Wednesday Link-Off: The News Behind the News

jessica-chastain-amy-adams-goldenglobes15-01Just when I thought that all we’d be talking about the Golden Globes, the folks at Canadaland broke another major Canadian media story at the CBC. This is the sort of thing that I wanted to do with my life. Instead, I work a white-collar job and my life has no direction. Sorry, I’m watching Parks & Rec while I’m writing and that came up in this week’s episode.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. For something special, let’s start off with a two-for-one deal. Here are Jessica Chastain and Amy Adams.

You can’t really say CBC without putting scandal beside it these days. Once again, it’s Canadaland with the story. In this case, the CBC is the bad guy as they allowed star Amanda Lang to run interference with a story about RBC using foreign workers. (Canadaland)

To make matters worse, Canadaland says that Lang was romantically involved with an RBC board member while trying to spike that story. (Canadaland)

The CBC came out on the offensive with a denial that the Canadaland story is true. (Canada.com)

So CBC reporter Kathy Tomlinson allowed Canadaland to put her name to the accusations about Lang and the CBC’s conflict of interest in this matter. (Canadaland)

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Sunday Link-Off: The Only Story in Town

emma-watson-elleuk14-01Are there any news stories in Canada this week? Last week? Just the one? I love the Jian Ghomeshi conversation as much as anyone but it might be about time that we move on to talk about important things like bills going through Parliament or something that’s actually news.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Let’s change things up and start with Emma Watson.

So apparently I’m wrong about an improvement in the discourse around sexual violence in Canada because of the Ghomeshi scandal. This op-ed says that I’m an idiot for thinking that people might talk about sexual violence differently now. And now discourse has been set back. (The Globe and Mail)

Though Post columnist Christie Blatchford thinks we’re not quite there yet as there’s a double standard about who can talk about what. (National Post)

The head of CBC’s English language services breaks her silence about Ghomeshi. (Metro)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Did You Know?

amy-adams-artfilm14-002I could be wrong but the Jian Ghomeshi story could end up being one of the most important ones in a long while in Canada.  A number of people I know went from doubting Ghomeshi’s accusers for a variety of reasons to eventually coming around to the accuser’s side. It looks like the discussion around the so-called “rape culture” is changing and we aren’t so dismissive of women who accuse men of abusing them. Hopefully this continues the next time we see this story.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Here’s Amy Adams.

Donovan, the Toronto Star’s superstar investigative reporter, talks about his dinner with Jian Ghomeshi during the investigation. (Toronto Star)

The other man on that Ghomeshi report, Jesse Brown, talks to a former Q staffer about Ghomeshi and what he saw. (Canadaland)

Toronto Star commentator Jia Junaid was originally a skeptic of Jian Ghomeshi’s accusers but not unlike many Canadians, she’s changed her tune. (Toronto Star)

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Sunday Link-Off: Going, Going, Jian

rashida-jones-kate-hudson-olivia-wilde-courageawards14-01One week later and the Jian Ghomeshi scandal hasn’t really died down. In fast, if you’re Jian, it’s getting worse because your statement said it was one jilted ex-girlfriend but it’s now accusations from 10 different women. Maybe the CBC made the right call on this one. Considering how badly they botched the NHL deal, they were due to get something right.

Anyway, it’s time for the Sunday set of links. For something a little special, here are Rashida Jones, Kate Hudson and Olivia Wilde.

In the last few days, four more women have come forward with allegations about sexual violence and/or harassment by Jian Ghomeshi. One of them, an actress on Trailer Park Boys, has put her name to the accusation. (Toronto Star)

CBC Radio had an interview with a women about Ghomeshi on their flagship evening show, As It Happens. She detailed her time with Ghomeshi and, as we’ve come to expect, it’s not pretty. (The Globe and Mail)

Lawyer Reva Seth took to the internet to tell her story of Jian Ghomeshi. (Huffington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Old Guard and New

genevieve-morton-sisouthafrica14-04Well, this was certainly an interesting week to live in Ontario. First, the CBC Radio’s top daytime host is fired after they found out about a number of allegations involving sexual harassment and non-consensual sexual violence which resulted in him filing a lawsuit. There were municipal elections across the province that saw Rob Ford become a Toronto city councillor and Doug just miss becoming mayor. And I’m sure there’s loads more that happened that I’m not covering in today’s links.

But before we get to today’s links, here’s Genevieve Morton.

Unless you’ve been under a rock this week, CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi was fired after a number of allegations of non-consensual sexual violence and sexual harassment. (Toronto Star)

One expert analysed the Star’s story and Ghomeshi’s statement and looked at the real issues and inconsistencies in the stories. (Sex Geek)

Many people don’t believe the accusations against Ghomeshi because the accusers aren’t going to police and have chosen to remain anonymous. However, they’re taking this course of action because of a fear of harassment and threats. (New York Times)

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The Best of Don Cherry’s Wardrobe

Love him or hate him, the biggest name in the Canadian hockey media is none other than Donald S. Cherry. Grapes has been a mainstay on Hockey Night in Canada for over 30 years, both in the broadcast booth and in his famous Coach’s Corner segment.

Since Grapes just celebrated 80th birthday on Wednesday (in Russia, no less), I thought it was only fitting to pay tribute to him for his most infamous of features – his wardrobe.

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Wednesday Link-Off: More than Just Toronto

rachelle-goulding-macys13-03Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends… Well, it does when I run through all the links but I don’t think the WLO series is going anywhere. Anyway, it’s time for the middle of the week links. Since there are a lot of Canadian links in this post, let’s start it off with Canadian model Rachelle Goulding.

Everyone talks about Rob Ford but there’s a lot more wrong in Canadian government than just the Mayor of Toronto. (The Blot)

Speaking of Rob Ford, Vivid wants Rob Ford to star in one of their videos in order to compete with other Rob Ford parody videos. On both counts, please no! (TMZ)

The Pope and I have something in common. We don’t believe that trickle-down economics actually works. (Washington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Going Long

ana-ivanovic-fhm08-5It’s the first week of the U.S. Open so here’s Ana Ivanovic.

College football is kicking off on both sides of the border. The rules might be different on either side of the border but the fans are all the same. (National Lampoon)

Keeping with football, guess which ex-NFL star has decided to restart his career north of the border. Can you actually make it rain in Manitoba? (Sports Illustrated)

Guitar Hero 5 came out yesterday. They still haven’t answered our request for a copy of the game to review so I don’t want to give them too much free publicity. IGN is doing a good enough job of that. You can’t find a word about The Beatles: Rock Band anywhere on their site. Anyway, here’s the Top 25 must-play Guitar Hero tracks. (IGN)

After the jump, some “Only in America” stories, lots more football stories, the best fictional mobsters, and Artie Lange. Continue reading