For the next issue of our class newspaper, Ink, I am part of the editorial team. Because of this, I took a break from my business beat to come up with other content for the paper. I made a fun little Christmas crossword puzzle, and thought I'd try out some multimedia work as well. As a musician and lover of all things musical, I ventured out across campus to find out what people were listening to. I took pictures to add my findings to the print edition of Ink, but also got the video camera out so that I could post what people said to the web. I jumped over another technology induced hurdle when it came to editing my video. It turns out that iMovie HD, which is installed on my MacBook Pro, does not play audio when "muxed" files are imported into the program. Essentially, the audio and video were on the same track, and iMovie HD doesn't like that for some reason. Luckily, I searched around on the Internet and found a program that would convert my muxed mpeg files into dv files, which iMovie is happy to recognize and work with. It took awhile to get to this point, but once everything was working, the process was relatively painless. Every time I have a computer problem I will spend hours working on it until the issue is resolved. It's impossible for me to allow the computer to win -- it needs to do what I want it do to.
Anyway, before I start ranting about computers and the stupidity of some programs, here is the video I made:
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The influence of business on city council
When I covered Regina's civic election last week, I decided to take a look at the influence of business, or business lobbies, on city council's policies and decisions. I found a few different views on the matter, and while I'm not ready to say business-friendly decisions are of the highest importance at council, it seems there is at least some truth behind the perception that business plays a key role in city policy.
I spoke to Ward 3 candidate for city council, John Conway, who was quick to declare that issues concerning citizens come second to business interests in municipal politics. He said the business lobby in Regina continually presents its ideas to city council and that evidence of its impact on council is evident through the policies council makes. He referenced the fact that there is a lack of affordable housing, rental prices are too high, and that people have been driven from their apartments due to condominium conversions in the city. He also said that Mayor Pat Fiacco is under the view that if the city is doing well economically, the benefits will trickle down to all facets of society, adding that this way of running a city does not work.
On the other hand, Councillor Michael Fougere said that it is too simplistic for people to take this view towards council. He said business groups have no more say in council's decisions than regular citizens or unions, and that the city has embarked on many initiatives to address issues concerning citizen concerns. Basically, what it comes down to, he said, is trying to find the appropriate balance between the concerns of all groups.
With two very opposing views, I looked to a few of the groups that lobby city council to see how they felt about their influence on city council. I spoke to Tom Graham, president of CUPE in Saskatchewan, and he said he felt as though the union had some influence over city council, but not any more than other groups or citizens in the city. However, he mentioned that he feels city council listens more to business groups than unions. Because the union represents so many public workers in the city, Graham said CUPE makes sure to inform its members on which councillors stand for which issues.
I then spoke to Marilyn Braun-Pollon from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), who said the group has been fairly successful in lobbying for, and bringing about change, from city council. However, she said that while progress has been made, there's a lot more work that council can do to help out small businesses, which CFIB represents. She mentioned that average mill rate increases have not been as high as other jurisdictions, and that Regina now ranks 8th out of 10 when it comes to the most business-friendly cities in Canada.
With three out of the four people I spoke to saying that city council at least helps out businesses in Regina, it appears that there would have to be at least a little bit of business influence over council. On the other hand, both CUPE and the CFIB indicated that "more work needs to be done" by city council. So even if council is influenced by business, the business sector isn't completely satisfied. This supports Fougere's view that it really comes down to a balancing act -- even if the current situation may not be the most optimal balance for everybody.
While it can be argued that a business-friendly city can help everyone in the community -- through the creation of jobs at all skill levels -- it is also true that in order to get any of these jobs and be successful at them, people have to have access to the basic needs of life. If people must continually worry about how to afford their homes, or not have access to activities that build life skills, walking into a business and getting a job isn't an easy task. Before people can prosper and contribute to the economy, basic needs must be satisfied. The balancing act at city council needs to reflect this idea.
I spoke to Ward 3 candidate for city council, John Conway, who was quick to declare that issues concerning citizens come second to business interests in municipal politics. He said the business lobby in Regina continually presents its ideas to city council and that evidence of its impact on council is evident through the policies council makes. He referenced the fact that there is a lack of affordable housing, rental prices are too high, and that people have been driven from their apartments due to condominium conversions in the city. He also said that Mayor Pat Fiacco is under the view that if the city is doing well economically, the benefits will trickle down to all facets of society, adding that this way of running a city does not work.
