Open Letter: Canada’s Online News Act must be transparent, fair, and include news innovators
Without amendments, Bill C-18 risks disproportionately benefitting large news organizations and shutting out independent media.
Hey cuzzins,
We at IndigiNews are part of a coalition of independent Canadian news publishers who are pushing for changes to make sure the colonial federal government is making funding decisions for news outlets that are fair and transparent.
The following is an open letter, written by members of the coalition, and we’ve signed on:
When the Liberal government announced its intention to support Canada’s news industry, the reasons given were to sustain local journalism, support innovation in news, and ensure diversity in the news industry. Bill C-18, the Online News Act currently before Parliament, guarantees none of these things.
Four key changes are needed if Canada is to have the vibrant journalism citizens need for a healthy democracy.
We are a coalition of independent Canadian news publishers, pushing for amendments to C-18 to ensure the bill lives up to its promise to strengthen Canadian journalism. We represent over 100 outlets serving communities coast to coast to coast and employing over one thousand journalists. Taken together, our readers and listeners number in the many millions. Many of us have risked personal capital, fundraised from our communities, and built newsrooms from scratch to reach underserved audiences, many at the local level.
Collectively, we represent Canada’s most innovative digital news media, local news outlets, both French and English language media, and BIPOC-led news media — we are the innovative news organizations that are rebuilding the local news ecosystem. The Online News Act represents an opportunity to accelerate this innovation and progress.
We have come together to ask for basic fairness in Bill C-18.
The centrepiece of Bill C-18 is a funding model aimed at mandating large web platforms like Facebook and Google to compensate Canadian news organizations for posting content on their platforms. Unfortunately, as it is currently structured, Bill C-18 does not specifically direct funding towards supporting the critical work of journalists. The bill also lacks robust transparency mechanisms and, most importantly, it risks leaving out small, medium size and independent publishers.
Even before it was tabled, Bill C-18 has resulted in winners and losers in the news industry. There have been a series of secret, backroom deals between Big Tech and the largest newspapers in Canada, along with a handful of small- to medium-sized publishers. An unintended but likely consequence of Bill C-18 as currently structured may be to cement these inequities and this secrecy, which threatens the public’s already-frayed trust in journalism.
To be clear, we support the goal of creating a sustainable news industry. It is not too late for the current legislation to address the needs of the Canadian news media ecosystem. We want it to be amended to ensure the following:
- A transparent, fair funding formula
A universal funding formula should be applied consistently to all qualifying news organizations. This funding formula should be disclosed, and the public must know which news organizations are receiving money from tech companies.
- Support for journalists
Compensation from tech platforms should be based on a percentage of editorial expenditures or the number of journalists that work for an organization, inclusive of freelancers.
- Inclusion
Bill C-18 may exclude dozens of important news innovators by demanding employee thresholds that news startups often don’t reach until their 3rd or 4th year of operation.
- No loopholes
Bill C-18 currently includes vague and poorly-defined criteria allowing for “Exemption Orders” that could let Big Tech off the hook, benefitting a few large news organizations and shutting out hundreds of legitimate small to medium size newsrooms.
While we recognize the reality of the wider news crisis, our organizations represent rays of hope, and are proving that there is a future for a dynamic, inclusive news ecosystem in Canada.
Bill C-18 is modeled after Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code. It must not repeat the mistakes of that legislation. In Australia, an estimated 90 per cent of negotiated revenues flowed to the three largest media companies.
We encourage the government to revisit and improve Bill C-18.
As small, medium size, and independent news publishers, this new legislation is too big, and too important, to fumble. Bill C-18 will have a massive impact on the future of journalism and news in Canada.
Let’s make sure we get it right.
