The week Lynn, Wojtek, and me, Marc are back with a resume of some of the many interesting stories covered this week
Listen
When a noted young female singer performed a rather provocative segment on US national TV, on some networks this “news” took precedence over news about the deadly and tragic conflict in Syria.
The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) began to wonder what constitutes news.. They asked a noted polling firm (Ipsos) to conduct on survey on Canadians attitudes about what is “real” news and what is gossip and celebrity sensationalism passing as news.
The results were interesting in that most Canadians- by a large majority- prefer the news to entertainment stories. They followed that up with a panel discussion of people in the media, involved in the entertainment scene, to discuss the difference beween hard news and gossip and the value of the entertainment news industry.
Natalie Turvey is Executive-Director of of the CJF and talks about the survey results.
Then a story from the labour front. The west Canadian prairie province of Alberta came down hard on the labour movement, specifically in connection with unionized public sector workers.
In fact the Alberta provincial government proposed two new laws. One would impose an collective agreement if no settlement is reached by January31.
The other would impose heavy fines on the union if it goes on strike. Laws already prevent government workers from strike action but the new bill with its massive fines is seen as an effort to chill any thoughts of a strike in the event of an imposed contract.
Wojtek speaks with Jason Foster, an industrial relations expert at Alberta’s Athabaska University.
Next comes a story from space.
Doctors have long noted that arteries harden in astronauts and they are studying Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield who was a recent commander of the International Space Station.
They want to find out why this happens. The goal is to try to find clues and solutions to deal with artery problems of people on earth especially as people age.
To find out more, Lynn spoke with lead researcher, Professor Richard Hughson at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. He is a physiologist at the university’s Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
As always your comments on any and all items are welcomed. I hope you enjoy listening.
Marc
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