Election Headlines
You know where we start today. The federal election!
The Conservatives have won a majority government. Basically, this is Christmas morning to those who have been hoping for this since the PC Party and Alliance joined forces last decade. (more…)
Edmonton Dipstick Headlines
Don't you just hate how blogs are so biased and lack journalistic integrity? Why can't those bloggers get upstanding, respectable, paying jobs in a newsroom already?
Hello Edmonton!
SEE Magazine’s got a couple of election-focused stories this week. They’ve got a beginner’s guide to voting, why the school board vote matters, and how Stephen Mandel doesn’t appear to have a viable opponent, yet most of the ward races look pretty good.
Metro thinks Ward 3 is going to be the big one.
The Examiner also asks if most people really even see a choice in the mayor’s race. Maybe that’s why there wasn’t interest from U of A students in an event hosted at the U of A.
Vue’s look at organized labour’s role in the municipal election.
One candidate, in my ward actually, is asking where Edmonton’s aboriginals are in this election race.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Giant housing proposal worries Beaumont (It’s for a new city, south of Edmonton.)
Three Jasper women win case against CN (Nobody has to move! I wonder if I could make similar arguments against a transfer without having children.)
Did you read Broken Pencils, the great series on First Nations education?
from the Edmonton Sun:
Cameron ‘quite open’ to filming in Alberta: Blackett (Be careful what you wish for Mr. Minister. He might film something that’s not as quietly about environmental destruction and greed.)
Province sets new mark for oil and gas land sales
from 630CHED/iNews880:
St. Albert council approves H4H project (Finally!)
Beverly Motel re-opening (What’s the over/under on this being closed, again, by the end of the year. I’m going to say it will be if it’s inspected by then.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Man wants officer charged with attempted murder (He was shot at 7 times, hit 4. His case was thrown out due to “excessive force.”)
from Global Edmonton:
Graffiti program (Wiping it away on the LRT route.)
from Vue Weekly:
They consulted, but did they listen?
A question of action (You didn’t miss the other oilsands stories in all of this James Cameron coverage, did you? Because it’s been Cameron! Cameron! Cameron! More Cameron! Did anybody ask the tough questions though? Like, why we never got True Lies 2?! Seriously though, read that editorial from Vue.)
Titres de nouvelles d’Edmonton pour le 19 août
Bonjour, Edmonton.
Does anyone else still use the AltaVista (or Yahoo!, I guess) Babel Fish for translating? I know there are other online translators out there, but I just can’t let go of the original.
Speaking of Babel Fish, this confirms what we all knew about Wikipedia. It’s the Hitchhiker’s Guide.
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Updating the online theatre review story from yesterday, Brittney has the scorned actor, Jeff Haslam, talking about his attack on two bloggers. I’ll leave my usual sarcasm aside and let you go read his rambling response.
I still think we can all be critics – heard online – and businesses need to start dealing with that reality.
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Now, how about some City Centre Airport action!
CBC says selling the airport seems to make the most financial sense for the City of Edmonton. And its taxpayers.
The Journal has this story, talking about how medevac may indeed more of an emotional play of the pro-airport side than one based on facts.
And city staff are preparing to handle the petition signatures. That includes entering all the signatories into a database, verifying signatures as taxpayers living in Edmonton, and confirming the petition’s wording and legality before handing it off to city council.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Alberta tourism minister Ady worries as latest oil sands attack ads roll out (Graham Thomson has some thoughts on this campaign, and its seriousness.)
Alberta promises action on shoddy building practices (I think this province needs a bunch of new housing rules.)
Vaccine’s effectiveness on aboriginal babies tested
Edmonton wanted man tied to July 31 murder (This headline reads awkwardly to me. Was “Edmonton” jammed in there for SEO? Were a couple of words just flipped?)
Edmonton twins stopped brutal sexual assault
North Edmonton residents may hear gunshots and explosions next week (Just another day in the north-end…)
National honours for Edmonton musicians
Nisku’s Ion Printing shows off new $5M printing press
from the Edmonton Sun:
Noisy motorcyclists steer clear of city (Oh well.)
Cyberspace another battleground in municipal election
Run raises $20,000 for veterans centre
from Metro Edmonton:
City welcomes more earthquake orphans
Actors ready for film festival debut (It’s getting close to the Edmonton International Film Festival.)
from the Edmonton Examiner:
Will province gamble with people’s lives?
Library seeks exiled writer (They’d like to have one, they’re not hunting one down.)
