News news

And now the news from the Global newsroom ...

Watch for Moneywise, the noontime business half-hour launched to great Financial Post convergence fanfare a few years ago, to go off the air next month. It will likely be replaced by reruns of yet another Entertainment Tonight clone, perhaps one with that name and ''Canada'' thrown in.

That ETC show will get its first-run nightly at 7, the home of the late, unlamented Train 48.

The Moneywise cancellation comes as little surprise, especially ever since co-host Peter Kent (and Global News' deputy editor) announced he was running as a Conservative candidate in the next federal election. Co-host Deirdre McMurdy, who has a column at the Post, will likely hold on to that gig. Or not. They're dropping like ash from a drunk's cigarette over there.

The new entertainment show is said to be the work of Zev Shalev, last seen at the ill-fated Toronto 1, and before that at U8TV, and before that, CTV's Canada AM. My sources say that he is making as many close friends at Global as he did at his previous places of employment.

Which means he isn't gonna be the king of the prom.

BONUS SNARK: Incidentally: During my not-a-vacation, I missed all the fuss over Kent's denunciation of Canadian Liberal media bias.

Kent has said the media is biased against Conservatives, especially in Toronto.

"In a couple of weeks I'm going to throw down a challenge to journalism schools to monitor the balance in the coverage -- particularly in this city," Peter Kent told reporters outside the caucus meeting.

Couple of weeks are up. So whére's the gauntlet? Or was this just a cheap media ploy that Kent, a savvy communicator, knew would land in the headlines? Looks like he landed a sucker punch.

Comments

[neil]

Well… if that is Mr. Kent’s initial announcement (media bias), his offering is going to have to be a little more substantial than that as I didn’t think media bias was ever a political issue... Time is ticking on Gomery +30……………………..

[eric]

Didn't Shalev preside over the most precipitous ratings decline Canada A.M. has ever had in its 35+ years on the air? U8TV lost a bunch of money, then the unmitigated disaster at Toronto 1... And now, a new plum management job.

Maybe I've been going about my career entirely the wrong way. Maybe I'd be a lot farther ahead if I tried to ____ up every assignment I ever got.

[Will McDermid]

Would this be the same Peter Kent now offering to give lessons on journalism and "balance" who sat mute as the Aspers censored fellow journalists across Canada for the crime of not expressing views identical to those of the owners?
Please, Peter Kent, keep your lessons about "balance" to yourself. Your network and its owners have zero credibility on that score.

[Bill-Muskoka]

Antonia,

Talking about Canwest-Global, the National Compost, er Post, is like trying to mediate two warring gangs.

We watch Global National at 6:30 each night simply because there are no other Canadian national news shows on until prime time. We reserve prime time for watching DVD's or occassionally some intelligent TV program (mostly on Discovery Civilization).

The one constant with Global National is their attack dog mentality. Some times they raise intelligent questions, but they seem to be, unsurprisingly, very pro-Israel, pro-U.S., pro-Canada becoming the 51st State, and pro-business is all that matters.

Peter Mansbridge, is the Dean of TV journalists to me. He is balanced, incisive, and fair. So, yes, we need the CBC, which BTW, produces more excellent programming such as 'Fifth Estate', 'This Is Wonderland', etc., than any U.S. source. I think, like so many past events, the current lockout will result in an evolution by the very talent that has made the CBC great.

The Globe & Mail do a good job of news journalism on the national level. The Toronto Sun...(can barely stop laughing) a news rag? That is about as likely as the National Enquirer becoming a source for CSIS (despite what MIB said about such rags). They, like many magazines at least serve those whose intellectual pursuits are, shall we say 'diminished', by providing their Sunshine Girl and Boy! Their contribution to sex crime reduction.

Then, we come to the Toronto Star. Now there is a real news paper. The entire staff of 'toner stain wretches' turn out good, solid journalism each and every day. The Star serves the people of Ontario, not just Toronto.

The one thing the Star should do is get more photos published both in print and on-line. Yes, a picture is still worth a thousand words, and some, like the enduring image of the Afghan woman on the cover of National Geographic years ago, and recently updated, freeze moments of history for the future generations.

So, there are my two cents worth for today.

[Mark Federman]

Of course, the book, "The Sound Bite Society: How Television Helps the Right and Hurts the Left" by Jeffrey Scheuer demonstrates quite clearly (using legitimate empirical results, as well as well-reasoned arguments) the opposite of conservative pundits' hysteria - there is actually a right-wing bias in mass media coverage.

Actually, I'm thinking that Kent is pre-setting his excuses for defeat. Hopefully, the cynical political ASPERations (sorry) of a "media personality" will be rejected by a public wary of Stephen Harper's reactionary nonsense.

[skysaxon]

Antonia, glad you're back. However, I noticed that the Mark Emery arrest is being spread through the MSM media and bloggersphere (Crooks and Liars just posted). It distresses me that a Canadian is being given up to Bush's DEA to rot in a medieval U.S. prison. Irwin Cotler's signing off on such a cowardly act is nothing short of treasonous. Are Canadians no longer safe from the U.S. conservative machine that now believes it can usurp any sovereign nation's own? Being a Canadian of pride and conscience, could we expect you to comment on this at some time?

[Bob Nevin]

I am very, very concerned about how we treat potentially innocent suspects, when the lack of evidence denies the opportunity to solve a crime.

I understand that the boyfriend of the girlfriend that recently vanished without a trace, suspects that he will require therapy, because he evidently has no idea what happened to his girlfriend.

This is as big a tragedy for him as it is for her, if he is innocent as the evidence currently suggests because evidence of foul play does not exist and it is erroneous to blame anybody without evidence.

When a person is kidnapped his or her biggest fear or trauma is that he or she will be murdered and that loved ones will be denied the opportunity to determine what happened. The fastest way to make their nightmare come true is to blame an innocent loved one for a tragic disappearance that will ultimately be called a homocide, given enough time.

Needless to say, the greatest hope is to have another Elizabeth Smart scenario, where the kidnapped victim survives, but please do not produce a Ricci in the process, where an innocent man is interrogated to the point of death. That is evidently the course we appear to be charting and it stinks.

http://1st.shorturl.com

[Chris]

It is a pathetic state of affairs when someone like Zev Shalev can continually get re-hired. Exactly what has he done that can even remotely be qualified a success?
But I can't totally blame him - having heard him speak, those won over need to be accountable for not being able to cut through his circular say-nothing but use a lot of buzzwords style of communicating.