one man in his ambition to make America great again. That’s the key word “Great Again". Like the fall of any empire there is a stage of denial and history is repeating itself again. Just ask the Romans during their decline.

 

 

According to the words of Aristotle, an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath (384-322 BC)

 

“Man is a political animal who seeks happiness by different ways and different means and so make for themselves different modes of life and forms of government. There is a struggle for power to determine who is master”

 
 Sounds familiar? Lets call it the “Trump Effect”

 

What will this chaos mean for publishers in 2025?

 

A USA invasion of Canada has happened before economically (the digital publishing industry is a textbook example). Canada's history as a branch plant economy of big USA firms, is still true today, so what's the big deal now. We are also of the hewers of wood with a resource rich country that has now become in vogue. But...

If anybody has read “The Confessions of an Economic Hitman” you know what you are seeing now is part of that playbook for world trade with Trump as the frontman, just like a movie script with Trump as the reality star president of the USA. This arrogance will be their downfall as the rest of the world will circle the wagons and give somebody humble pie.

Whatever the case there is a global reset happening and what does that mean to publishers? When you don't know the expected results yet. Typically, Canadian firms let USA companies shoot it out and partner with the ones left standing after the gunfight, but the USA is now shooting at everybody. We need to duck, bob and weave now and maybe a little bit of treachery too to survive.

 

Time to button down the hatches is the first step as the first thing that will be cut is advertising in a period of uncertainty for 3-6months. The “Trump Effect” is a new/old phenomenon and needs to be monitored carefully. The issue for Canadian publishers is that the market is already owned by USA digital giants already, so we are already screaming “ Who is Your Daddy” and the Online News Act is to remedy that. So in many respects we know what can happen to a Canadian industry dominated by USA firms. We can only guess and fear what is going to happen next.

 

 

A side effect of the “Trump Effect” is a growing trend to buy Canadian, which is a good thing with Canadian media. The CMDC has been advocating a Buy Canadian initiative “Canadian Media Manifesto” amongst their member agencies that control 90% of the media spend in Canada. This should get additional momentum in 2025. A Google Adsense and Facebook ad strike by all governments will be a great symbolic show of strength. We need government’s to stop advertising with USA media too! Here is an a Facebook ad from the Town of Whitby. Lets hope we can shame them too. https://www.cmdc.ca/cmm

 

 


Here is a local firm that is benefiting from the Buy Canadian wave. Woah Dough provides a gluten-free line of baked goods and cookies and is now the official gluten free cookie of the Enercare Centre in Toronto. https://woahdough.ca/


 Marilyn Campbell, pastry chef and co-owner. 


All levels of government are jumping on the buy Canadian bandwagon, which may be a rash decision in the heat of the moment, just asked Rob Ford, the premier of Ontario, when he tried to jack up the electricity rates for our American friends/family. The Canadian way is what Alberta is doing and that is what we should do, you don’t cut off the energy supply to your friends and family and that is what Americans are. Be kind and compassionate. Anger only makes things worse and can cause pain for generations. What Trump is doing has happened in Canada (Oka crisis 1990 in Quebec) on a smaller scale (but resulted in military action) that we can learn from.

 

 

 

Another side effect is that our Canadian identity is being challenged and our values are being tested and we are seeing “ How much Canadians love Canada” showing up everywhere, which is inspiring. The “Elbows Up” rallying cry that’s being adopted is very Canadian through our hockey roots.  “Mr. Elbows”, Gordie Howe a Canadian hockey icon that played for the Detroit Red Wings, who always went into the corners with his elbows up for puck battles. That’s right Canadians are hard nosed and ya don’t want to pick a fight with them. 


