What’s gonna stop a coronavirus beach party?
Discover more from Twelve Thirty Six
The weekend scene might’ve outraged authorities in Toronto, but the city reopening patios on Wednesday can only make socializing more difficult to police. (South Bruce Peninsula’s reaction to partying people was to temporarily shut Sauble Beach back down.) Ontario’s shift to Stage 2 still has one exception for now: Windsor-Essex, where COVID-19 has struck local farms.
Round hole loses square Peg
After a petition that protested Margaret Wente’s appointment to a fellowship at the University of Toronto’s Massey College sparked national news, the former Globe and Mail columnist resigned herself. While the backlash largely focused on Wente’s past writing, arguments that she was “forced to retire” over plagiarism aren’t the truth.
“Jessica Mulroney Hired Crisis PR Team After Sasha Exeter Fight, Wants to Put the Scandal ‘Behind Her’.” Us Weekly’s exclusive followed Ben Mulroney giving up one of his jobs at CTV, even though his only offence was being the husband. Meanwhile, their Lainey Gossip frenemy apologized for her own history of using offensive words.
A stranger game at Rogers
The announcement of next season’s Citytv lineup reflects the continued misery of leaning on American network content aimed at dying audiences. Trying to stay alive meant modifying its corporate division name to Rogers Sports & Media, but the change comes with the current complication of not actually knowing which content is coming:
Jason Kenney shows little of Edmonton while trying to score the NHL playoffs. Alberta’s premier generated a rousing ratio on Twitter upon sharing a video highlighting provincial mountain cities that are many miles away. One of Kenney’s staffers derided the haters wanting the NHL to hub elsewhere.
Your next new media saviour
Canadaland Media chief Jesse Brown announced an investment of $1 million from something called the Tiny Foundation. The funding is linked to a Vancouver-based technology holding company, which has joined the likes of Facebook and Google in funding journalism projects, although Tiny’s co-founder vows a more altruistic slant:
Zoomer is losing its grip on meaning “Boomers With Zip!” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeting the term to praise TikTok teens is a threat to the hegemony of its Canadian definition according to the media company founded by Moses Znaimer in 2008. The use of “Zoomers” to describe Zoom-based workers isn’t helping, either.
Finally, vanishing book people
Coles, the bookstore chain founded by two brothers in 1940, recently had 20 small-format locations shut across Canada, amid losses at owner Indigo. Some closings have been marked with bittersweet media coverage as their malls reopen. It’s also left some towns without any stores dedicated to print media, and one less retail beacon:
