Analysis

The local-news crisis is destroying what a divided America desperately needs: Common ground

Ken Doctor saw it coming. A few years ago, the media analyst looked at the trend lines and predicted that by 2017 or so, American newsrooms would reach a shocking point. “The halving of America’s daily newsrooms,” he called what …

Cabinet reset an opportunity for a policy reset in support of ‘civic journalism’

By Bill FoxOpinion Sun., July 22, 2018 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday tweaked his cabinet line-up as his Liberal government readies itself for the 2019 federal election. And as the new line-up looks for opportunities to step up their …

It’s time to start paying for Canada’s newspapers

American media are finally noticing Canada and making nice. It is unclear why they are suddenly so fond of our 37 million citizens, oh I see, they want our subscription money. A chirpy hard-sell American consultant explained it this way …

The Battle for Canadian Content (2018-2020)

“If you profit, you contribute—there is no free ride” Heritage Minister Melanie Joly, June 3 2018 The battle for Canadian cultural sovereignty is on. And no, it’s not a battle against Donald Trump. It’s a debate among Canadians. Justin Trudeau’s …

This CRTC Chair Ain’t Afraid of No Netflix Tax

At long last, some common sense in Canadian media policy. On May 31st the CRTC answered Heritage Minister Melanie Joly’s request for its advice on how to sustain Canadian content and local news in the Internet age. With the existing …

Ford TV: Fox or Faux?

Doug Ford is now in the news business. The fake news business that is. In a series of Ontario election campaign videos circulated by Ford’s campaign team, the front-running leader of the Conservative party appears as a news subject in …

Why the Piracy Defenders Have It Wrong

When you get a heated reaction to a common-sense proposition, there is usually something else going on. So it is with the criticism of Fairplay Canada’s anti-piracy campaign launched last week. It’s common sense that stealing is wrong, theft has …

Movie-theft is not a victimless crime

The opposition to Fairplay Canada’s campaign against movie-thievery arrived on-cue, and off-key, as expected. The industry coalition of Canadian unions, guilds, broadcasters, and film studios is asking the CRTC to stop the whack-a-mole game of chasing offshore pirate websites and …

Ottawa should force Google and Facebook to pay their share

Not only does Canada’s current law, largely written for a pre-digital world, fail to offer sufficient protections for domestic publishers, it also perversely gives foreign competitors a leg up. The extraordinary disruption of global media by online giants Facebook and …

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