On the other hand, Councillor Michael Fougere said that it is too simplistic for people to take this view towards council. He said business groups have no more say in council's decisions than regular citizens or unions, and that the city has embarked on many initiatives to address issues concerning citizen concerns. Basically, what it comes down to, he said, is trying to find the appropriate balance between the concerns of all groups.
With two very opposing views, I looked to a few of the groups that lobby city council to see how they felt about their influence on city council. I spoke to Tom Graham, president of CUPE in Saskatchewan, and he said he felt as though the union had some influence over city council, but not any more than other groups or citizens in the city. However, he mentioned that he feels city council listens more to business groups than unions. Because the union represents so many public workers in the city, Graham said CUPE makes sure to inform its members on which councillors stand for which issues.
I then spoke to Marilyn Braun-Pollon from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), who said the group has been fairly successful in lobbying for, and bringing about change, from city council. However, she said that while progress has been made, there's a lot more work that council can do to help out small businesses, which CFIB represents. She mentioned that average mill rate increases have not been as high as other jurisdictions, and that Regina now ranks 8th out of 10 when it comes to the most business-friendly cities in Canada.
With three out of the four people I spoke to saying that city council at least helps out businesses in Regina, it appears that there would have to be at least a little bit of business influence over council. On the other hand, both CUPE and the CFIB indicated that "more work needs to be done" by city council. So even if council is influenced by business, the business sector isn't completely satisfied. This supports Fougere's view that it really comes down to a balancing act -- even if the current situation may not be the most optimal balance for everybody.
While it can be argued that a business-friendly city can help everyone in the community -- through the creation of jobs at all skill levels -- it is also true that in order to get any of these jobs and be successful at them, people have to have access to the basic needs of life. If people must continually worry about how to afford their homes, or not have access to activities that build life skills, walking into a business and getting a job isn't an easy task. Before people can prosper and contribute to the economy, basic needs must be satisfied. The balancing act at city council needs to reflect this idea.
Friday, October 16, 2009
More Canwest, Different Mood
Speaking of Canwest...
The company filed for, and received, creditor protection last week. The business unit in charge of the Global TV stations and the National Post was part of this, but not the division that encompasses Canwest's daily newspapers. It's "business as usual" for now, while the company goes through a restructuring process and negotiates debt repayment, but for the employees, it would sure be hard to maintain that "usual"-ness.
It's hard to say what Canwest will look like after this process. With $4 billion in debt, what business units will it keep? What may get sold off? The division in charge of the papers has until Oct. 31 to work out debt repayment, so it's possible that we'll see it file for creditor protection as well.
I spoke to Carmi Levy, an indepedent technology analyst in London, Ont. and he really opened my eyes to the reality of the situation. He said the day of debt-funded media conglomerates in Canada is over -- that it's a business model that isn't just sick, but dead. The big companies were supposed to be able to leverage economies of scale to do things better and faster than regionally-owned operations. However, what happened was that these companies essentially gutted their local operations, giving the consumers of news less.
Even though CBC is a government-funded broadcaster, and is a little off topic, this is where I can personally relate to what Levy was saying. As a child, I remember the CBC news hour at 6 p.m. was what my family watched every night. It Regina-based and gave all the Regina news. In addition, there were local programs produced here in Regina, such as Switchback (my personal favourite). Then came budget cuts and layoffs. CBC now has a Saskatchewan-wide newscast and local programming such as Switchback is essentially a thing of the past. Needless to say, my family doesn't watch the CBC dinner-time news anymore. While it's important to know what's going on throughout the world, people want their fair share of what's happening in their communities.
Going forward, Levy said media companies in Canada will develop new "hybridized" business models -- where conventional and new media will no longer be separate concepts. And this is all thanks to the Internet. He said that in the future, there may no longer be separate definitions between TV stations, newspapers, radio and web publishers. Media organizations will have to incorporate all of these components in order to connect with audiences.
It's unfortunate that Canwest had to be the first media conglomerate to face this magnitude of hardship. Looking back at my previous post, Canwest seems to have realized that it needed more of a presence when it comes to the tech-savvy people that want their information on the go -- it was a step in the right direction, at least in terms of its newspapers. The papers are still profitable, so my hope is that if they do get sold, the people who take them over can run them in a way that delivers even more local content, but still offers a web and mobile presence. If they aren't sold, Canwest needs to keep trucking in the direction it has started to move towards, and get more of the TV side of things on track as well.
