Rogers Communications Inc. is calling on federal lawmakers to extend newsroom subsidies to include TV and radio employees, arguing that current tax credits unfairly exclude broadcast journalists. Blacklock's Reporter says the telecommunications giant emphasized that broadcast journalism plays a crucial role in delivering the country’s most sought-after news content.“The tax credit as it stands leaves the most sought news content in Canada, that of broadcast journalism, behind,” Rogers stated in its submission to the House of Commons finance committee, claiming that subsidies are “narrowly focused on print media.”In 2019, Parliament amended the Income Tax Act to provide a payroll rebate of up to $13,750 per employee to cabinet-approved newsrooms. The $595 million subsidy was set to expire on March 31, but was instead extended and doubled to $29,750 per employee.Rogers highlighted its role in creating and distributing essential news programming through its TV stations, CityTV and Omni, and its cable networks.“Rogers plays a vital role in the creation and distribution of important local, regional, and national news and information programming,” the company said, noting it employs more than 450 full-time Canadians who produce 935 hours of broadcast news weekly. The company’s rebates could amount to as much as $13.4 million annually.This latest appeal mirrors earlier efforts by Corus Entertainment Inc., operator of the Global TV network, which in 2022 unsuccessfully petitioned for direct cash grants. Corus argued that broadcast news, unlike other forms of Canadian media, does not receive direct federal support. “Corus urges the federal government to redress this inequity,” Global’s managers wrote.The Canadian Association of Broadcasters also called for subsidies in 2020, stating, “Additional forms of assistance should be devised and implemented as quickly as possible because those local stations are an important, and in some cases the only, source of local news.”Lenore Gibson, former chair of the Association, said in 2019: “If the government is going to support one industry then we feel they should support others.” She added, “From a fairness and equity point of view, we find that arbitrary. If you value local news, who is to say that print is more important?”Meanwhile, several Canadian newsrooms have voiced opposition to federal subsidies. In May, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute published an Ottawa Declaration, signed by nine media outlets, including Blacklock’s Reporter, the Western Standard and True North, rejecting government financial support for newsrooms.