 Source: Elbow Room: “Gordie ‘Pow!'” by Detroit artist Zelley . Image: Howe Foundation

 
COPA 2025 to introduce "Best Patriotic Story"

The COPA’s want to hear more stories like this year. The COPAs this year will be introducing a new Free category for the “Best Patriotic story” that unites Canadians for a common cause. Details will be announced. Let’s show them that Canadians are a proud nation and don’t want to be American, plus face the possibility of medical bankruptcy, I had to throw this shot in, let’s call it a hockey face wash. LOL Also, you never divorce yourself from your family, cause you have a unpredicatable old uncle, that can't make up his mind. And friends are for life.

Monday, February 17, 2025
Gadget Blog
Martin Seto
The Top Ten Scores from this is years COPA saw a west coast slant this year The Narwhal, The Discourse and UBC taking 4 spots in the top 10 and The Narwhal getting top billing with 97.5/100 score from the judges. School entries received top scores this year that included Red River College, based in Manitoba and University’s King College in Nova Scotia. The other top ten scores came from Ontario - Travel Zoo, Toronto Life, IJF and Fête Chinoise.  Please check out this year’s top 10 with the links provided..

 

 

2025 SCHEDULE
May 1: Call for Judges
July 1: Call for Entries
Aug 18: Early Bird Deadline
Sept 30: Entry Deadline 
Dec 15: Finalist Announcement
Feb 2026 : COPA Party/ Zoom-cast
Thursday, October 10, 2024
COPA Judges Blog
Guest Blogger
 
This is National newspaper week; an occasion to look at the challenges the news business faces. 
This guest post is from Peter Carter.

On page 75 of Journalism for The Public Good, The Michener Awards at 50, author Kim S. Kierans writes me — yes, me — into the men’s room of the governor general’s residence in Ottawa, in conversation with the famous Canadian journalist/author/ editor and one-time master of Massey College, John Fraser. 

He and I were at Government House for the presentation of the Michener Awards; he as an important dignitary (or something) and me as a finalist. I was editor of the Manitoulin Expositor weekly newspaper and in the GG john, John F. asked if I had my acceptance speech ready. I was like “yah, right.”  

 
As if they were going to hand Canada’s most prestigious journalism award to a weekly newspaper nobody’d ever heard of, when the other finalists included the likes of the Globe and Mail and Edmonton Journal.

Turns out I should have had that speech ready. Cuz we won! 

First time ever for a weekly paper!  Was one of the best journalisticky things that ever happened to me. But why — aside from my tireless campaign to seek attention — am I telling you this now?

Because it’s National Newspaper Week and you must read Kierans’ new book.  

 
Kierans’ a lively writer — you don’t get to where she is without flair — and the book’ll stoke your love of journalism, and newspapers, and all the great work you do. 

This reminded me of the time I read Cherie Dimaline's novel The Marrow Thieves. I picked up The Marrow Thieves because I knew and seriously like and admire Cherie, who I worked with at Chatelaine, even though (or maybe especially because) one afternoon our boss Rona Maynard compared my and Cherie's management style to that of the Keystone Kops. I took it as a compliment.

Anyway, I started The Marrow Thieves because Cherie was the author but finished it because the story was so gripping. (The Marrow Thieves then went on to become a best-selling award winner. Feels great when that happens.) I started  Journalism for the Public Good because my name was in it then finished the book because it was so damn interesting and easy to read.   

JFTPG was launched at a Massey College event Sept. 26, and the event was like an interactive Ted talk on the seminal role that a robust fourth estate plays in democracy. 

You’re busy. I’m not going into details. Get the book and read it. 

But not before you read this:  At the launch, the panel and visitors loudly bemoaned the drying up of traditional revenues for newspapers and other media, but Kierans eclipsed the dour clichés with what some might consider surprising optimism. 

Enterprising reporters and publishers and content producers, fired up with what the first master of Massey College Robertson Davies described as “altruistic nosiness,” are finding new financial models to finance their work. Co-operative news organizations, lean online operations like the Narwhal (which shared the 2023 Michener with the Toronto Star) and outfits Kierans described as “hyper-local initiatives,” are appearing with increasing frequency. 