Canwest's restructing process could take months, but the outcome will definitely give a clear indication as to the future of the Canadian media landscape.
For now, I wait...
The company filed for, and received, creditor protection last week. The business unit in charge of the Global TV stations and the National Post was part of this, but not the division that encompasses Canwest's daily newspapers. It's "business as usual" for now, while the company goes through a restructuring process and negotiates debt repayment, but for the employees, it would sure be hard to maintain that "usual"-ness.
It's hard to say what Canwest will look like after this process. With $4 billion in debt, what business units will it keep? What may get sold off? The division in charge of the papers has until Oct. 31 to work out debt repayment, so it's possible that we'll see it file for creditor protection as well.
I spoke to Carmi Levy, an indepedent technology analyst in London, Ont. and he really opened my eyes to the reality of the situation. He said the day of debt-funded media conglomerates in Canada is over -- that it's a business model that isn't just sick, but dead. The big companies were supposed to be able to leverage economies of scale to do things better and faster than regionally-owned operations. However, what happened was that these companies essentially gutted their local operations, giving the consumers of news less.
Even though CBC is a government-funded broadcaster, and is a little off topic, this is where I can personally relate to what Levy was saying. As a child, I remember the CBC news hour at 6 p.m. was what my family watched every night. It Regina-based and gave all the Regina news. In addition, there were local programs produced here in Regina, such as Switchback (my personal favourite). Then came budget cuts and layoffs. CBC now has a Saskatchewan-wide newscast and local programming such as Switchback is essentially a thing of the past. Needless to say, my family doesn't watch the CBC dinner-time news anymore. While it's important to know what's going on throughout the world, people want their fair share of what's happening in their communities.
Going forward, Levy said media companies in Canada will develop new "hybridized" business models -- where conventional and new media will no longer be separate concepts. And this is all thanks to the Internet. He said that in the future, there may no longer be separate definitions between TV stations, newspapers, radio and web publishers. Media organizations will have to incorporate all of these components in order to connect with audiences.
It's unfortunate that Canwest had to be the first media conglomerate to face this magnitude of hardship. Looking back at my previous post, Canwest seems to have realized that it needed more of a presence when it comes to the tech-savvy people that want their information on the go -- it was a step in the right direction, at least in terms of its newspapers. The papers are still profitable, so my hope is that if they do get sold, the people who take them over can run them in a way that delivers even more local content, but still offers a web and mobile presence. If they aren't sold, Canwest needs to keep trucking in the direction it has started to move towards, and get more of the TV side of things on track as well.
Canwest's restructing process could take months, but the outcome will definitely give a clear indication as to the future of the Canadian media landscape.
For now, I wait...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Mobile News Network
On Sept. 16, Canwest launched mobile versions of its daily newspaper websites across Canada, including it's national canada.com site.
Given the state of the media industry in these times, this move doesn't surprise me at all. Canwest is one of a long list of organizations vying for viewer attention, and on top of that, media outlets across the country are losing the advertising revenue that is essential to the business model in which they operate.
Even though nobody has come up with the perfect business model that the media can adapt to in order to sustain the industry, I think that offering "news on the go" has the potential to keep viewers engaged with "the local paper," albeit through digital means rather than buying a hard copy edition. In addition, a new door for advertising is opened through this medium.
Being that only a certain tech-savvy portion of the population would even consider looking up news on their mobile devices, advertising to a mass audience is -- at least for now -- out of the question. On the other hand, a demographic profile of the people who would access the mobile websites could be determined, which will allow advertisers to reach a very specific and targeted audience.
For those in the type of business that this demographic targeting would lend itself well to, it's a good way to reach the people you would need to reach without spending unnecessary dollars that may spill over to the eyes you don't care about. And for news organizations, offering a specific audience up for grabs can allow it to charge advertisers a premium for that sort of targeted delivery.
But once again, one of the main questions that comes to my mind is how newspaper outlets can make money through their mobile sites, other than through advertising. Just like the regular website, mobile content is available for free.
Why buy the paper when you can read the news for free?
If I had the answer to what business model newspapers should use to see their profits rise and get more employees back in the newsroom, I'd probably be sipping a beer on the beach of my private island.
For now, the question remains.
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