National legacy media benefited from fund meant for "local journalism"
Much of the money allotted for smaller news outlets in rural areas across Canada actually went to the same larger media outlets that already receive major subsidies.
Author: Quinn Patrick
A sizable swath of the funding from the Liberals’ Local Journalism Initiative, launched in 2019 to support struggling “underserved communities,” ultimately just went to the same publications that already receive millions in taxpayer money.
First covered by Blacklock’s Reporter, the records were made public after Conservative MP Arpan Khanna requested a breakdown of the final funding received by each media outlet.
The records, which were tabled in the House of Commons last week, found that much of the money allotted for smaller news outlets in rural areas across the country actually went to the Winnipeg Free Press, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Le Droit, The Hamilton Spectator and other major city papers.
The LJI program came into effect under the Trudeau government, which the Department of Canadian Heritage stated was meant to “support the creation of original civic journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada.”
“Communities are considered underserved if they are news deserts, communities where citizens do not have access to journalistic information about community issues and institutions because there are no daily or community newspapers or other media, for example community radio or television,” reads the program’s mission statement.
The funding covers 100 per cent of salary for reporters who are hired by eligible media, up to a maximum of $60,000 per person annually.
Records revealed that The Winnipeg Free Press took in $338,880, which it then turned around and gave $202,152 to the Winnipeg Sun, despite the city being home to 29 radio and television stations.
Many of the recipients of the grant could hardly be labelled “underserved.”
Figures showed grants paid since 2021 included:
• $408,468 to Ottawa’s Le Droit
• $347,172 to the Hamilton Spectator
• $282,062 to the Saint John Telegraph-Journal
• $257,576 to the St. John’s Telegram
• $236,844 to the Charlottetown Guardian
• $171,664 to the Peterborough Examiner
• $158,277 to the Toronto Star
• $138,125 to the Fredericton Daily Gleaner
• $30,750 to the Globe & Mail.
The grants were distributed through News Media Canada, the lobby group which represents corporate publishers.
“One of the important programs for rural voices is the Local Journalism Initiative. I think the Local Journalism Initiative is absolutely critical for rural coverage,” testified News Media CEO Paul Deegan at the Commons heritage committee on March 10, assuring MPS that the funding was going towardc hard-pressed rural weeklies.
During Deegan’s testimony before the Commons heritage committee in 2022, he depicted recipients as “very small publications,” and stressed the importance of supporting “those smaller outlets.”
“We have on our board Sarah Holmes from the Gabriola Sounder in British Columbia. It’s a very small paper. She and her husband are putting it out,” he said. “Tiny, smaller publications like that, I think would be hugely important because without her there is no news in her community.”
While the LJI was initially launched as a temporary, $50 million subsidy, slated to expire in 2024, the Liberals extended it under then-Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, with an additional $58.8 million in taxpayer funding.
“The Initiative helps Canadians get reliable facts,” said St-Onge said at the time.