“These stories will continue to be told but the platforms will be different,” she said, adding, “It’s like nature. Journalists keep popping up.” 

More evidence of the same? In the audience Thursday was a friend of Kierans and the founder and CEO of a citizen-journalism startup called CITIZN, Murray Simser.   Simser, who speaks fluent Silicone Valley, describes CITIZN as “UBER for journalism.” After the book launch, I asked Simser what the heck he was on about.

Here’s him on CITIZN: “Look, the idea of UBER for journalism is as broad as the concept itself. 

“The possible combinations are limitless, but it means that every journalist now has a global potential audience rather than a local audience in their field of expertise. Say you are an expert in Northern Ontario [nice, Murray, thanks]; loads of people around the world would want to call on you, likely daily.”

I’m liking the sound of this. Guaranteed you’ll be hearing more about CITIZN. This all sort of reminds me of when I was working at the Financial Post, when reporter John Greenwood tried to sell us a on story about something called “The Internet.”

I had no idea what he was talking about. Not sure I do, yet! But I am looking forward to the future of the news business. Never mind what the loudmouths are saying about the future of news. The smart mouths are bullish.

About the Author: Peter Carter

 

Toronto writer/ editor/ one-time magazine owner and publisher---35 years experience in Canadian magazines; currently Analysis Editor at Law360 Canada; an online daily news source for Canadian lawyers; Winner of Best Business Blog at COPAs 2014 for Pete's Blog&Grille; National Magazine Awards finalist; accordion player and motorbike enthusiast.

 
 
Wednesday, October 09, 2024
COPA Judges Blog
Guest Blogger
 
This is National newspaper week; an occasion to look at the challenges the news business faces.


Pepper Parr, Publisher of the Burlington Gazette is writing a series of articles on the state of the industry. Pepper has been a judge of the COPAs and this series is also on the site at this link. This is the second of a series on the changes taking place in print media and the challenge keeping the public informed.

 

In the period leading up to 2000 media found itself facing realty difficult times. When Y2k (remember that event) was upon us no one really knew what was going to happen when we moved into the new millennium.

 

 Newspapers were selling their printing presses and contracting the work out.

 

Media covered the event like a wet blanket – there were those that said it wasn’t really a problem while others suggested the machines that drive production would come to an immediate halt.

 

Media did a lot of reporting – but they didn’t pause to ask: what does this mean to us as an industry?

 

I don’t recall reading about any industry wide workshops; I don’t recall seeing anything in the way of op-ed pieces on what the industry needed to do in the way of changes.

 

Media covered disruption – without realizing that they were in line for some major disruption to their industry and they weren’t prepared.

 

The industry no longer had the aura of Watergate or the Pentagon Papers that made reporters heros – at that time thousands flooded into the industry wanting to be reporters. Reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were the subject of close to fawning news stories, television specials and movies.

 

By the late 1980s journalism schools were being closed.  The number of students that graduated got smaller and smaller.

 

The age of the men and woman in the news rooms was made up of people in their late 40’s and 50’s  – there was no new blood coming into the industry.  And there were few MBAs on staff of the large newspapers.

 

Those that were public corporations had financial analysts looking at profits which were decent at the time – what those analysts didn’t see was that the boat was moving quickly toward a Niagara size waterfall.

 

When the disruption of the revenue sources began media didn’t have a Plan B – they watched is losses began to climb and subscriptions slowly slipped away.

 

 

 The data relates to American newspaper – the number will not be much different for Canada.


 
By Pepper Parr
As Publisher of the Burlington Gazette I am driven by this statement. “Informed people can make informed decisions.” Media is the only sector that can deliver the information. The politicians don’t – they issue statements that project the story they want to tell. I have been a journalist from the day my first picture and story appeared on the front page of the Montreal Gazette. I have published books, magazines and newspapers. I was the founding editor of the Toronto Ward 9 News in about 1972. The Burlington Gazette started publishing as an on-line newspaper in 2010.

