Atlanta Journal-Constitution to stop printing as it transitions to all-digital news

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will stop providing a print edition at year's end and go completely digital, a dramatic change for a storied newspaper founded shortly after the Civil War.

The decision will make Atlanta the largest U.S. metro area without a printed daily newspaper, although some smaller metro Atlanta newspapers continue printing.

Publisher Andrew Morse said in his Thursday announcement that the news organization will aim to expand its audience as it continues to report the news using online, audio and video products.

“The fact is, many more people engage with our digital platforms and products today than with our print edition, and that shift is only accelerating," Morse wrote in a letter to subscribers posted on the Journal-Constitution's website. The AJC has about 115,000 total subscribers, of whom 75,000 are online only; Morse has set a goal of gaining 500,000 online subscribers.

‘You’re planting your brand flag’: The power of brand building in the women’s sports boom

On a cold day in the beginning of 2024, Alastair Merry and Mary Lou Bunn had a few questions for a public librarian in Ottawa, Ontario.

“If you could describe Ottawa and what it means to you in a couple words, how would you do it?” they asked. “What do you think of the spirit of the city?”

Merry and Bunn, along with the design firm Flower Shop that they co-founded, were hired by the then newly minted Professional Women’s Hockey League to create the nicknames and logos for the league’s inaugural six teams. They were traveling around North America to figure out what made those six cities tick.

As the ever-growing crop of new women’s leagues — at least eight have launched in the past three years — all aim for longevity, one of the cornerstones of any sustainable foundation is team branding. It encompasses everything from the nicknames to the color schemes and logos, and the PWHL has set a high bar there that other up-and-comers would love to emulate.

Mise à l’épreuve pour le grand écran

Le 48-Hour Film Festival retourne au Centre culturel franco-manitobain (CCFM) pour célébrer sa 10e édition. Un événement unique en son genre.

Le 26 août, le CCFM accueillera une projection spéciale et la remise des prix du 48-Hour Film Festival, un événement qui célèbre la créativité cinématographique en un temps record. Ce festival fait suite à une première présentation au Festival International de Film de Gimli (FIFG) en juillet. Tout a commencé le vendredi 27 juin, lorsque des cinéastes et passionnés de cinéma ont relevé le défi de créer un court métrage en seulement 48 heures. James McLellan, président du conseil d’administration du 48-Hour Film Festival, nous en dit plus sur cette initiative estivale qui unit la communauté autour de l’amour du cinéma.

Cinéaste et professeur de cinéma à l’école secondaire immersion Oak Park, James McLellan, explique que son implication dans le festival — qui faisait alors partie du Winnipeg Film Group — a commencé grâce à ses élèves. “J’avais des étudiants qui participaient à l’événement et connaissaient Ben Williams, fondateur du 48-Hour Film Festival. Ben m’a contacté et m’a fait part de son idée de créer un festival distinct du groupe cinématographique Winnipeg Film group et j’ai immédiatement accepté. J’ai trouvé que ce défi de 48 heures était tellement bien pour le développement des étudiants en tant que jeunes créateurs de films.”

C’était lors de son parcours au secondaire que Adam Yarish, l’ancien étudiant de James McLellan dans le programme immersion à Oak Park, a aussi découvert le 48.

Graphic novelist to lead free workshop for aspiring artists

Jonathan Dyck’s most monumental piece of advice? Start small.

Le logo d’un francophile de cœur

Originaire du quartier Tyndall Park à Winnipeg, c’est pourtant à Saint-Boniface que l’anglophone Jonato Dalayoan a choisi de s’installer il y a 22 ans. “C’était mon premier domicile, et depuis je suis toujours resté ici avec ma femme et mes enfants.”

Lui-même d’origine philippine, et sa femme germano-philippine, ils ont pleinement embrassé Saint-Boniface, sa culture francophone, et bien sûr son Festival du Voyageur. “Mes enfants vont à l’école d’immersion française et parlent couramment le français, affirme-t-il avec fierté. Je les appelle mes francopinos! En fait, ils parlent très bien le français mais pas du tout le filipino.”

Le Festival du Voyageur, la famille Dalayoan y a donc passé de nombreuses journées à travers les années. Jonato Dalayoan raconte: “Je vis proche du parc Provencher et je me souviens que dans mes premières années à Saint-Boniface, il y avait des sculptures de neige du Festival dans le parc Provencher. C’était toujours quelque chose que j’avais très hâte d’aller voir.

“Aujourd’hui, on va souvent au parc du Voyageur avec les enfants. Le Festival a beaucoup changé dans les cinq à dix dernières années, il y a beaucoup de nouvelles activités, de nouveaux spectacles, de nouvelles musiques, c’était vraiment cool pour toute la famille!”

