‘This law was created by and for big media:’ Google’s news deal with Canada raises hopes and concerns
Google signed a deal with a collective to distribute $100 million to Canadian news companies in early June. However, some small players believe they have not been sufficiently heard and are worried about the future
To be exempt from the online news law — formerly Bill C-18 — Google agreed to pay news publishers in Canada $100 million a year, indexed to inflation, for the next five years. Google selected the Canadian Journalism Collective to distribute the amount the tech giant has promised to news organizations in Canada. About 1,500 outlets applied earlier this year when Google put out an open call to news organizations that wished to receive compensation.
The CJC — a federally incorporated non-profit organization that was created in May for this purpose — is composed of a group of independent publishers and broadcasters that represent French language, community and Indigenous news, and publications that specifically represent Black and minority Canadians.
However, the choice of the CJC was not universally celebrated, particularly among the big players, such as the Globe and Mail, CBC/Radio-Canada and La Presse, which are members of lobby group News Media Canada, the other entity that applied for consideration. They made a few public statements in subsequent weeks, arguing that a newly founded organization chosen by the search engine giant should not manage this fund but rather the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and shared a list of 10 recommendations for the collective to follow, including having an independent board of directors, in which no member is paid and should include a lawyer and an accountant.
“Our goal is now to ally with the biggest players who weren’t chosen and who aren’t the happiest right now,” said Jean LaRose, one of the members of the temporary board of directors of the collective selected by Google, and president of Indigenous media company Dadan Sivunivut. “We want to make sure they have a fair and equitable place here. We seek to bring together all the players and ensure that everyone receives a fair and equitable share of the cake.”
The CJC responded to the recent criticisms by arguing that its board of directors was “temporary” pending a decision from the CRTC. In June, it announced it would hold a public consultation on this matter and would collect comments until July 29.
What impacts for small media?
To find out what share of funds small media will receive, one has to take out a calculator, and it is far from simple. From the $100 million, we know that CBC/Radio-Canada will get no more than $7 million, and $30 million at most will be reserved for other broadcasters. These specific amounts were predetermined by the Canadian government. The rest, more or less $63 million, will be shared among other qualifying news outlets.
To be eligible, news publishers must be designated as qualified Canadian journalism organizations under the Income Tax Act, produce news content of public interest, operate in Canada, and employ at least two or more full-time journalists. The money will therefore be distributed proportionately based on how many full-time journalists the company has. This is not necessarily good news for small media outlets, which often operate with a small payroll, made up of freelancers and collaborators.
“It’s difficult to have full-time journalists when you don’t have funding. And if you don’t have these journalists, you don’t have access to this funding. It’s a vicious circle,” said Lela Savić, editor-in-chief and founder of La Converse, a media outlet focused on issues of diversity and marginalized populations. Like others, she does not feel that her media, created in 2020, is given enough consideration in this law. “This law was created by and for big media. It disproportionately affects Indigenous and diversity media, just like regional media.”
The CJC wants to be reassuring, arguing that the criteria still need to be clarified. “The criteria of full-time employees is the burning question of the moment. Does a person who publishes several times a week in a publication meet this criterion? I think that the law allows a certain flexibility, but it’s not up to me to determine how it will be applied. It will be by the final board of directors,” said LaRose. This final board of directors should be put in place after CRTC consultations. In recent weeks, the collective has submitted its governance model to the CRTC, which must now determine if the collective’s plan meets its expectations.
According to an official with the Canadian Heritage Department, cited by The Canadian Press, small print and digital outlets can expect to receive about $17,000 per journalist that they employ.
A disrupted industry
As the years go by, journalism in Canada becomes more and more precarious. The industry is suffering, and job cuts are increasing. We can think of the cuts of 4,800 positions this year at Bell, of which less than 10 percent directly concern Bell Media, and the sale of 45 radio stations; the dozens of jobs eliminated at Corus Entertainment Inc. – which owns Global News – or even the 500 positions cut at TVA, the biggest television player in Quebec. Job cuts that more directly affect the regions and magnify news deserts across the country.
This makes Taylor Owen, director of the McGill Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, believe that Google’s agreement should be seen as a first step towards a longer-term commitment, even if it still remains fragile. “At the end of the day, the result is a move from a deal with some publishers, fundamentally unaccountable and unpredictable year after year, to a system for an equal distribution of resources across the industry to journalists for years.” A major difference from Google’s agreement in Australia, where the American company negotiates directly with the outlets in a confidential manner.
Unlike Google, Meta —which is also affected by the online news law — has decided against making any agreements with the government and since last August has prevented people and news organizations in Canada from sharing news content on its platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Research by the Media Ecosystem Observatory, a collaboration between McGill University and the University of Toronto, concluded that national news outlets lost about 85 percent of the engagement previously generated by users on their Facebook and Instagram pages, while only a quarter of the public is aware of the ban.
The question of sustainability is, for Savić, as for many other small independent media, a never-ending question. “The future always creates a lot of anxiety. Will this new agreement bring us more money than before? I do not think so.” Savić, founder of La Converse, gives as an example the end of other programs on large platforms, such as Google’s GNI Innovation Challenges. It was a sort of aid for small and medium-sized media outlets that could receive financial support of several tens of thousands of dollars for projects concerning new thinking in online journalism, a better understanding of communities, or the development of new publishing economic models. “I contacted Google to find out, and they told me that with the new deal, they don’t have any more money to invest,” said Savić.
All these developments unfold in a world that is increasingly divided and they can have significant impact on electoral campaigns. Soon, there will be a federal election in Canada. “Policies are part of the solution, but we also urgently need to be thinking of ways to stimulate innovation in this sector. These old models are not sustainable. That’s a big problem for an industry that is fundamental to a democracy,” said Owen.
Romain Chauvet
Romain Chauvet is a freelance French-Canadian journalist based in Europe. He notably covered for Canadian media the 2023 earthquake in Turkiye, the coronation of King Charles III in London, the refugee crisis in Europe and the historic fires in Greece.
