Monday, June 29, 2026
As with all organizations you have to reinvent yourselves sometimes to see if you can do better. I have a rule never stand still and the COPAs need to stay fresh and relevant after all it's our 18th year. Well, after this exercise we found that we were underserving some key areas of the digital ecosystem.
As part of our mandate to cater to the whole digital ecosystem, we notcied that radio, tv and digital stream wre under represented. So, we are creating a new division them this year. It was time for their own division to showcase the talent in that sector.
As part of our mandate to cater to the whole digital ecosystem, we notcied that radio, tv and digital stream wre under represented. So, we are creating a new division them this year. It was time for their own division to showcase the talent in that sector.
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As we dug deeper into areas for possible new categories we felt that digital design was under served as we have four new categories and revised an old category. We want to push the industry away from cookie cutter templates..LOL
For content creators we created 3 new categoires for stories that are underpresented like the old classic Best Opinion and Commentary. The Special Interest category is a catch all for arts and culture, business/finance, entertainment, health/wellness, science/technology and sports stories
COPA 2026 RULES
The Use of AI was Discusssed
The use of AI in a category was heavily debated amongst the judges talked to about this issue, but we felt its is best to move forward and not stand still, but baby steps, as we have one only for Use of AI in design, the writing side is a hot potato right now.
NEW CATEGORIES
DIGITAL DESIGN
1. Digital Edition Replica Magazine Cover
2. Use of Artificial Intelligence in Design
3. Microsite/Article Design
4. Home Page Design
5. Multiplatform Digital Solution
For content creators we created 3 new categoires for stories that are underpresented like the old classic Best Opinion and Commentary. The Special Interest category is a catch all for arts and culture, business/finance, entertainment, health/wellness, science/technology and sports stories
CONTENT EXCELLENCE
1. Opinion/Commentary or Opt-ed
2. Special Interest Story
3. Local Community Entrepreneur Profile
COPA 2026 RULES
https://canadianonlinepublishingawards.com/rules
The use of AI in a category was heavily debated amongst the judges talked to about this issue, but we felt its is best to move forward and not stand still, but baby steps, as we have one only for Use of AI in design, the writing side is a hot potato right now.
AI Assisted Design is Growing fast!
One judge told me Pepper Par, publisher of the Burlington Gazette (https://burlingtongazette.ca/) on how he is now using AI to produce editorial cartoons. He said he saves on the cost of a freelancer and takes about 2 hours of staff time to create. This is a cost savings that cannot be ignored in a world of tight budgets, and Pepper says many more publications are using AI more in this fashion. His comments/critique centred on the lack of individual style in the art, but when you take a look at it, I bet you can’t tell the difference and has much more detail.
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Political Commentary of local elections
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Created by Humans, Assisted by AI
My sister, who owns a small business Woah Dough (https://woahdough.ca/) has being using AI to generate social media posts that look professionally done (albeit a little to busy for me). But have a look, it does a great job for the price, free, but with the paid model it is probably worth it if you do a lot. As a SMB, if they can save on marketing costs it is a very tempting path to follow. It makes great infographics.
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Social Media Post for Woah Dough
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The Futre of Journalism? Still needs a good writer btw.
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This Sports post ( Ok I am a leafs fan) was curatted by AI
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Are AI curated stories a form of plagarism?
The use of AI is writing is another story, it borders on gray plagarism in my opinion. The algoritium scrape the internet for content by other writers and then it is rehashed by a AI writer and posted. While this sounds good on paper and save costs, I don't know the public's appetite for this type of curated content wll be in the future from both the reader and author perspective. I hope all the references got paid too, then its content theft, no?
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https://canadianonlinepublishingawards.com/judge
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About Me
Martin Seto
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reflexmediasales.com or 416-907-6562, and on LinkedIn.
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