Ian Capstick, a former press secretary for the NDP and now operating his own firm, MediaStyle, is running an interesting series on his blog. He's asking journalists the same three questions all related to the broad theme of how blogging and social networks fit in with the traditional day job of a daily journalist.

I mostly re-hash stuff I've already written about here and elsewhere about those issues but do check out what my friends Susan Delacourt and Bill Doskoch had to say about this brave new world.

The bank found that the national average for a home price fell 5.1 per cent in July compared to the same month last year. But the bank also found that, for the first time in 13 months, the average price in July rose -- in every region of the country -- compared to the prior month.

Equal Voice , a group which seeks to increase the political presence of women and women elected to all levels of political office in Canada, released a survey today which concludes that both Conservatives and Liberals, despite commitments to do otherwise, still do not have enough women set to run in the next general election:

Prime Minister Harper has asked Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon to go to St John's and meet the Libyan leader. Minister Cannon will voice Canada's strong disapproval over the hero’s welcome organised for Abdelbasset Al Maghrahi, the man responsible for the Lockerbie terrorist bombing. It constituted an insult to all the victims who died including Canadians

Some fairly heated political duelling this morning between Liberals, led by their leader Michael Ignatieff and MP Gerard Kennedy, and Infrastructure Minister John Baird.

The Liberals threw the first punch. Ignatieff, in Burlington, Ont. with Kennedy at his side, said Kennedy's research proves that Tory ministers are targetting federal economic stimulus spending at Tory-held ridings.   more »

One of the ways the federal government is trying to reverse that trend is by adding advance polling days ahead of the general election and by adding the number of polls open on one of those days.

As a creator, I record short audio bits using my iPhone. They'll probably be mostly me talking about something but, as Ian demonstrated, I might include some interviews with political players from time to time. I tag the recording with a few keywords, give it a title, attach a picture if I want, and then hit publish. Couldn't be simpler. At the other end, an audience somewhere out there, can access these audio updates in a couple of different ways:

The panel I'm on is scheduled for next Monday, Sept. 28 from 7 pm to 9 pm (and it's free to attend!) but the organizers have had to change the venue. It was to be held at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa but, this week, employees of the War Museum and the Canadian Museum of Civilization are on strike.

'This week's September 28, 2009, issue of Sports Illustrated features Comerica Park amidst a background of the Detroit cityscape ... No city has been harder hit by the economic downturn than Detroit, forcing owner Mike Ilitch to take a most drastic measure...

"July’s retail sales report was certainly disappointing, but falling prices made the headline look overly weak. The modest decline in volumes won’t keep real GDP from posting a solid monthly gain of as much as 0.5% (thanks to the solid increases in manufacturing and wholesale trade), and could set up a strong retail sales report in August (similar to what we saw in the U.S.). "