To the editor:
Problem: Small-town media and media, in general, are finding their existence threatened by a lack of revenue, interest in investing in local media and maintaining skilled journalists. Whether in the Caribbean, Canada, the U.S. or most anywhere, sources of financial investment are turning away from small-town media as a place to invest in.
What is required are shifts in attitude to long-term investment approaches. Financial institutions are determined to turn over their investment, searching for immediate profitability, something that never happens within the media environment.
Small-town newspapers online will be one of the only ways Canadians will be able to find their stories and news about their communities. The federal government's Online News Act, known as Bill C-18, approved just last week in Ottawa, is essentially forcing companies like Google and Facebook to pay Canadian media firms copyright fees when their content and feeds appear on their platforms, regardless of who is sharing it.
Meta, the parent firm behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp has said it will block all Canadian news stories published by Canadian outlets from their feeds. Google says it is going to do just that as well. Canadian journalism and the public's access to news are under attack due to the reaction of these Tech Giants. Ottawa has informed these companies of their intentions, attempting to protect and generate funds for media in Canada.
Journalism is under assault from all corners, from the business sector which can and does lay off thousands of employees at a whim, showering their shareholders with false profitability, limited media coverage and media coverage on a shoestring budget. All the while, the Tech Giants cherry-pick from small media catalogues willy nilly. Future mergers of Media Giants in Canada may be the only way to save written news. Ultimately, there is no security for individuals who work for the media.
These very Media and Tech Giants cry foul as the CBC is funded by the federal government to the tune of a billion dollars plus, and the Conservatives' call for the divestment of the CBC will surely be a further blow to independent news coverage in Canada. The Government of Canada's actions have taken the media's future prospects to an entirely new level of uncertainty. Can independent small news outlets survive the onslaught of corporate manipulation? Can truthful, objective media thrive in Canada?
The most important factor in survival is neither intelligence nor strength, but ADAPTABILITY. Can local media adapt before it is too late? Where can they find the funds necessary to continue their sacred profession?
History shows us that democracy cannot exist or survive without the assistance of objective, active media.
Town Hall City Criers don't exist anymore, and yet people see it as nostalgic. Will the future bring us coverage from multiple media that looks and says the same thing, manipulated and presented by multi-national corporations with their own expectations and goals? Profit replacing "THE TRUTH."
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
