Nearly 80 Canadian Media Outlets Have Closed Since 2020 Despite Federal Subsidies: Document

Nearly 80 Canadian Media Outlets Have Closed Since 2020 Despite Federal Subsidies: Document
Minister Pablo Rodriguez rises during question period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 28, 2023. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld
Peter Wilson
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Nearly 80 Canadian news outlets have closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 despite the federal government previously introducing $595 million in media subsidies intended to support the sector, according to an internal briefing note.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic 78 news outlets closed including 65 community newspapers,” said a briefing note prepared in March for Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez and obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The note also said 57 local news outlets were launched during the same time period, including two TV stations, five radio stations, nine community newspapers, and 41 online news organizations.

The note added that “some news organizations have experienced some stability and growth” since the pandemic’s onset because of the federal government’s “support and a recent boost in advertising revenue.”

It said 16 community newspapers have reopened since the peak of pandemic lockdowns and closures, but that “overall job losses have continued upwards.”

Heritage Canada further noted that the government’s previous subsidies for media outlets were only “temporary.”

In 2018, the federal government announced a $595 million funding package to help the news sector.
Ottawa also previously announced media subsidies such as a 15 percent subscription tax credit and a 25 percent payroll rebate worth over $13,700 per newsroom employee. The government budgeted both subsidies to last five years, set to expire in March 2024.

‘Market Failure’

Earlier this year, the chief lobbyist for newspaper publishers in Canada said additional subsidies and federal legislation are needed to save more media outlets across the country from shutting their doors.
“We have a market failure here,” said Paul Deegan, CEO of News Media Canada, while testifying before the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications on May 30.

“It isn’t working, so we need a solution, and that’s why we’ve come to the government, even though, frankly, we would like to stay as far away from government and the CRTC as we can, but we do need them.”

Thomas Ripley, associate assistant deputy heritage minister, told the same committee in April that Canada has “seen a significant decline in journalists” despite government subsidies.

“The government’s view is that multiple interventions are needed in this space,” he said on April 25, adding, “Notwithstanding those interventions, we have continued to see a decline in the news sector.”

The federal government’s recently passed Online News Act was intended to boost the revenue of Canadian news outlets by forcing Google and Meta to pay them for any of their content linked or shared on the tech giants’ platforms.
Both tech companies responded to the legislation by declaring they will block Canadian news for users within the country once the act takes effect in December.
Noé Chartier contributed to this report.