East Edmonton couple has best bloomin’ yard
from 630CHED/iNews880:
CN derailment near Fort Saskatchewan worst than first thought
from CBC Edmonton:
Police crime maps don’t show public full picture
Power-line meetings futile: resident (But, even if that was true, couldn’t that be changed if people actually showed up?)
from Global Edmonton:
from Vue Weekly:
Bare minimum (Tailings ponds cleanup. Eventually.)
New home in an old space (Prism moves.)
from SEE Magazine:
The worst job in Canadian politics (Alberta opposition leader.)
Some SEE writers are east of us, missing Edmonton’s more friendly transit riders, and contemplating what we can learn from Montreal.
Oh no…they ate Taco in a Bag!
Edmonton’s Friday Headlines
Earlier this week I mentioned I’d try to watch for news stories that got followed up by another outlet. Yeah, I didn’t have try very hard.
It’s a practice that seems out of step with the speed, inclusiveness, and information of the Internet.
Here’s what I’m talking about.
The Edmonton Journal had a story Thursday, from a University of Alberta study, about the federal government’s tax credit for youth sports not helping as many low-income families. It’s an interesting story, which I linked you to yesterday.
I would venture to say that when a story is interesting, or important, it can make the rounds on blogs, websites, Twitter, etc… That’s the speed, inclusiveness, and information of the Internet.
A good story zips around quickly through networks of people, or you come upon it when another website *ahem* points you to it. We can all read the story without having to pick up a specific newspaper or tuning into a broadcast. That’s the inclusiveness.
The thing I find interesting is that this is a practice newsrooms can’t get into. Because they’re still tied into their paper or broadcast they feel they have to repeat the story for their audience.
Take today’s Edmonton Sun story on the same U of A sports tax credit study. Or the 630CHED/iNews800 story.
Not really much new information in either of those. But instead of telling their audiences to go read the Journal’s story, or saying “Hey, the Journal had this story, but you should go read the U of A study at the university’s website…” and then dedicating limited Sun/CHED/iNews staff resources to original stories, we get the same story in multiple places.
Now, I’m not saying newsrooms should ignore interesting and important stories. I’m the first to want people to read similar stories from multiple sources. You just better be adding something to the story, even if it’s a biased spin. You could also do new angles, follow-up on the story.
That’s what the Journal did with SEE Magazine’s second story on Progressive Conservative MLA Carl Benito. He promised to donate his MLA salary to scholarships. SEE did a story back in February and followed up Thursday.
In today’s Journal Benito tries to explain he meant only one year’s worth of his salary, doled out to students at his own pace.
That’s the follow-up story you want to see.
This leads me to my second point on attribution. I think the Internet, through blogs, podcasts, Facebook and Twitter, etc… breaks down the proprietary hold on stories newsrooms appear to have. There’s no mention of SEE Magazine’s two stories on Benito, yet anyone savvy enough to read more than one source of news (I wonder where you can find links on a daily basis…) will know where the Journal got the idea for the story.
I think the contrast of traditional news and Internet can be shown in links. Bloggers tend to – but it’s certainly not a blanket statement – note where they found something or where the idea came from for their story or opinion piece. You’ll usually at least see a link, indicating the spin-off.
It’s just too bad newsrooms, on a regular basis, ignorantly believe their audience consumes news only from them. That’s talking down to your audience. It also, as shown in the first example, wastes time on stories we’ve all already seen.
(My argument doesn’t include events or news conferences everyone can attend at about the same time. That’s also the best chance we have to see how the different newsrooms approach stories.)
Today’s headlines after the jump. (more…)
I’m a good little symphony-goer
Jacket. Check. Button-up shirt. Check. Axe bodyspray. Nope.
Thanks for your tips, Edmonton.
You totally Eliza Doolittled me. I’m sure that sounded better (and less dirty) in my mind.
Anyway, I attended the symphony Saturday and had a great time. It helped that I had a few pointers from you, including attire, and I was much more at ease.
It also helped that the show was “Broadway Rocks,” and it’s the PERFECT show for someone just getting into the symphony. It’s also good if you like Broadway and all those songs they do. I won’t go into a review (I’m sure my request from the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra is on the way) so check out what my ticket-holding friend had to say about the show at her blog.
I also have to give shout-outs to Kerri (and the future help I’m sure to glean from her blog) and Sarah. Sarah is a ringer, with inside experience at the Winspear Centre.
I’m also glad I had suggestions about tuxedo shirts and leather chaps. You have to have a sense of humour about things you don’t know about.
