GG vs. PMO: the web war
For many years now Rideau Hall has been inserting “as Canada’s Head of State” into Governors General materials of all sorts. This is not new. What’s new is the Monarchist League of Canada’s predictably histrionic reaction: simply outraged that someone would take the Royal title. PMO officials reached out and touched the GGs speechwriter on the shoulder and thus began the war of the websites. The GG briefly replaced her “common look and feel site” with a much bolder design. And, now it’s back to the old look – but with an extra link to the infamous “Letters Patent” the GGs office holds up when asked why they call her Canada’s “Head of State”. Either the GG is issuing rebuke or they are redesigning the website. I can’t tell yet.
Watch as it unfolds: it’s being chronicled here by Andrew Potter or Kady O’Malley, both have been watching with keen interest the back-and-forth between the Prime Ministers office and the Governor Generals’ staff.
Update: GG Announces new website — Call off the Monarchists
Three major media digital redesigns
A handful of well-known Canadian sites got a makeover this week. The boldest is certainly Boing Boing, which received mixed reactions for the brash new logo and stark black interface. The new “BETA” version of the Toronto Star cause a stir early this week as well; most reactions have been favorable and much praise heaped on the new “visual view”. And, CBC Radio 3 was up very late into the night getting their social media enhanced mega-engine of Canadian music up and going. Of the three designs. It’s the most forward looking and well-thought out. Take a look at the new looks here:
Associated Press sets stage for media showdown
The Associated Press and News Corp want search engines and others who use news content for free to pay up. Tom Curley (AP VP) and Rupert Murdoch (News Corp CEO) spoke to over 300 business people in Chine this week as AP reports; took a crack at their readers:
“Crowd-sourcing Web services such as Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebook have become preferred customer destinations for breaking news, displacing Web sites of traditional news publishers,” Curley said. “We content creators must quickly and decisively act to take back control of our content.”
I’m watching closely to see how various media companies in Canada react and position themselves in light of these statements from two of the world’s largest media companies.
CTV’s Rosemary Thompson move makes news via Twitter
News leaked late last night on Twitter that the longtime Deputy Bureau Chief at CTV’s Ottawa Bureau, Rosemary Thompson, was leaving to be the new Director of Communications at the National Arts Centre. Brilliant move by Rosie. More interesting is that many found out via the tweet linked above and the subsequent promotion of that link by news aggregator National Newswatch.
The Digital News Notebook is going to be a new regular feature. How can I make it better? Please comment below.
