It's not often a TV anchor
quits her job to go back to
the blogosphere. In this
episode, we talk to popular
tech personality Amber
MacArthur about why she quit
her TV gig and what she thinks
of mainstream news. The
outspoken MacArthur holds
nothing back.Digital Journal
-- Amber MacArthur is a
well-known tech journalist in
more

It's not often a TV anchor
quits her job to go back to
the blogosphere. In this
episode, we talk to popular
tech personality Amber
MacArthur about why she quit
her TV gig and what she thinks
of mainstream news. The
outspoken MacArthur holds
nothing back.Digital Journal
-- Amber MacArthur is a
well-known tech journalist in
Canada who also has a huge
following online. She made
headlines recently when she
quit her job at a very
well-known TV network to go
work online.Why? MacArthur
says the network was not
putting enough resources into
her show. In October 2007,
MacArthur was offered two jobs
in the U.S. and so she turned
in her resignation. Desperate
to keep her, Rogers execs
begged her to stay and
promised her a weekly show
that would air
nationwide.Excited about the
opportunity, MacArthur stayed.
They worked for months on the
new show but when she came
back to work after Christmas,
management told her the show
was being killed. MacArthur
was given no warning, but
management did offer her a
chance to stay on as a general
news reporter.Upset and
angered she had turned down
other opportunities, MacArthur
quit. It's been one of the
most surprising resignations
in media so far in 2008, but
the implications of Amber
MacArthur quitting from City
TV in Toronto are much wider
than Canada's
borders.MacArthur is one of
the most connected and busy
people you will ever meet:
She's always on Facebook;
MySpace; a million and one
social bookmarking sites; she
runs her own video podcast
called CommandN; she does Net
@ Nite with Leo Laporte; she
runs her own website (which
she says is currently being
redesigned); she often hosted
the show HomePage airing on
CP24; she did a segment on
City News International; and
had her own bi-weekly tech/web
show called Webnation.So when
someone as busy and public as
Macarthur quits her job, the
world takes notice. A lot of
tech and Internet fans
screamed bloody murder,
calling Rogers stodgy and
clueless to changing times in
the TV industry. Critics
blasted the company for not
valuing a personality who
really had a strong Web
following.The conversation,
first exploding on a BlogTO
comment thread, became a very
public affair between
MacArthur, her fans, a few of
her critics and one very brave
Rogers executive.Rogers Vice
President Kevin Bartus, seemed
to take part in the
conversation because he knew a
great deal about the topic,
but when Digital Journal TV
approached him to talk on
camera, he refused.In an email
to Digital Journal, Bartus
deflected the criticism,
writing, 'The Amber thing is
getting a bit old, and frankly
I never knew much about it to
begin with. The City folks are
in a completely separate
department and location. Most
of my commentary on BlogTO was
meant to counter any notion
that Rogers is not
web-oriented. Love to support
your content in areas other
than Amber.'Bartus seemed to
follow the BlogTO thread
because he knew a great deal
about the situation, yet he
told us he doesn't know much
about it. MacArthur said
Bartus did know all about the
show but was not involved in
having it killed. She also
gives Bartus kudos for having
the guts to comment publicly
which is rare for a vice
president in a public forum.In
this episode of Digital
Journal TV, we bring you up
close and personal with
Internet superstar Amber Mac.
We find out internal details
at City TV that led to her
show getting killed by
management; her frustration
with the traditional TV
format; why she thinks TV must
change dramatically in the
future; and details on the
social network she is now
building with a well-known
U.S. celebrity.MacArthur says
Rogers does not value the Web
as an audience and she doubts
how long their business model
will sustain itself. She also
says bloggers and citizen
journalists pose a threat to
mainstream media.Find out why.

Category Comedy

Tags Up, Close, Personal, With, Amber, Mac