This story was originally posted in the Burlington Gazette on October 8, 2024 at this link
 

 

Tuesday, October 08, 2024
Gadget Blog
Martin Seto
Yeah, I am using a coaching term, but this is appropriate for this solution. We face many industry challenges and the spiral that I am seeing in the publishing industry is going to a Black Hole, if we don’t raise our game to a new level. This discussion is happening with Newspaper Week across North America and we are joining the cause by supporting this as it takes a collective effort to fight off the digital myths of the web. 

Digital Myths need to be reversed. 
This is no easy task. The digital myths that we need to overcome start with this, that is typical of what people expect for their digital solutions. Just like the old days in high tech where “ Nobody got fired if they chose IBM”. Google has associated its brand with success too and took a page out of IBM's playbook.

 

Here is a statement of the Industry in an Op-ed from News Media Canada CEO Paul Deegan  to get the ball rolling.

National Newspaper Week is about Supporting Local Journalism

According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s Digital News Report 2024, Canadians’ trust in news is 39 per cent. For comparison, Americans’ trust is news is even lower at 32 per cent. 

There are many variables at play in the decline of trust, including engagement-driven algorithms that deprioritize hard news – which traditionally provided a common set of facts – in favour of reinforcing one’s point of view rather than informing the reader. The rise of ‘fake news’, misinformation, and disinformation are among other factors in the decline of trust.

Across Canada, newspapers – whether print or digital – continue to cover school boards, cops, courts, city hall, and other issues that matter to the daily lives of Canadians. That’s why Canadians’ trust in their regional or local newspaper stands at a relatively healthy 65 per cent.  
 
But real journalism by real journalists – not some artificial intelligence tool that scrapes the web for content, which is not always reliable – costs real money. Real local journalism involves the hard work of gathering facts, shows evidence of first-hand reporting — such as independent research, interviews, and fieldwork — and editing. The light rewriting, reproduction, or aggregation of news from external sources is not original journalism, nor is simply cutting and pasting news releases or loading up a website with copy from a wire service or with a carousel of clickbait.

While there is no one silver bullet to solve the economic crisis in journalism, there are solutions that can help. 

First, businesses can support their local newspaper through advertising. Governments – federal, provincial and local – can follow the lead of the Ford government in Ontario earmark 25 per cent of advertising spend to domestic news publishers. For context, the feds spent more on China’s TikTok last year than all Canadian print publications combined. 

The private sector shouldn’t be competing with the public broadcaster, which takes in $73,139,000 in digital advertising revenue while receiving $1,271,800,000 in direct annual government subsidies. 

The government can provide the Competition Bureau with the tools and resources it needs to complete its investigation into online advertising practices in Canada. 

And finally, Canada Post needs to return to the long-standing policy of exempting community newspapers with commercial inserts (e.g., flyers from local hardware and grocery franchisees) from the Consumers’ Choice program. Community newspapers with commercial inserts are not ‘junk mail’.

In a world where misinformation travels faster than truth, newspapers and their websites keep Canadians informed, connected, and engaged in communities from coast to coast. National Newspaper Week is an opportunity to recognize the 3,000 print journalists who work tirelessly every day to get news out to Canadians, but it’s also an opportunity to reflect on how we, as Canadians, can support their work.

About Newspapaer Week
Across North America during the week of October 6-12 is National Newspaper Week. National Newspaper Week is an annual opportunity to recognize the critical role that newspapers play in an active and healthy democracy. It is celebrated in North America on the first Sunday in October. Local newspapers deliver vital information to Canadians, connecting local communities across the country and keeping citizens informed, engaged, and connected. 

We will be having a guest columnist Pepper Parr, Publisher of the Burlington Gazette during this week in the COPA Judges Blog.  Learn more about National Newspaper Week at www.nationalnewspaperweek.ca or www.ChampionsoftheTruth.ca