Virtually all of Canada’s mainstream media will soon be dependent on the good graces of the federal government.. Peter MenziesPeter Menzies .You probably haven’t read a lot about that in the financially-crippled legacy newspapers campaigning for federal cash. And you won’t have heard much about it from broadcasters hoping to feast at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s financial table. But last weekend, one of the country’s most high profile publishers admitted what everyone in the news business, in their heart, knows: Ottawa is passing legislation that directly threatens freedom of the press..For context, Canada’s legacy newspaper industry has already successfully lobbied for at least $220 million in annual federal subsidies and tax breaks. These include funding for reporters at publications such as Narwhal, which campaigns relentlessly against Coastal Gas Link’s pipeline (and anyone else’s for that matter) and at the very left-leaning National Observer. The latter actually has the most — three — fully-funded “Local Journalism Initiative” journos. One is assigned to cover the beauty and wonder of federal government activities in British Columbia. Those stories are then cheerfully distributed for use nationwide via Canadian Press. Thus are your hard-earned tax dollars put to work, as Big Media puts it, “saving democracy.”..Add to that the Online News Act, aka Bill C-18, which will force companies such as Facebook, Google and others to subsidize the government’s approved media. The policy wonks among you can find details here. As for the rest of you, all you need to know is that the biggest recipients of this estimated $329 million shakedown are predicted to be the CBC (I’m not making this up) and CTV/BellMedia..For months, critics such as Michael Geist — professor of law at the University of Ottawa and Canada Research Chair in Internet law — and many others have pointed out that Bill C-18 is deeply flawed. We have appeared before Parliamentary committees and written about it where we can (the largest newspaper chains haven’t published critiques of Bill C-18.) We have pointed out how the Liberals are essentially funding failed legacy news business models at the expense of more than 200 innovative startups (such as this one) that have emerged in recent years with modern, entrepreneurial approaches to news delivery. The most principled of these, conscious of the need to maintain their readers’ trust, refuse to take government money..Other critics such as Sue Gardner of McGill’s Max Bell School of Public Policy have noted the government actions in response to the disruption caused by the internet are equivalent to funding buggy whip manufacturers following the invention of the automobile..We have watched, gobsmacked, as many representatives of those most likely to fill their plates at the all-you-can eat Trudeau buffet have said with straight faces that Bill C-18 and its anticipated hundreds of millions, would, OMG, never impede their independence — which anyone who has ever run a newsroom knows is pure, unadulterated, flapdoodle..And then, this past weekend, Globe & Mail Publisher Phillip Crawley agreed..“Bill C-18 is the problem, in its present form,” Crawley wrote. “It contains language that could allow the newspaper industry to be subject to arbitrary regulation by a quasi-government body. Politicians of all parties should be wary of going there.".“We hear many noble words about the role of the media in upholding democracy, and the value to society of holding our institutions to account.... But if government, or its agencies, are the gatekeepers for commercial agreements between newspapers (and their websites) and digital giants such as Google and Facebook, editorial freedom can be a casualty.”.No frigging kidding..The quasi-judicial body Crawley is referring to is the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC.) While another government bill (C-11) is putting the CRTC in charge of what can be said and how it can be watched on the Internet, C-18 puts it in charge of approving commercial arrangements between news organizations and online platforms. In doing so, it puts the state squarely in the newsrooms of the nation..So, good for Crawley and the Globe — albeit late in the day — for ending the industry’s creepy silence and confirming that putting agenda-fuelled government appointees in charge of how the nation’s newsrooms spend their money is a very bad idea..But be in no doubt: Bill C-18 will proceed. Yes, Crawley’s critique might cause some pause for thought within the ranks of those MPs and Senators responsible for vetting it. But Liberal members of the Commons committee have to date preferred close-minded partisanship and attack dog tactics to open-minded inquiry. All they really want is to pass the bill...So I’m not holding my breath. Neither should you. Toronto- and Montreal-based CBC, Bell, Rogers, the Toronto Star, Postmedia (and its collection of what Jen Gerson of The Line referred to as “zombie” newspapers) are all deploying their considerable lobbying resources to make it happen..They will be the big financial winners even if freedom of the press is the loser. Not only will they scoop up government-mandated millions, they will use the loot to the disadvantage of independent media that refuse to be on the government’s payroll and may soon have to choose between starving and selling out..There is much, much more involved in the Trudeau government’s moves to exercise control over social media, news media and speech on the Internet. The Online Streaming Act — which puts the jobs of about 40,000 online creators at risk and will allow the CRTC to control your viewing choices, will probably clear the Senate next week. And up next after C-18 will be the Online Harms Act that will determine how you speak online..These guys are just getting started..Peter Menzies is a Senior Fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, past vice chair of the CRTC and former publisher of the Calgary Herald.
