Many of you may be wondering about the hullabaloo surrounding the Online News Act (Bill C-18), coming into force at the end of this year.
Why are Google and Meta threatening to block Canadian news? What does it all mean to the Cochrane Eagle and its readers?
The first thing to know is that media organizations have depended on advertising revenue to pay the wages of journalists for decades. That business model came under threat with the arrival of the digital platforms, which could offer advertisers targeted populations of consumers who, willingly (or unwittingly) share every intimate detail of their personal lives in return for ‘free’ use of Google’s Search and Maps, Meta's Facebook and Instagram, etc.
Google and Meta now share 80 per cent of the digital advertising market and control the process of buying and selling in that market. That includes advertising that appears alongside the news created by journalists, whom they don’t pay. Canada’s news media companies pay them – except that we can’t anymore in the numbers we once did. The dramatic decline in media revenues have cost thousands of journalism jobs in Canada.
The Online News Act is modelled on similar legislation in Australia. As it was passing through the legislative process, Google and Meta made similar threats before backing down and creating deals with Australian publishers for their news content. Democracies across the world are now considering their own legislation, determined to save local journalism before it’s too late.
Bill C-18 intends to level the playing field between digital platforms and media organizations. It will force Google/Meta to negotiate with media outlets for fair compensation for their news appearing online. While large media players are likely to negotiate with Google and Meta on their own, The Eagle will join hundreds of independent news organizations represented by News Media Canada to collectively negotiate a deal.
Editor’s note: This was written by Great West Media CEO Duff Jamison, a member of the News Media Canada board of directors, and vice-president Evan Jamison, who is president of the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association. Both have been engaged with this legislative process for the past three years.
