The Middle

Time to look back on the news stories and PR snafus that had us all talking and tweeting in 2019. What can we learn? And, what trends can we expect in 2020?

We take a deep dive into artificial intelligence and its impact on journalism around the world. How is it shaping news production and should we be scared that the robots are taking over?

With shifting sands in media and communications, what's the best strategy to hire and get hired for the jobs in the middle? Are journalists & communications people becoming interchangeable? What are the skills young people need now to survive in the future?

The volume and variety of podcasts has increased dramatically over the last year. What's the point though if everyone has a pod? How can podcasters breakout? More importantly, can you make money at it?

What is the current state of fact-checking both in and beyond the newsroom. Who is ultimately responsible to get things right? Does anyone care about the truth anymore?

Is the volume and velocity of content rewiring our brains & attention spans to the point where creativity might be choked? How can we protect creativity in a noisy world?

Trust in CEOs is low. Purpose-driven business is lacking. The audience is in control. In a world where, power does not necessarily mean influence how should business leaders respond?

How is social media use impacting audiences? How is the audience behaving online? From performance anger, to trolling, to stress around an online profile, how is it impacting PR & journalism?

The news moves by so fast that it's difficult to see patterns and trends while we're in the thick of it – so the end of the year is a good time to pause and reflect on the world around us. Join host Sophie Nadeau as she looks back at 2018 and takes a leap forward into 2019 trends with two favourites from our first season: Columbia Journalism Review's Mathew Ingram and the City of Toronto's chief communications officer Brad Ross.

Being original has never been easy. And in a world where everybody gets a channel, what does it mean to be creative? We're long past the influence of Mad Men telling us what's cool and fresh. It's also never been noisier. What does it take to cut through?On this episode of the Middle, is creativity dead? Join host Sophie Nadeau as she dives into creativity in the digital age with Google Canada's Miles Savage and Edelman Canada's Andrew Simon – two guys who haven't given up on chasing a brilliant ideas.Miles Savage is the agency lead at Google Canada. He works at the intersection between the advertising agencies and Google, supporting the creative work that flows through the platform. Before working at Google, he worked with many of the brands you know and love, including McDonald's and Unilever.Andrew Simon is the Chief Creative Officer for Edelman Canada. He is our arbiter of our great ideas, with a career's worth of advertising and creative experience on both sides of the border. He is redefining what creative persuasion looks like in an evolving media ecosystem."Creativity doesn't need to be defined by a channel and I think that's the biggest problem that exists today – we all try to put things in boxes. That's where creativity is getting watered down from what it really is." (Miles Savage)

Let's be honest. For most of modern storytelling history, white men held the pen and the power. Because they did, the stories we devoured in fiction and journalism came from that perspective. The Internet & social media – for all their problems – has also opened the flood gates to new voices in storytelling. It's never been easier to find the full rainbow of lenses on story. But, are the established media ecosystem players doing enough to shift to a new normal? On this episode of the Middle, the business of diversity in storytelling. Host Sophie Nadeau is joined by Uzma Jalaluddin, columnist and author of ‘Ayesha at Last,' and Andree Lau, the Editor-in-Chief of HuffPost Canada.If you'd like to continue the conversation you can find all our speakers on Twitter. Sophie is @sophienadeau, Uzma is @UzmaWrites, Andree is @alau2."In any movement, you're always going to have a pushback, because people who are entrenched in their power and in their privilege are obviously not going to be happy when they're told to share." - Uzma

You'd think the boss would want to talk more. But, the truth is – in Canada at least – business leaders are among the most difficult group to convince to do media interviews or other forms of public engagement. Their reluctance isn't helping trust numbers for business leaders in Canada. On this episode of the Middle, the business of being the boss. Host Sophie Nadeau discusses the challenges of engagement with Derek DeCloet, an executive editor with the Globe and Mail, and Lisa Kimmel, President and CEO of Edelman Canada.If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find all of our speakers on Twitter, Sophie is @sophienadeau, Derek is @decloet, Lisa is @lisakimmel.

