Disclosure: Lockheed Martin is a Thornley Fallis client and I manage the account.

Yesterday, I moderated a news conference at the Canada Aviation Museum at which Tony Frese, Lockheed Martin program manager for the Canadian CC-130J project, announced the Canada In-Service Support Team for the CC-130J fleet and $1.5 billion Industrial Regional Benefits confirmed to date under the CC-130J program, including $307 million for companies in Ontario.  News Release

The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, then welcomed the news that Lockheed Martin is providing in-service support contracts to businesses across Canada and that the company has confirmed to date $1.5 billion in Industrial Regional Benefit projects under the CC-130J program, including $307 million for companies in Ontario. News Release

Keelan Green of Thornley Fallis

Tony Clement, Minister of Industry

Tony Frese of Lockheed Martin

L to R: Tony Frese, Keelan Green, David Schellenberg of Cascade Aerospace, Minister Tony Clement

Disclosure: Enstream / Zoompass is a Thornley Fallis client and I manage the account.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to demo the Zoompass Tag for CTV Ottawa’s Technology Reporter Paul Brent. 

Here’s the CTV Ottawa Report

Disclosure: Lockheed Martin is a Thornley Fallis client and I manage the account.

Earlier today, the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter rode more than 41,000 pounds of thrust to a vertical landing for the first time, confirming its required ability to land in confined areas both ashore and afloat. News Release here

Disclosure: Lockheed Martin is a Thornley Fallis client and I manage the account.

Yesterday afternoon, the first Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter passed overhead at 40 knots (46 mph) prior to making a slow, near-vertical landing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.  The flight was one of the last missions before the aircraft’s first vertical landing, and confirmed the jet’s power and controllability at very low speeds. The aircraft’s short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) propulsion system generates more than 41,000 pounds of vertical thrust, and enables airspeeds from zero to Mach 1.6. 

When traditional newspapers, periodicals, learned reviews and anthologies enjoyed an unfettered media landscape the natural division seemed to be between the quality press and everyone else.

Originally, “quality press” referred to a category of newspapers in national distribution throughout Great Britain that were characterized by their seriousness, distinctly conservative editorial positions, and cozy relationships with the ruling elite. North American newspapers also produced a quality press, which generally espoused conservative fiscal policy, business interests, and the maintenance of the status quo.

Newspapers—and magazine empires—were also the private domains of individuals who understood that their common lot was not with the common man.

Another hallmark of the quality press was a steadfast objection to moving with the times, with the possible exception of the advertising and classified departments. Occasionally, this would manifest itself in such charming quirks as 1970s references to “Miss Gloria Steinem, the editor of Ms. magazine.”

New voices are changing our understanding of quality press and its less respectable cousin, disposable media. The latter is proliferating chiefly through digital formats while the former is evolving, also chiefly through digital formats.

It works like this: In order to be relevant to the audience you need to deliver your messages directly to them. Online versions of respected publications all over the world are now “delivering the news right to your door” just as they always did. Instead of a paper carrier you have the Internet.

Gossipmongers, society shenanigans and celebrity exposés were made for the Internet; easy to produce and easier to delete. The same equation works for more challenging, important, serious, worthwhile and necessary topics.

Freed from geography and habit, consumers today can explore the collected output of leading thinkers from digital sources that no longer feel constrained by an editorial calendar geared to support the interests of the upper echelons of society.

The new quality press is everywhere; the change is a good one.

Consuming news today is a vibrant, exciting and diverse activity. Resources from around the globe—with divergent opinions, thoughts and ideas—can be read, saved, clipped and shared and sent on a viral tour that has no boundaries. New voices are joining the ranks of the quality press without ever seeing their name on a masthead. Independent thinkers, writers, observers and citizen journalists are influencing larger audiences than ever before.

The main difference, I believe, between the two will be proliferation versus evolution. This distinction will preserve quality while keeping disposable media safely where it belongs.