Erica Lenti was the Spring 2015 editor of the RRJ. The RRJ’s journalism blog: not an oxymoron
Amongst some journalists, you’ll still witness a slight shutter at the mention of bloggers. It’s not that they feel challenged anymore (the threat of citizen journalism is so 2008) or fear for their jobs. But, whether they’ll cop to it or not, there’s still a sense that blogging is not “real” journalism. But this sentiment […]
Compelled
It’s a day of mourning for journalists. Twelve journalists were among 46 murdered Monday in the Philippines. It’s not yet known what the motive for the attack was or if the journalists were the targets. But that’s 12 fewer of us in the world (and, it must also be said, 34 fewer innocent non-journalists as […]
Future of magazines and rodent species now brighter
It’s always exciting when magazines find new ways to incorporate content into their websites. Times are a-changin’ and at this point in the game, jumping on the bandwagon doesn’t seem so bad. Last week, Canadian Geographic started using video to augment and extend its print stories. The re-establishment of the black-footed ferret, which has been […]
Branding gone bad
It’s all about the brand, any publisher today will tell you. Cosmopolitan and Playboy are the epitomes of brand extension. And with Oprah Winfrey exiting the stage to start up her own television network, has everyone got brand on the brain? The latest culprit is HGTV superstar Mike Holmes with his new publication Holmes: The Magazine […]
And from the ashes…
Here’s an unlikely story: Detroit is getting a third daily newspaper to serve its ever-dwindling population. The Detroit Daily Press will begin publishing November 23 in one of the most violent, run-down, economically devastated major cities in the U.S., where the other two major papers, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, have been […]
Hungry for celebrity
Wednesday on CBC Radio’s Q, Jian Ghomeshi interviewed Chris Atkins, creator of the film Starsuckers. Through a series of media hoaxes, Atkins’ documentary depicts the celebrity-hungry culture that dominates certain British news organizations. “Atkins and his team called up British tabloids with made-up frivolous celebrity stories, and they ‘just printed anything,’” states British news site […]
”The future of news is a future of conferences about the future of news”
With the “woe is me” attitude we all have toward the current state of flux journalism finds itself in, it’s no wonder all we want to talk about is our own profession. Journalists have been criticized lately for writing too much about journalism, but I say if it’s news, it should be covered. (Although my […]
HST exemption for some!
Looks like the dailies’ kid sisters are getting kicked in the mouth again. Funny … we barely have any teeth left. The Ontario government announced Thursday that newspaper subscriptions would be exempt from the new 13 percent harmonized sales tax. That means by June 2010, magazines will stand alone with an eight percent taxation increase. […]
Friday Funny: Party in the Print Box
So this is where all those jobless journalists go at night! Street artists Jason Eppink and Posterchild are throwing the print after-party, setting up abandoned newspaper boxes with disco balls, LED lights, handheld radios and cut-out silhouettes. As Eppink wrote, “When the last vestiges of a collapsed empire litter the landscape, there’s only one thing […]
Drown your sorrows at the RRJ’s Pink Slip Party
You’ve probably heard these words one too many times in recent past: layoffs, recession, collapse, destruction and maybe even apocalypse. Unfortunately, these are commonly used terms among folks in the journalism industry lately. While we’re conscious of how serious and troubling the times have become, there’s a part of us that can’t help but take […]
