Monday, March 24, 2025

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
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
Tuesday, October 08, 2024
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
 
 
Sunday, June 09, 2024
This opening statement is to inspire the next generation of content creators in Canada as we have the will, resources and passion to be world class. The COPAs have become an essential tool in the Canadian digital landscape in this annual showase for our industry of who is the best.

We must continue to grow and adapt in an ever changing world with technology companies pushing the next wave on us even if we are not ready for it like AI. Before that it was virtual reality, chat bots, big data and the list goes on. Some stick and some don’t like 3D TV and wearable glasses. Have you ever used a Chatbot on a telco website? What a horrible experience so there are more misses than hits.

Personally, I had some creative growth in 2023 as my journey in the last year to become an actor that was part of my bucket list. So when somebody says it is over when you turn 60 they have been brainwashed by the “Freedom 55” ad campaign that has been embedded in today’’s mindset of success. ( BTW, I have hung around some retired guys and the most exciting thing they have to look forward to is the furnace man coming to the house, that's not me..LOL) You can still do great things in your 60's and 70’s. Here is a Keith Richards quote” You never stop growing until they put a shovel in the ground” as words to live by and if anybody was to die young it was Keith Richards.

Star Trek Strange New World is shot on CBS Sound stages in Toronto
This acting journey started with me wanting to get on Star Trek as background actor. It has shown me that we have some world class talent producing TV shows, movies and commercials.  I personally have shot scenes in Toronto that represent cities in the USA like Washington, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and even an alien planet in the numerous sound stages scattered across the city. I got to realize the dream of being a background actor on Star Trek in Strange New Worlds this May 2024. Toronto is a global production hub as I shot a movie (Covid Drama) and Fantasy TV show where I play a Crime Boss just for Asian audiences not just for Hollywood.

 The Stromedy Channel has over 10 million Subscribers

















I even came across a YouTuber “Stromedy Channel” that had over 5 million million subscribers in July 2023 and now has over 10 million shooting from a home they purchased through YouTube ad revenue. I was in a clip that was seen 40K in 2 days as part of a
ghost skit and now has over 500K. This experience greatly influenced the decision to add influencers to the COPA’s. This YouTube Playhouse I call them are an amazing group of people.

The journey also landed me a spot in a Quaker Oats Ad called “100 Reason to Rise” that was part of a global campaign, but was shot in Toronto because of the multicultural demographics that can represent the world. The client is based in London, UK along with the ad agency, but production was done in Toronto. If you ever take a stroll to all the cultural communities in Toronto you can go to little Italy, Manila, Greektown, Sri Lankan, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Russian, Caribbean, Mexican, Farsi and the list goes on.

 https://www.100reasonstorise.com

















(This experience taught me that long shots do come in as this was an open casting call and I pitched them my social media personna I had created and adapted for the ad pitch“ Grandpa Rent a Goalie” fueled by Quaker Oats along with a quote for a Rocky movie that I still have fire in the belly. I was also casted in an Expedia Travel ad that is still running, but only my elbow ended up in the ad LOL  I have a reel now 
ClubMartySeto YouTube Channel)
 
Quaker - Rise Up Campaign

We at the COPA’s already knew about this culutural diversity and we have a catgeory for multi-cultutal stories and Orange Shirt Day on September 30 is the COPA entry deadline as a symbolic gesture like the call for Entries on July 1, Canada day. 

My creative growth did have some unexpected turns too. I did a 5 min corporate video for Abbott Labs for a diabetes empathy story (I had to do a sugar shock scene 10x, so acting is hard work LOL). But the most fun was a live performance in a Murder Mystery skit at a corporate event where I got killed by a fork in the green room. This ride has taught me a lot things like all the film schools in Canada that are now part of the outreach of the COPA’s in the academic category.

Canada is home to some great talent that this posting is pat on the back to you ALL. As the producer of the COPAs I see it every year, but this past year I was on the other side of the content equation as talent and got to see the directors, cameras, lights and action. We have all the raw ingredients in Canada to create world class content on all levels in Canada. Let's keep telling the world about it so the next generation can be inspired to do better!

The 2024 COPA Call for Entries is July 1, 2024

The Canadian Online Publishing Awards (COPAs) the largest digital publishing awards program for Canadian content creators call for entries is on July 1, Canada Day. The deadline for entries is September 30, 2024. The 2024 categories have been released in 4 divisions ( B2B , B2C, News, and Academic). The COPAs is now in its 16th year. Visit the 2024 Rules Page here . 

Call for Judges
The COPA call for judges is now open if you are interested in becoming a judge and be part of the Who's Who of digital publishing in Canada. Register Here.
 
 
 
Monday, March 11, 2024
The winners of the 2023 COPA were announced on February 9th, 2024 and this year’s winner saw the rise of branded content as award winning quality.

 

The Academic division saw the emergence of a new school Red River College Polytechnic with a gold and 2 silver. RRC Polytechnic campuses in the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. UBC captured 1 gold a 3 silver was the other big winner. An entry from York’s film school won best Video.

 

 

 















In the B2B division saw York University capture 3 gold and 3 silver and was the big winner of the COPAs. University affairs won 3 gold and a silver. The Atlantic Association of CBDCs Ambitions Magazine won two silver that is part of the the rise in quality of branded content in this year’s winners.

 

 Deidre Kelly is presented a Gold for Best Digital Edition by Marty Seto

 

The consumer division had multiple winners across all categories, but the emergence of branded entries from the Mental Health Commission (2 silver), Metrolinx (Gold and Silver), Travelzoo (Gold and Silver), Samara Centre for Democracy (silver) and Hockey Canada (gold) win a COPA medal this year.

 

The News Media division that caters to local community websites across Canada saw Discourse Community Publishing that caters to First Nation communities in BC win 3 gold and 3 silver. New Winners included the Breach based in Montreal with and gold and silver and By Blacks.com that won gold.

 

The Top Ten scores if the This year COPAs has 13 entries (ties allowed) with the Top entry for York magazine for Best Digital Edition. This design has worn multiple COPAs. University Affairs came is second for the Best Multicultural Story and Fête Chinoise came in 3rd for the ir Best Feel Good Story.

 

 

 
About Me
Martin Seto

 
Martin Seto is the producer of the Canadian Online Publishing Awards (COPAS) with 30 years of life expereince in technology, advertising, media and creative exploration. He can be reached at marty(dot)seto(at)
reflexmediasales.com or 416-907-6562, and on LinkedIn.

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