canwest
2.jpg "David Climenhaga, author of the Alberta Diary blog, is a journalist, author, journalism teacher, poet and trade union communicator who has worked in senior writing and editing positions with the Toronto Globe and Mail and the Calgary Herald. His 1995 book, A Poke in the Public Eye, explores the relationships among Canadian journalists, public relations people and politicians. He left journalism after the strike at the Calgary Herald in 1999 and 2000 to work as Communications Director of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which with more than 73,000 members is Alberta’s largest union and Canada’s 10th largest. Alberta Diary focuses on Alberta politics and social issues. Contact: albertadiary @ gmail.com")
What to do if someone SLAPPs you
There is a reason why Hollywood legal thrillers always cast the big company as the defendant and never the plaintiff in lawsuits: there is nothing romantic about being sued by a company with deep pockets. There are no opportunities to bang the table and demand the truth; no vindication through articulate and impassioned speeches to the court; and most importantly for an activist, no chance of a victory on the substantive issue that instigated the lawsuit in the first place. In most cases, victory for a defendant in a strategic lawsuit against public participation (or a "SLAPP" as they are commonly known) is pyrrhic: a no cost settlement that leaves you no further ahead and much poorer than when you began.
Why we must limit the influence of corporate media
Editor's Note: This is the second of five articles that address the need to develop independent media -- print, broadcast and Internet-based -- in Canada. All five articles will appear on rabble.ca. The first article explored the reasons why traditional media no longer provide reliable news and information to the Canadian public. It can be viewed here. This second article explores how for-profit, corporate-owned media have filtered and censored both print and broadcast news for decades. The third article, which will appear following the Holiday break on Jan.
Canwest latest 'media giant' to exploit news operations
Editor's Note: This is the first of a five-part series that will address the need to develop independent media -- print, broadcast and Internet-based -- in Canada. All five articles will appear on rabble.ca. This first article explores the reasons why traditional media or corporate media -- that is, corporate-owned newspapers, TV, and radio -- no longer provide reliable news and information to the Canadian public. The next article, to appear on December 15, will look at how for-profit corporate media have filtered and censored the news for decades.
Indie media's moment
Despite the fact that Canwest filed for court protection against creditors on Oct. 6, 2009, several already well-paid directors, executives and other senior members of Canwest management will share $9.8 million in Key Employee Retention Plan (KERP) bonuses. In an article for rabble.ca, Gary Engler contrasts this extravagance with the fact that media workers are losing severance pay, pensions and jobs; shareholders are taking huge losses; and suppliers are receiving "a few cents on the dollar at best."
Canwest's Global war on satire
On 6-7, evil-doing satirists spoofed one of Canwest Global's shining towers of truth -- the Vancouver Sun newspaper.
Canwest, Canada's largest media company, has launched a Global War on Satire to ensure that fun-damentalist fanatics don't threaten its sacred freedom to monopolize media or mock its profound pro-Israel and neo-conservative bias.
Brave Canwest is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy but it will never abandon the War on Satire. The pernicious parodists will have to pull this SLAPP suit from Canwest's cold dead head.
Find out more about Canwest's anti-satire SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) at http://seriouslyfreespeech.ca
The National Post and the bankruptcy of media 'convergence'
Pardon the rest of Canwest newspaper employees for feeling more than a little leery about the prospect of the National Post (NP) returning to the financial embrace of “the LP Entities” -- as the lawyers and company executives refer to our employers.
Sure we’re glad that 277 Post employees will keep their jobs for at least a while longer. But how will this affect us?
Bonuses for Canwest bosses?
Greed is good. For a few people, at least. Greed has certainly been good for Canwest executives and directors who have been looking after themselves while ordinary workers get screwed as the company restructures.
When Canada’s largest media conglomerate filed for court protection against creditors for a portion of the company on Oct. 6, 2009, dozens of recently laid-off employees learned they would lose promised severance pay.
For Pat Vanderburg, who has worked for CHBC TV in Kelowna, B.C. for the past 23 years, this will amount to a loss of over $95,000.
About 80 non-union retirees will lose promised Canwest-paid medical, dental and life insurance benefits. In addition, 120 former employees are facing reduced pensions.
October 19, 2009 |
The CRTC gave Canwest a license for a new Reality TV channel (I kid you not) ust one week after the company announced it’s seeking protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.