Each week, we share the top five articles that caught our attention. Here are your must-reads, published here and abroad, for the week of December 5th 2016.
When did humans become consumers?
Until the 19th century, hardly anyone recognized the vital role everyday buyers play in the world economy. How have our behaviours as consumers changed the course of history? When did humans become defined by our consumption? Frank Trentmann, a professor of history at Birkbeck College, University of London, dives into this complex question.
→ Read it on The Atlantic Pocket
Surfing the ‘net in North Korea
Propaganda, Korean recipes, Kim Jong-un… If you’re North Korean, this is the kind of information you can access on Kwangmyong, the country’s intranet—and the world’s most censored network. The “real” Internet can only be used by universities, governments and a handful of scientists. So if you’re following any Instagram accounts based in North Korea, they are probably managed by travelling foreigners. Just another way that this country controls their citizens, online and offline.
→ Read it on Slate Pocket
Bye-bye to ads on CBC/Radio-Canada
Is the Canadian digital content landscape about to change? In an effort to concentrate on the cultural impact of its mandate, work in closer collaboration with local creatives and promote Canada on an international scale, CBC/Radio-Canada is making the move to go ad-free. What kind of repercussions will this decision have on the communications industry? And, more importantly, on Canadians?
→ Read it on CBC Pocket
The future of the magazine industry
With Rogers announcing the end of Loulou magazine, the reduction of Châtelaine to six issues per year and the sale of L’actualité, the Canadian industry is feeling the shifting of the tides. The future of magazine media was also debated during a recent conference prior to the Digital Magazine Awards. Now that ad revenues aren’t enough and consumers seem less inclined to spend on print magazines, what solutions remain for this embattled industry?
→ Read it on Media Briefing Pocket
Surviving your coming out with Dungeons & Dragons
Being a gay teen is rarely easy; even less so if you live in a small town in the Canadian prairies in the 1970s. In his first article for The Walrus, writer Kevin Patterson explains how the geek universe of Dungeons & Dragons helped his twin brother come to terms with his homosexuality. After all, Comic Con is not all that different from an LGBT parade!
→ Read it on The Walrus Pocket
Gift cards: yay or nay?
#Sponsored
We’re betting that you’ll be putting a few gift cards underneath the tree this year… And you’re not alone! According to Conseil québécois du commerce de détail, an astonishing 1 in 2 Quebecois will be giving gift cards this holiday season. Stéphane Mailhiot, Vice President, Strategy at Havas, deconstructs this popular trend.
→ Read it on L’actualité (in French) Pocket
In your earbuds: BBC Trending
DJ Khaled is the king and master of Snapchat! His daily messages are seen by millions of fans, who find him both hilarious and inspiring. Journalist Whitney Henry travelled to Miami to find out the key to his success.
→ Listen to it on BBC