Oh, and Philip Paschke, the ESO’s New Media Specialist (Yes, they have one.), had great tips all around, which I’ll share with you. It will be helpful in case you are like me, and don’t really know which side of people to walk on, what an oboe is and other life/orchestra items. (more…)
the edmontonian just got a lot more sally
That's right, I'm back...bringing down both the average I.Q. and average income of Edmontonians!
Hello Friendmonton. Thanks for being here. We need to have a talk about something.
Kids, I have lost my job. Now, I don’t want you kids to be scared, because I know there is a certain standard of living we’ve all grown accustomed to, and that you guys don’t want anything to change. We may have to tighten our belts a bit in the short term, but Derjis, you can still play hockey this year and Paul, we can still afford your clarinet lessons. We’re just going to have to pull together as a family and do the best we can in these tight economic times.
This is not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault. Well, I was downsized from a less than popular local TV station that wanted to centralize their commercial production in Calgary, so it’s sort of their fault. And also maybe the fault of the CRTC. And also the fault of an inherently flawed infrastructure for local TV, established in the 1960s that we, for some reason, have continued to use despite its increasing irrelevance.
BUT- it’s not you kids’ fault. Jeff and I still love you all very much. And the upside is that I’m going to be around a lot more now. I’ll be here when you guys get to work in the morning, and when you come home from school at night. I’ll be here baking cookies, and helping you with your homework and barging into your bedrooms because g.d. it, I have told you a million times DOOR STAYS OPEN when you have boys in here!
But I digress. I just wanted to say that I haven’t been a very good blogger to you kids over the last few weeks, and all that changes starting now.
Tell the world, Johnny
Edmonton's river valley looking all green and stuff. (Photo: City of Edmonton)
This is going to lose its timeliness if I wait too long, due to its play on words of our favourite Churchill Square food festival. So I’m serving it up hot and delicious. (Just about the end of food puns. I think.)
A world-traveling acquaintance of mine, known as Eva (she’s also on Twitter), is writing for a U.S. “local” website. As far as I can understand it, Examiner.com is all about people across the U.S. talking about stuff to do and where to do it. And not just in their country.
So our Edmonton-loving friend, Eva, is telling her “fellow” Americans to visit our fair city; for some fresh air, the river valley, Old Strathcona and a mall I won’t mention by name because I know it’s the bane of some native Edmontonians’ existence.
Eva, telling Americans about Edmonton since 2009.
p.s. I think she really does like it here.
p.p.s. She does have a legitimate reason to be writing “from” Pittsburgh, before you ask.
Don’t send a Brit to do an Edmontonian’s job
You can't fly too close to the sun on wings of Internet love.
The headline of this story may be a tad harsh, but it popped into my head and seemed to stick. Sorry, Ben Southall.
I don’t know if you caught this story coming out of the weekend, but it seems the British lad who won the “Best Job in the World” is taking his lumps for not blogging enough. And for not blogging about any “normal” stuff we “regular” folk would get to do if we visited the same Australian spots.
Hey, dude’s got stuff he’s told to do.
I’m not saying Edmonton’s own hopeful for this kick-ass job, Linda Hoang, would be blogging up a storm down under. But if you click on the link on her name, you’ll see she runs multiple blogs…
Also, it seems any of those problems involving a “busy schedule” and “wireless connections” have cleared up since the Internet began to turn against young Ben. He’s written a huge blog piece since Sunday.
I sort of feel bad for Ben. He was propelled to the top with love from the Internet, and after three weeks he is feeling its wrath.
This seems like a good reminder to tell you that I love you, Edmonton Internet. Don’t turn on me. Don’t you put that evil on me.
ICLEI, not icky
Edmonton hosted the 2009 World Congress
Edmonton has just hosted a world-class event. The ICLEI World Congress 2009 saw delegates from around the world talking sustainability.
ICLEI is a collection of local governments dedicated to sustainable ideas and practices.
the edmontonian is new to the scene so this will fall into the category of events we’d love to have attended but just missed.
Thankfully, there are plenty of smart, connected and community-minded people who did attend and can fill in the rest of us.
Blogger (and Edmonton Twitterati) Mack Male has information on the closing speaker, Peter Newman, and his talk on transit, transportation and technology.
Dave Cournoyer has blogged about the entire conference and all of its ideas. Dave also has a full collection of ICLEI photos on flickr.
Anybody on Twitter following the updates through the #iclei hashtag would have also seen information and ideas from Councillors Ben Henderson and Don Iveson.
It’s really something to see hundreds of people, of all political stripes, coming together to talk about how to move cities into the future. It’s also nice to see Edmonton host an event like this because too often the city (and province) is labelled an environmental and sustainability backwater.