Signed,
IndigiNews
Arsenal Media
Canadaland
Canada’s National Observer
Constellation Media Society
Discourse Community Publishing
Indiegraf
Metro Media
Narcity Media
Neomedia
Overstory Media Group
Politics Today
Village Media
Alberta Today
BarrieToday
BayToday
BC Today
BradfordToday
Burnaby Beacon
Calgary Citizen
CambridgeToday
Canada’s National Observer
Capital Daily
ChrisD.ca
CollingwoodToday
ElliotLakeToday
EloraFergusToday
Enbeauce.com
EnergeticCity.ca
francoischarron.com
Fraser Valley Current
Guelph Politico
GuelphToday
Harbinger Media
InnisfilToday
insideWaterloo
Journal Metro
La Converse
Mabeauce.com
Macotenord.com
Magaspesie.ca
Metro Ahuntsic-Cartierville
Metro Beauport
Metro Charlesbourg
Metro Cote des Neiges & NDG
Metro Hochelaga Maisonneuve
Metro IDS-Verdun
Metro L’Actuel
Metro L’Appel
Metro L’Autre Voix
Metro Lachine & Dorval
Metro Lasalle
Metro Le Jacques Cartier
Metro Le Plateau Mont-Royal
Metro Mercier & Anjou
Metro Montreal-Nord
Metro Ouest-de-L’ile
Metro Outremont & Mont-Royal
Metro Pointe-aux-Trembles et Montreal-est
Metro Quebec
Metro Riviere-des-Prairies
Metro Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie
Metro Saint-Laurent
Metro Saint-Leonard
Metro Sud-Ouest
Metro Ville Marie
Metro Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension
MidlandToday
Monjoliette.com
Monlatuque.com
Monmatane.com
Montemiscouata.com
Monthetford.com
Monvicto.com
MTL Blog
MuslimLink.ca
Narcity
Neomedia Chambly
Neomedia Joliette
Neomedia Laval
Neo
media Rimouski
Neomedia Rive-Nord
Neomedia Saguenay
Neomedia Sorel-Tracy
Neomedia Trois-Rivières
Neomedia Vallée du Richelieu
Neomedia Valleyfield
Neomedia Vaudreuil
New West Anchor
NewmarketToday
Northern Ontario Business
Nouvelles d’Ici
Oak Bay Local
OakvilleNews.org
OrilliaMatters
Ottawa Sports Pages
Parliament Today
Peterborough Currents
PressProgress
Queen’s Park Today
rabble.ca
Ricochet Media
SooToday
StratfordToday
Sun Peaks Independent News
Taproot Edmonton
The Breach
The Coast
The Discourse Cowichan
The Discourse Nanaimo
The Flatlander
The Green Line
The Home Pitch
The Hoser
The Independent
The Line
The Local
The Peak
The Resolve
The Ridge
The Rover
The Sprawl
The Tyee
The Westshore
The Wren
Tri-Cities Dispatch
Tribe Magazine
Vancouver Tech Journal
Vocal Fry Studios
Women’s eNews
Want to add your outlet to this letter? Fill out this form to express your interest.
Author
We live in a media ecosystem that thrives on misinformation. Big Tech and AI companies are consuming the work of real human beings and Canadian news has been banned on Facebook and Instagram.
And yet, I have hope for journalism because of the work we’re doing at IndigiNews.
At IndigiNews, we embody tâpwêwin — the Cree value of integrity and responsibility in truth-telling. We are committed to our independent, Indigenous-led newsroom rooted in community, accountability, and relationality. We believe storytelling is a sacred fire that connects our pasts, presents, and futures through the storytellers in our Storytelling Lodge. IndigiNews creates space for Indigenous journalists, storytellers, Knowledge Keepers, and communities to gather, learn, and share stories that matter.
As a registered charity, we are building a fire that allows our work not just to ignite but to thrive. Rather than relying on advertising or corporate acquisition, IndigiNews is sustained by people like you who believe Indigenous stories are important for the future of our communities.
Your support is making a real difference.
Our community of supporters, our Firekeepers, make it possible to grow our newsroom, publish award-winning journalism, train emerging Indigenous journalists through initiatives like the ReFocus Photojournalism Fellowship, and publish trustworthy stories that serve our communities across the country. Every story we publish helps fill in gaps left by mainstream media and ensures Indigenous perspectives are represented with care, accuracy and respect.
But there is still more work to do.
As the media landscape becomes more and more uncertain, community support is as necessary and essential as it’s ever been. Every new Firekeeper helps protect the independence of our newsroom and strengthens journalism that is accountable to our many and varied communities over corporations.
That’s why we’re inviting you to become a Firekeeper.
Firekeepers tend to and protect the sacred fire. Your monthly contributions directly support IndigiNews’s Storytelling Lodge, helps sustain our independent, Indigenous-led newsroom, and ensures future generations of Indigenous storytellers have the resources they need to do the work.
As a registered Canadian charity, all eligible donations receive a charitable tax receipt.
If you believe Indigenous stories matter, if you value independent journalism, and if you want to help build a strong future for Indigenous media, we invite you to join our circle of Firekeepers today.
Together, we can keep the fire burning.
— Eden Fineday, Publisher, IndigiNews
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