Despite championing the national push for press subsidies, FP Newspapers Inc., the newspaper chain behind the effort, faced substantial losses last year, exceeding $6 million, according to newly revealed records. Blacklock's Reporter says the chain, renowned for publications like the Winnipeg Free Press and the Brandon Sun, alongside other titles in Manitoba, the company received nearly $989,000 in payroll rebates funded by taxpayers."We will have to save ourselves," declared then-publisher Bob Cox, also chair of News Media Canada, during hearings of the Commons finance committee in 2019. "All of us are engaged in transforming our business models so we can continue to fulfill the key role that a free press must play in a healthy democracy."Despite ongoing subsidies averaging a million dollars annually, FP Newspapers reported an operating loss of $6,258,000 last year. Print advertising revenue plummeted by $3.5 million or 15% year-over-year, from $24,147,000 to $20,630,000, while circulation revenue also dipped by 3%.Cox, acting as the chief advocate for Canadian publishers, had initially pledged that the subsidies, budgeted at $595 million, would conclude by 2024. "The program itself is envisioned to be for five years, and I felt that was an appropriate period of time for the transition because, of course, there will be news outlets, newspapers, that fail the transition, and you can’t give them forever," Cox testified. "There does need to be a deadline.""Deadlines can also focus you and get you moving to where maybe you aren’t moving now. I think it’s important. I see this as a transitional program and temporary help. I don’t like the idea of a long-term subsidy for newspapers that becomes permanent."However, in 2023, publishers retracted from the five-year deadline and successfully lobbied for a doubling of payroll rebates to $29,750 per newsroom employee. Despite internal Privy Council research indicating Canadians' indifference toward newspapers' survival, Cabinet approved an additional $129 million in bailout subsidies."A few expressed concerns that the decrease in news outlets could lead to less legitimate sources being available to Canadians, most believed this did not represent a problem," wrote researchers in a report on Canadians' views regarding the decline in the number of news outlets.
Despite championing the national push for press subsidies, FP Newspapers Inc., the newspaper chain behind the effort, faced substantial losses last year, exceeding $6 million, according to newly revealed records. Blacklock's Reporter says the chain, renowned for publications like the Winnipeg Free Press and the Brandon Sun, alongside other titles in Manitoba, the company received nearly $989,000 in payroll rebates funded by taxpayers."We will have to save ourselves," declared then-publisher Bob Cox, also chair of News Media Canada, during hearings of the Commons finance committee in 2019. "All of us are engaged in transforming our business models so we can continue to fulfill the key role that a free press must play in a healthy democracy."Despite ongoing subsidies averaging a million dollars annually, FP Newspapers reported an operating loss of $6,258,000 last year. Print advertising revenue plummeted by $3.5 million or 15% year-over-year, from $24,147,000 to $20,630,000, while circulation revenue also dipped by 3%.Cox, acting as the chief advocate for Canadian publishers, had initially pledged that the subsidies, budgeted at $595 million, would conclude by 2024. "The program itself is envisioned to be for five years, and I felt that was an appropriate period of time for the transition because, of course, there will be news outlets, newspapers, that fail the transition, and you can’t give them forever," Cox testified. "There does need to be a deadline.""Deadlines can also focus you and get you moving to where maybe you aren’t moving now. I think it’s important. I see this as a transitional program and temporary help. I don’t like the idea of a long-term subsidy for newspapers that becomes permanent."However, in 2023, publishers retracted from the five-year deadline and successfully lobbied for a doubling of payroll rebates to $29,750 per newsroom employee. Despite internal Privy Council research indicating Canadians' indifference toward newspapers' survival, Cabinet approved an additional $129 million in bailout subsidies."A few expressed concerns that the decrease in news outlets could lead to less legitimate sources being available to Canadians, most believed this did not represent a problem," wrote researchers in a report on Canadians' views regarding the decline in the number of news outlets.
