Tech giant Meta stepping on local news and Canadian media

📷 Message seen August 1st 2023 while posting an update to CHLY 101.7FM’s Facebook Page / Graphic by Jesse Woodward

Great news for local journalism! You probably read that we recently hired Mick Sweetman as a reporter at CHLY 101.7FM and will be posting a weekly newsletter and eventually local news podcasts. I am excited about this.

Bad news for local journalism. In the coming days or weeks, maybe even today, Meta is going to block access to news on Facebook and Instagram in retribution for Bill C-18, the Online News Act. The Online News Act, based on the "Australian Model", is meant to rectify the financial imbalance between tech giants and news organizations that has developed over the last decade.

This means you will likely see fewer or no posts from CHLY 101.7 FM due to this, nor as I understand it, will you see any other news from Canadian or international news outlets. Meta says people don't go to Facebook for news, but all you have to do is look to the comments section of posts for local news organizations to know this isn't true. This move by Meta to block news is particularly stressful too when at our non-profit station, we are working to develop a sustainable non-profit newsroom to serve our listeners and readers.

Some say that C-18 isn't perfect, but I don't necessarily think we as a society could agree on what is perfect. But the reality is, the internet has restructured the business model of newsrooms in Canada, and it's only gotten worse over the last decade or so. We've seen it in Nanaimo, with local for-profit newsrooms like the Nanaimo Daily News shuttered or shrunk with fewer ad dollars to support them, as powerful unregulated tech giants like Meta and Google who produce no journalism, have eaten up ad dollars.

For perspective, the ad dollars spent in Canada is no small number! In 2022 $14.17 billion USD¹ was spent on advertising in Canada, with approximately 50% of those dollars going to Google, and another 33% going to Meta, with the remaining 17% going to "Others". Meta and Google say they invest money back into struggling Canadian newsrooms, but it's been in the form of less than reliable short-term grants. Nothing compared to the ad dollars that previously sustained newsrooms, and most certainly not reliable funding, as Meta cut funding and downsized much of its journalism operations in 2022.

Canada is also not alone in legislation like Bill C-18 aimed at tech giants. The United States too is seeing a bipartisan effort in their senate to support smaller local news organizations with the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. Other countries like Brazil and India are also considering their own legislation, though I am less familiar with their efforts. Some, critical of Bill C-18 and the "Australian model" have pointed to countries like France which raised $1 billion CAD through a 3% digital tax on tech giants as an option that should be pursued to support local journalism in Canada. In the coming months, we will just have to see where Bill C-18 leads and what Ottawa does to respond.

Ultimately here at CHLY, it is my goal as station manager to build a non-profit newsroom. Where money invested by local donors, local advertisers, and local sponsors goes directly back into funding our mission, not into stakeholder pockets. So, if you want to hear or read local stories, and learn more about our developing non-profit newsroom, get on our email newsletter or come back to this website frequently!

¹Source: https://mediaincanada.com/2022/12/06/canadas-ad-market-expected-to-top-20-billion-this-year

A correction: An earlier version of this noted $14.17 billion CAD instead of USD. This amounts to approximately $20.4 billion CAD.