Gabrielle Roy, une saison 3 pour aller encore plus loin

C’est à partir du 5 décembre que la saison 3 de la série Le monde de Gabrielle Roy sera diffusée sur ICI TOU.TV. Cette saison raconte le départ de l’écrivaine du Manitoba pour l’Europe, notamment Paris et Londres. Une période essentielle pour sa construction professionnelle et personnelle.

Alors que le public s’apprête à découvrir déjà cette troisième saison, pour Renée Blanchar, réalisatrice et scénariste, c’est toujours la même excitation avant un lancement. “La durée de cette série apporte une réelle profondeur que ce soit devant et derrière la caméra. Ça fait donc trois rendez-vous qu’on se donne avec le Manitoba pour raconter cette histoire-là, et au lieu de s’essouffler, elle se bonifie.”

Renée Blanchar définit cette troisième saison, toujours co-produite par Les Productions Rivard et Zone 3, comme un vrai “tour de force.” Pourquoi? Car les équipes de production ont réussi à tourner toutes les scènes de cette série qui a lieu à Paris et à Londres… au Manitoba. “Cette saison raconte donc le voyage en Europe de Gabrielle Roy entre 1937 et 1939, à l’aube de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Et tout a été tourné ici, au Manitoba. C’était un beau casse-tête. Sur ça, je tiens à féliciter l’équipe de Réjean Labrie, concepteur artistique, pour son travail. Donc l’architecture ici nous a permis de recréer un théâtre, un appartement parisien, on a pu aussi donner l’illusion d’être à Londres. Et tout ça a été complété avec des archives de l’époque.”

Un vrai défi de production

New Jenna Rae cookbook focuses on bakers’ favourite home recipes

There’s a sweet new edition on the way.

Sisters Jenna Hutchinson and Ashley Kosowan are expanding their successful local bakery business with a new cookbook venture. Jenna Rae Cakes at Home: Our Favourite Recipes to Enjoy with Family and Friends hits bookstores Oct. 8 and features more than 100 colourful, family-friendly recipes.

The cookbook is a followup to their first release, Jenna Rae Cakes and Sweet Treats, and is a labour of love that brings together the twins’ individual interests.

“Ash was meant to make cookbooks,” says Hutchinson, whose passion for cake design prompted the entrepreneurial siblings to open their first Jenna Rae Cakes shop in 2014.

I meme, you meme: internet language brings us together

Sometimes, a public health campaign gets it right.

The Baltimore City Health Department has been earning praise for a new initiative that spreads accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines online by using an internet-native language: memes.

“Ginger ale can’t cure COVID, Derrick!” reads one. “Mimosas with the girls? You’re still not vaxxed, Debra!” reads another. “What the FAQ is Delta? It’s new. It’s scary. But we’re here to break it down.”

Done wrong, a public health department using the language of the internet can smack a bit of, to evoke a popular meme, actor Steve Buscemi dressed up unconvincingly as a teenager and asking, “How do you do, fellow kids?” (To be fair, so does describing memes in print.)

Prominent fact-checker Snopes apologizes for plagiarism

A collection of breaking news briefs filed on August 19, 2021

• Trudeau, O’Toole to make campaign stops here Friday

• Twelve arrested, two at large after Norway House woman held against her will and sexually assaulted

• River East Transcona school board mandates masks for K-12 students, staff

• Missing teenage girl found in Portage la Prairie

• LRSD, teachers' association one step closer to implementing staff vaccine mandate

• Winnipeg police investigate 28th homicide of the year

• Twenty-seven new COVID infections, one death reported Thursday

• U of M, U of W, Red River announce vaccine mandates

• Two arrests made following June homicide

Tree-felling display home transport generates online buzz

A Winnipeg display home that recently smashed into trees and street signs as it was transported via truck has now been to British Columbia, the Panama Canal and Oz — via the internet.

An online Manitoba starlet, Photoshopped images of the house in the city and beyond have gone viral.

The home’s transport Saturday led to the destruction of nearly two dozen trees in the Charleswood neighbourhood along Roblin Boulevard, between Scotswood Drive and the Perimeter Highway. The house was too wide to fit on the road. It also hit several street signs.

The Winnipeg Police Service said officers arrested the driver, who’s facing a charge of mischief over $5,000. The incident is now subject to a provincial investigation.

Trial against Meta in New Mexico highlights video depositions by top executives

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors began presenting never-before-seen video depositions of Meta executives at a trial in New Mexico on Tuesday to bolster accusations that the social media conglomerate failed to disclose what it knows about harmful effects to children on its platforms, including Instagram.

New Mexico prosecutors are billing depositions from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram leader Adam Mosseri as centerpieces of the state's case against Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Prosecutors have accused Meta of violating state consumer protection laws.

Prosecutors say the dangers of addiction to social media as well as child sexual exploitation on Meta's platforms weren’t properly addressed or disclosed by the company.

Meta attorney Kevin Huff pushed back on those assertions during opening statements on Feb. 9, highlighting efforts to weed out harmful content from its platforms while warning users that some content still gets through its safety net. He said Meta discloses the risks.

