Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked government-funded newspapers for striving to “keep people informed, hold governments accountable, and help protect democracy.”.“These are not small tasks,” said Trudeau in a Sunday tweet. .“This #NationalNewspaperWeek, let’s celebrate these #ChampionsOfTheTruth for providing Canadians with reliable and credible information.” .Macdonald-Laurier Institute domestic policy program director Aaron Wudrick said Trudeau’s media bailout is “an untenable conflict of interest.”.“I agree, so please stop compromising their autonomy by funneling them subsidies and/or shaking down other businesses to subsidize them,” said Wudrick. .“It's hard for newspapers to insist they're independent when you place them so clearly in your debt.”.Canadaland publisher and editor-in-chief Jesse Brown said reasonable people can debate about media subsidies..“But there is no rational argument for a government handing out massive subsidies to companies they select based on the 'medium' they use to deliver the news, at the expense of new, innovative news publishers,” said Brown. .Like the Western Standard, Canadaland is one of a handful of news outlets in Canada not participating in any media subsidy program. .The Canadian government provides more than $1 billion per year to the CBC and $600 million to various news outlets through the media bailout. .The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) launched a petition to Trudeau demanding he defund the CBC and end the media bailout. .“We should be able to choose which organization we want to support with our own money,” said the CTF. .A handful of Western Canadian Postmedia Network publications said on September 21 they will no longer be producing Monday print editions effective October 17, despite participating in the media bailout. .READ MORE: Western Canadian Postmedia newspapers cancel Monday editions despite massive bailouts.“The decision reflects the rapidly changing news consumption habits of our readers, the needs of our advertisers and the escalating costs of printing and delivering a printed product,” said Postmedia editorial senior vice president Gerry Nott. .The Postmedia publications affected by this decision were the Vancouver Sun, the Province, the Edmonton Journal, the Edmonton Sun, the Calgary Herald, and the Calgary Sun.