Newsrooms & journalists use their stories to drive reach, subscriptions, and their social license to be in business. Their copy is their product tho they don't describe it that way.But, news brands, companies and platforms have other ideas. The short hand in the backrooms is mixed and confusing: sponsored content, native, advertorial. For many, all of it a series of dirty words dripping in bad writing and ugly stock photos. Content that brands and corporations pay for is definitely some form of journalism, but often supported by paid efforts on search & social, designed to grow revenue for those who decide to use the tactic.On this episode of the Middle, the world of paid content & search. We talk to two industry experts who follow trends and the human impact of this work closely.Sean Stanleigh is the Managing Editor of the Globe and Mail's Content Studio which is the content-marketing arm of The Globe and Mail. He describes his team's work as “blending journalistic intuition and experience to craft great storytelling on behalf of brands, positioning them as thought leaders with influential audiences across multiple platforms.” He is also co-chair of Lab351, the company's internal business incubator, which is training employees to think like entrepreneurs. Sean's roots are in journalism and he has worked in senior editing roles at The Globe and the Toronto Star.Ramona Pringle is an educator and an expert who focuses on innovation in storytelling, interaction design, and the intersection of digital media. She specializes in digital multi-platform production and has developed and produced work for CBC, TVO, CTV and PBS where she worked as interactive producer on Frontline's Digital Nation. Ramona is a faculty member in Ryerson University's RTA School of Media and the Creative Director of Ryerson University's RTA Transmedia Centre, an incubator for the future of storytelling and media.

Consuming news feels like a constant effort these days. A common refrain: There is so much of it. Mostly stressful & bad. The daily drum beat of bent truth, misinformation, fake news, & agendas is so overwhelming it's hard to believe. The 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer tells us that not only is trust in key institutions is diminished in this environment, Canadians are tuning out to cope. 54% of Canadians are disengaged checking the news less and once a week.In episode 5 of the Middle the fight for the truth & trust. What newsrooms can teach us about earning, keeping and growing trust. I'm joined by two women who are leading the charge. Kathy English has been the public editor at the Toronto Star and Esther Enkin has been the ombudsperson for the CBC since 2012.

On today's episode, the challenge of news at the speed of Twitter. Navigating the speed and voracity of the channel while avoiding risk. I'm joined by two folks who spend way more time on Twitter than you do and still manage to stay sane.Cam Gordon is the Head of Communications for Twitter Canada, a job he's held for 3 and a half years. It's his job to explain and defend the platform. Before that, he worked a decade in PR agencies helping clients navigate media and communications issues.Elamin Abdelmahmoud is a news curation & social media editor for BuzzFeed News who also writes columns for Chatelaine Magazine and the Globe and Mail. He's a regular feature on CBC panels of all kinds and tends to a Twitter following of over 17K.

If you put content up on the web and no one is around to read it, does it still provide value? That's the existential question facing every corner of the media ecosystem. A tough nut to crack. If you're an established content creator – a big media company like the NYTimes or a super popular commercial brand like Unilever – you've got a head start. An advantage. In this space, new guys are scrappy renegades who can tell us a lot about what works and doesn't work. David Skok the Editor in Chief of The Logic and James Mirtle the Editor in Chief and a columnist for The Athletic in Toronto join host Sophie Nadeau, Edelman Canada's National Media Lead to talk about chasing audience.

The phone rings. On the other end, an investigative reporter. What do you do? Well, turns out that decision might just be one of the most important you make. Brad Ross, Executive Director of Corporate and Customer Communications for the Toronto Transit Commission and Kevin Donovan, Chief Investigative Reporter at the Toronto Star, join host Sophie Nadeau, Edelman Canada's National Media Lead, to talk through just how to approach talking to journalists.If you'd like to continue the conversation, find us on Twitter. Brad Ross is at @bradTTC, Kevin Donovan is at @_kevindonovan and Sophie Nadeau is @sophienadeau. Thanks for listening.

What does the future of media look like? Okay, that's a big topic. But our media geeks still take it on, talking fake news and "trumours," ultra-niche content distribution, and where trust fits in. Steve Rubel, Edelman's Chief Content Strategist and Mathew Ingram, Chief Digital Editor at the Columbia Journalism Review join host Sophie Nadeau, Edelman Canada's National Media Lead, to shed some light on what media might look like in our increasingly digital - and polarized - world.