A friend recently questioned me about the BIG Media site not having a lot of fresh news content every day.
I replied, "Yes, while our competitors pump out tons of low-integrity, sensationalized content on the high-pressure, click-bait-driven 24-hour news cycle, we prefer to publish stories when they are ready, usually after exhaustive research."
We will never win the volume race, but we will consistently come out on top in quality of content. We can do that...
On June 12, Alberta (Canada) Premier Jason Kenney announced a multimillion-dollar lottery scheme to encourage more people to get COVID vaccines.He said, "Many places around the world have launched similar lotteries like this because we need to just nudge those who haven't gotten around to getting their vaccines yet."
The appropriateness of that nudge is now the subject of spirited debate on various platforms. This article explores the uses of nudges to affect behaviour and how that...
I received a heart-wrenching message from a woman in my LinkedIn network recently. “Susan” said that she has been frustrated with the lack of coverage of mental health issues in the media, and asked if I could help.
I promised to write about it, and I will start by sharing her story. Individual names have been changed to protect privacy.
Susan lost her 20-year-old daughter Amber to suicide six months ago. Her daughter was the third...
The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently published “Net Zero by 2050 – A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector”, in which they document details of a scenario (Net-Zero Emissions Scenario, or NZE) taking the world to a time 29 years from now when global humanity will produce net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The report is long – 190 pages plus appendices. It addresses in considerable detail what must happen in all major energy consumption areas –...
In the West, we trust that our public policies are guided by rationalism, and that our governments “listen to the science”. (For more on this topic, see Science – there is method to the madness)
We believe that despite being messy, the adversarial nature of our parliaments, combined with transparency from the fourth estate, journalism, and objective laws from an independent judicial system, ultimately translates to a healthy society. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weakness...
This is the story behind the story that entrepreneur/geoscientist Laurie Weston wrote on what she called the Alberta Deathscape.
It should help some readers better understand the difference between BIG Media’s truth-focused approach and what we are familiar with in mainstream media reports.
This is a story that earlier in my career as a journalist, I would have taken on myself. As mainstream media reporters and editors tend to do, I would have looked at the...
Dear Media Friends,
Please stop scaring the heck out of people by withholding information that might prevent them from freaking out.
For example, when you report that there are a “record-smashing” 300,000 new cases of COVID-19 in India, could you please add some context?
Like maybe mention to Canadians that India has roughly 102 times the population of Ontario, so the last daily report of 3,871 news cases in Ontario is higher per capita than India’s reported...
Politicians and bureaucrats, pushed by demands to “do something” about climate change, are setting goals for reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions based on Paris Agreement targets or some other measure of “where we must be” by mid-century. In other words, they want to reach some emissions target by a certain time not too far in the future without having given any thought about how humanity can get there.
It’s like me going to my doctor...
Having examined the dwindling COVID-19 numbers in Texas, it is clear that they are doing some things right. Vaccination and good weather are no doubt parts of the Lone Star State's success story, but I believe that dropping the mask mandate more than a month ago may also have helped.
I stirred controversy seven months ago when I postulated in a LinkedIn post that the mask mandate might be counterproductive. Since then, I have seen...
When the Texas Rangers play host to my Toronto Blue Jays (I don't own them, but I cheer for them as if I do) at 3:05 p.m. Central today, the eyes of the sports world will be paying close attention. The eyes of the non-sports world will also be tuned in.
Why?
Because Globe Life Field in Arlington, Tex., is expected to be filled to its capacity of 40,300 humans.
COVID-19 cases have plummeted since Governor Greg...
