N.L. is 'worst-case scenario' for local news, as outlets dry up across Canada: report

Rosa Saba · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 11:36 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

The fig of section quality outlets has been successful important diminution successful Canada, leaving suburban residents successful peculiar "starving" for section coverage, a caller study recovered — and creating gaps for misinformation to instrumentality hold.

The study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives recovered that astir 2.5 cardinal Canadians unrecorded successful a postal codification with either 1 oregon zero section quality outlets, treble the proportionality from 2008.

Put bluntly, "local quality is dying," said David Macdonald, study co-author and CCPA elder economist.

"Without section news, disinformation, often from societal media, volition happily capable the void of high-quality, trusted section news."

He and co-author Sonja Macdonald (no relation), a main astatine Civicplan, recovered that since 2008, Canada has mislaid 11 per cent of its paper and online media outlets. That's astir 25 a twelvemonth implicit the past decade.

There are presently 2,900 section quality outlets successful the state betwixt radio, TV, newspapers and online media.

Macdonald said 2023 was a peculiarly atrocious twelvemonth for the assemblage with the closure of 83 outlets owed to the bankruptcy of Metroland and the closure of Metro Media successful Quebec.

Meanwhile, the fig of backstage broadcasting outlets successful vigor and TV has shrunk by 9 per cent since 2008. Last twelvemonth was the worst twelvemonth connected record, with a nett nonaccomplishment of 14.5 outlets driven by closures astatine CTV and Corus.

The study recovered each state and territory but Ontario has seen a diminution successful section quality outlets successful communities with little than 100,000 people.

The lone crushed Ontario is faring marginally amended is due to the fact that it has seen immoderate maturation successful online-only outlets similar INsauga, said Macdonald.

Even so, section quality sum is lagging connected a per-person ground arsenic the populations of regions surrounding large cities similar Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal grow, helium said.

"We conscionable person not seen the benignant of maturation that's indispensable successful section quality outlets to really screen the goings-on successful those suburban spots," helium said.

The cities with the slightest quality deprivation are determination hubs similar Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Saint John, N.B., which nutrient broadcast contented for the full state oregon territory, the study said.

As section quality sum has declined implicit the years, the manufacture has besides go much consolidated arsenic companies person bought up section outlets, whether newspapers oregon broadcast stations. These moves often resulted successful important reductions successful section quality programming and staff, the study said.

Because of this consolidation, erstwhile 1 of those companies runs into challenges, much quality sum is astatine risk, said Macdonald.

The Metroland lawsuit is simply a grim example, helium said.

In September 2023, Ontario-based Metroland Media Group announced wide layoffs, a determination to a digital-only exemplary and an extremity to its flyer concern arsenic it planned to restructure nether the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Creditors approved the company's restructuring connection aboriginal that year.

The large contented driving the diminution successful section quality crossed the state is the concern exemplary Canadian quality outlets person agelong relied on, which is being threatened by societal media and hunt giants similar Meta and Google, the study said.

"The ad-fuelled concern of quality is having a precise hard clip successful the net age," said Macdonald.

"All those advertisement dollars are being scooped by societal media, being scooped by search, and truthful you conscionable don't person the fund to enactment section news. That exemplary is dying."

The "worst-case scenario" tin beryllium recovered successful Newfoundland and Labrador, helium said, wherever tiny towns successful that state person mislaid three-quarters of their quality outlets successful the past 16 years.

Macdonald said the manufacture needs to "fundamentally shift" distant from the accepted exemplary for quality outlets.

The study argues that contempt efforts by the national authorities and regulatory supports for this concern model, "its demise is accelerating." It argues for a much balanced approach, including having existing parts of the existent media strategy taking connected caller oregon augmented roles portion besides making country for innovation.

Opportunities see expanding upon the exemplary being tested by caller entrants successful areas that are losing assemblage newspapers, an online-only quality website supported by micro-targeted advertising.

The study besides identifies the CBC arsenic a cardinal portion of the solution, noting the nationalist broadcaster needs to grow much into section and determination areas, and should person a ceremonial implementation strategy for section quality service.

"This needs to spell beyond the caller announcements of azygous reporters serving ample geographic areas," the study said.

The national authorities precocious passed the Online News Act, authorities meant to extract wealth from tech giants to compensate quality organizations. Google secured a five-year exemption from the Act by agreeing to wage $100 cardinal a twelvemonth to media organizations, portion Meta decided to artifact entree to Canadian quality connected its platforms.

The study said the measures "are excessively small and excessively precocious for galore communities crossed Canada."

Other interventions see the integer quality taxation recognition and the Local Journalism Initiative.

"There's surely designation this is simply a large problem," said Macdonald.

However, "I deliberation there's been a cardinal alteration here," helium said.

"Hoping that Google oregon hoping that Meta is going to prevention america successful presumption of section quality accumulation is simply a existent fool's errand."

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