The cutthroat politics behind Google’s $100-million deal
Read this story in French here.
Kim Siever, sole journalist and founder of the Alberta Worker, has spent five years reporting on labour and politics. Despite his dedication, financial struggles threaten his work. His is one of many stories highlighting the difficulty of maintaining small newsrooms in Canada.
“I’ve been losing subscribers. People are struggling financially. I’m one of the first expenses who gets cut. In order to find money I have to find other income, which further reduces my output,” said Siever.
On June 22, 2023, the Online News Act received royal assent, compelling tech giants such as Meta and Google to pay for the use of Canadian news. In response, Meta swiftly banned all media in Canada from its platforms. Google, meanwhile, applied for an exemption, proposing to pay $100 million a year over the next five years to be distributed to news outlets in Canada based on the number of employees each has.
The government approved.
The heritage ministry and Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission are now rejecting the proposition that freelancers be included in the calculus to distribute the pledge to news in Canada. This means excluding both single-employee publications and publications that mostly rely on freelancers.
“It would have been useful for me to be able to hire a copy editor, as well as accept paid freelance submissions. I guess I’ll have to continue soldering on, just as I was before,” said Jeremy Appel, editor-in-chief of the Orchard on Substack.
After the approval, Google then put out an open call for groups to manage and distribute the funds. Two contenders emerged: the Canadian Journalism Collective, a conglomeration of independent editors and broadcasters, and News Media Canada, a national lobby group that represents most major media companies.
Although the proposals had much in common, the CJC won, prioritizing transparency and diversity while championing independent journalism — a rapidly growing sector comprising 17 per cent of the industry as of 2019. Among other points, the CJC argued that excluding freelance journalists who contribute massively to small, independent news businesses misrepresents the modern media landscape.
The pushback against this argument has been relentless. The Canadian Press questioned the CJC’s ability to manage the funds effectively, calling their framework “novel” and untested. The National Post cited conflicts of interest based on the CJC being composed of independent journalists. Several other media groups also blasted the CJC.
In June, the CRTC opened public consultations inviting feedback on the exemption from the Online News Act by Google. Large media corporations submitted a joint request, as well as separate letters, demanding that outlets with at least two full-time employees should be the only ones to qualify for funding — mirroring the conditions for Qualified Canadian Journalism Organizations status already set out in the tax code. Effectively, they campaigned to remove solo operators and organizations that rely mostly on freelancers. In a concerted effort to put pressure on the government, major players like Rogers, Bell and NMC lobbied for the change behind closed doors.
According to a leaked letter, the CJC has fought back, arguing that including freelancers in the funding calculations would “contribute to sustainability in local news markets, and ensure equitable distribution of funds among diverse business models.” They also noted that “since the proliferation of digital platforms for disseminating news … many journalists prefer the freedom of working as freelancers and covering what they care most about.”
Lela Savić, founder and editor-in-chief of La Converse, says this decision is “limiting” and “benefits media that have more money to begin with.” By the estimates given by CJC calculations, her company might receive between $10,000 and $20,000 per employee from the Google agreement. Nonetheless, she supports smaller outlets and disagrees with the CRTC’s decision to exclude freelancers.
NMC did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
When asked whether the decision to exclude freelancers from the funding calculations reflects the stated intention of the Online News Act, the CRTC responded that they are “continuing to look at measures to help ensure that all Canadians have access to high-quality and diverse local and national news programming on TV, radio and online in Canada.”
Amidst these developments, Canada’s media landscape faces severe financial strain. Bell Media laid off 4,800 workers this year, Postmedia cut 11 per cent of its journalists, and trust in Canadian news has dropped 20 points since 2018. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to defund the CBC if elected, threatening a major blow to a trustworthy Canadian institution. Meta’s ban has slashed outlet traffic, while TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) evade payment obligations under the Online News Act. It is unclear why the government is not acting immediately to make these two companies pay, and when asked whether they were going to regulate these tech giants via Bill-31, the CRTC elected not to respond. In the meantime, Canada has banned Tik Tok from operating a headquarters in the country, which has caused significant controversy, and has made it more challenging for journalists with significant presence on the platform to receive customer support. There is no mention of X or Tik Tok by the public record detailing the implementation of the law.
Disinformation thrives on these platforms, further destabilizing journalism, and having possible severe repercussions for the future of democracy.
For Siever and many others like him, the CRTC’s decision is a missed opportunity. “I’ve been doing this for almost five years, and I’ve barely made over a hundred thousand. With that money I would have maybe been able to bring someone else onto the team, and provide more in depth coverage,” he said.
Isaac Peltz is a non-binary musician turned journalist. They started freelancing in 2022, doing photography, filming, and interviewing as a freelancer. They have since jumped into journalism full time, winning a major grant with the Association of independent Journalists of Quebec, as well as publishing in both French and English. They are currently stationed in Montreal with many major projects on the go.