Tag Archives: media

Lamentations Don’t Pay the Bills – You Get What You’re Willing to Pay For

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By Jay Menard,

With yesterday’s announcement of the Postmedia/Torstar swap of 41 newspapers, with the intent of shutting them down, the online world was above with lamentations about the loss of community content, the unfairness of the decision, and allegations of big business and corporate greed ruling the roost.

The thing is, Instead of wringing our collective hands after the fact, maybe we should be more willing to reach into our collective wallets beforehand.

Or, in short, if you want good, community content, pay for it. Continue reading →

Boston Coverage — Not the Death of Media, but the End of ‘First’ Era

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By Jason Menard

Like so many times before, the death of mainstream media has been greatly exaggerated. But if anything has died as a result of the questionable coverage of the Boston terrorist bombings and subsequent manhunt, hopefully it’s the prevalence of jumping the gun when reporting potential smoking guns.

And that’s something for which both traditional and social media are guilty. Continue reading →

Social Media’s Growing Up by Learning its Lessons from Traditional Sources

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By Jason Menard

Sure, there may still be some growing pains here and there, but there are signs that social media is growing up and it’s putting the responsibility for content back where it belongs – the reader — thanks to lessons learned from traditional sources.

Two recent examples have illustrated this perfectly. I discussed the Tori Stafford murder trial coverage, and the tribulations it caused amongst a media struggling to figure out how to balance the public’s right to know with its equal right to not know. In the end, especially on Twitter, local media chose to post key messages on their main feeds, directing them to full content on a parallel Twitter channel – with full disclaimers and warnings of the graphic content. Continue reading →

More Info than Ever, but Who Can You Trust?

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By Jason Menard

The number of TV stations, Web sites, publications, and social networking sites, can not just sate those who have a thirst for politics – it can overwhelm them. So the question now becomes, how do you filter this firehose-like deluge of information and make the best choice for you?

The Ontario provincial election is less than a month away and while it may seem that we’ve been inundated with campaign rhetoric and information, the fact is that the writ was just dropped and the campaign only officially began yesterday.  Continue reading →

California Gaming Law Puts Rules Squarely in Parents’ Hands

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By Jason Menard

Free speech comes with a cost – personal responsibility. The repeal of a California law banning the sale and rental of violent games to minors puts the responsibility for parenting right where it should lie – with the parents.

Unfortunately for many kids that’s not exactly a comforting thought.  Continue reading →