Drone application big step in crop protection

It’s been a long time coming, but Health Canada is finally moving forward with a plan that would allow farmers to spray weeds using drones.

The department that oversees Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency has launched a 30-day public consultation process on a proposal to regulate drone applications of pesticides similarly to manned aircraft applications.

The change, if approved, would allow manufacturers whose products are already approved for application by manned aircraft to add application by drones to their product labels without going through the costly and time-consuming process of applying for a label change.

Currently, there are no agricultural pesticide products registered for drone application largely because the current regulations require every product to go through a separate registration process providing supporting data.

Solomon to meet OpenAI CEO Altman in wake of mass killings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

VANCOUVER - Federal Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon will meet with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman next week looking for a plan on how the company might prevent another tragedy like the mass killings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

Solomon said in a statement on Friday that he plans to talk to Altman "to seek further clarity and to ensure that the commitments made are translated into concrete action."

OpenAI had sent a letter to Solomon on Thursday, outlining its commitment to strengthen detection systems, to identify potential warning signals of serious violence, and better prevent attempts to evade safeguards.

Tumbler Ridge shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar had her ChatGPT account flagged internally and shut down by OpenAI last June, but the company did not notify police at the time. She went on to murder eight people on Feb. 10 in Tumbler Ridge, before killing herself.

Data centres and Manitoba: a cautionary tale

Alongside the rapidly expanding use of AI in everyday life, there’s a growing awareness that the technology also comes with extreme, big-picture threats to the things we need more: fresh water, affordable clean energy and a healthy information ecosystem.

When the internet extortionist comes calling

Everyone has, no doubt, heard of the prevalence of internet scams — the police warn you about them, your bank warns you regularly, and the list goes on.

Growing more complex by the day: How should journalists govern use of AI in their products?

Like so many sectors of the economy, the news industry is hurtling toward a future where artificial intelligence plays a major role — grappling with questions about how much the technology is used, what consumers should be told about it, whether anything can be done for the journalists who will be left behind.

These issues were on the minds of reporters for the independent outlet ProPublica as they walked picket lines earlier this month. They're inching toward a potential strike, in what is believed would be the first such job action in the news business where how to deal with AI is the chief sticking point.

Few expect this dispute will be the last.

AI has undeniably helped journalists, simplifying complex tasks and saving time, particularly with data-focused stories. News organizations are using it to help sift through the Epstein files. AI suggests headlines, summarizes stories. Transcription technology has largely eliminated the need for a human to type up interviews. These days, even a simple Google search frequently involves AI.

Young woman says she was on social media ‘all day long’ as a child in landmark addiction trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A young woman who is battling against social media giants took the stand Thursday to testify about her experience using the platforms as she was growing up, saying she was on social media “all day long” as a child.

The now 20-year-old, who has been identified in court documents as KGM, says her early use of social media addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Meta and YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled.

The case, along with two others, has been selected as a bellwether trial, meaning its outcome could impact how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies are likely to play out.

KGM, or Kaley, as her lawyers have called her during the trial, started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9.

Sens captain Brady Tkachuk unhappy with White House AI video that insulted Canadians

OTTAWA - Brady Tkachuk’s first game back with the Ottawa Senators wasn’t an easy one.

The Senators captain returned to the nation’s capital riding the high of a gold medal with Team USA at the Olympics, but his on-ice performance hasn’t been the headline.

Earlier this week, Tkachuk was one of 20 American players who visited the White House and attended the State of the Union following an invitation from President Donald Trump.

But what many Canadian and Senators fans took issue with was an AI-doctored video shared by the White House that made it appear he was disparaging Canadians. The altered clip, shared by the White House's TikTok account, inserted fabricated audio of Tkachuk referring to Canadians as “maple syrup eating f---s,” with the expletive bleeped in the video. The video carries a note saying it “contains AI-generated media.”

Burger King to bring AI-based voice coach to Canada later this year

When you stop at a Burger King later this year, staff may have an artificial intelligence-based coach in their ears.

Restaurant Brands International, the owner of the fast-food giant, revealed Thursday that it is bringing its new Patty tool to Canada in the second half of 2026.

Patty is a voice-based assistant which will be piped through the headsets Burger King staff wear, listening to their conversations and prodding them toward more attentive customer service and efficiency.

The tool will be able to remind employees how to make food orders and help them upsell customers.

AI chatbots and teens — a sometimes deadly combination

As if there weren’t enough concerns about the changes artificial intelligence may bring in the future — the displacement of millions of workers, or the potential for AI to disconnect from its human managers and go its own way — there are clear and present dangers which AI companies must be forced to address now.

Tattoo removal business owners discover customers’ ink easier to erase than scammers’ damaging online reviews

The owners of two Winnipeg tattoo removal outlets say scammers are trying to extort them by posting negative Google reviews, then demanding payment to take them down.