Co-operation needed to build support for local media

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This article was published 28/06/2025 (280 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Local media outlets deliver many benefits to the communities they serve. They contribute to shared community perspectives, identify economic opportunities, highlight policy and political issues which impact communities, encourage citizen engagement and remind us there is an everyday human side to a community, involving births, graduations, weddings, funerals and other milestone events.

In recent decades, a wide range of forces have undermined the for-profit business model that sustained local journalism for a century and a half. Statistics Canada and industry reports show more than 470 local news operations have closed across Canada since 2008, with rural and minority-language outlets hit the hardest.

In that same period, many reporters and other employees have been laid off, with remaining staff required to pick up the slack as best they can. No doubt content has suffered as a result, including missed opportunities to cover important local developments fully. A major concern is the emergence of “news deserts” where citizens in communities do not benefit from local coverage of events. Local democracy suffers.

The causes and consequences of the decline of local media outlets are too numerous and contentious to be discussed fully here.

Put simply, there is a kind of vicious cycle at work. The rise of online platforms that draw upon local media sources means citizens can access news and other content for free; this, in turn, means fewer readers/subscribers and less advertising revenue for local media outlets.

The pandemic and economic downturn worsened their financial position. Outlets that were part of larger communications conglomerates have been shut down. For example, in April 2020 Postmedia closed eight community newspapers in Manitoba.

On Nov. 27, 2024, the Kinew government introduced a motion in the legislature to establish a special all-party committee to develop recommendations on how to support local journalism. Initially, a legislative committee (similar to the 2009 all-party committee on Senate reform) which would work collaboratively across party lines seemed to be the plan. Owing to partisan disagreement, the committee seems to have morphed into a government initiative which opposition MLAs are invited to join.

When introducing the motion, the NDP government house leader spent most of her time criticizing a 2018 bill from the former PC government which would have eliminated, allegedly as a cost saving measure, the long-standing legal requirement that development proposals were automatically advertised in local newspapers. That requirement was meant more to encourage public input than to aid local media. The bill provoked such a backlash, especially from rural media, that the Pallister government never implemented it.

Believing the minister wanted to embarrass them, the PCs’ house leader complained there was no advance consultation with them, asked a series of questions about how the committee would operate, accused the government of wanting to manipulate the process, and proposed an amendment to the motion. On several occasions, the PCs used debate time to prevent the motion coming to a vote before the end of the spring session on June 2.

Despite this, the chair of the proposed committee NDP MLA Robert Loiselle, told the media he expects the study to begin this summer and “the opposition could tag along.” Hopefully, both caucuses select MLAs who are prepared to moderate their partisanship and look for pragmatic proposals that will work.

On June 20, a news release indicated the committee would hold five public hearings in different locations between June 26 and July 11. This makes sense, given that the needs of geographical and other types of communities will differ. The schedule, however, does not leave a lot of time for organizations and individuals to prepare their presentations.

With a deadline for reporting within 30 days of the start of the fall sitting in 2025, the committee will have limited time for a thorough investigation. It is unclear whether professional research staff will support its work.

Here are some of the questions the committee should consider:

• Is the focus only on the use public-sector advertising as a support to local media, or are other options being considered?

• Should subsidies be paid to all forms of media, or just newspapers?

• Would all language, ethnic and Indigenous publications be eligible?

• To deal with “news deserts,” should there be a minimum news content requirement ?

• Would “non-news” publications qualify for support?

How the committee works will influence the quality of its report and the political acceptability of its recommendations.

First, it needs to set forth the aims, principles and criteria which should guide the allocation of financial support and what types of commercial, nonprofit and community organizations might qualify.

Second, it needs to do a scan of programs and proposals in other jurisdictions to identify direct and indirect types of support to local media. The reasonable use of government advertising may be the easiest option, but it may not deliver enough financial support.

Third, the committee should aim for as much consensus as possible on recommendations that are sound and feasible in terms of the available knowledge, the capacity of various media outlets to serve the public good and the cost to the public treasury.

Paul G. Thomas is professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba.