Bell Canada signage is pictured in Ottawa on Wednesday Sept. 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
TORONTO – As Canadians face a potential further decline in local news coverage by legacy media outlets, industry watchers hope independent and non-profit companies can fill the void.
The Canadian media industry has suffered multiple blows this month, with BCE Inc. eliminating 1,300 positions, including a six per cent cut at Bell Media, as the company undergoes “a consolidation of news gathering.”
Bell simultaneously asked the CRTC to waive local news and Canadian programming requirements for its television stations, saying its obligations are based on outdated market realities.
Meanwhile, Postmedia Network Canada Corp. said Tuesday it’s in talks to merge with Nordstar Capital LP, the owner of Metroland Media Group and the Toronto Star, in a bid to create greater scale to respond to the “existential threat” facing the media industry.
Magda Konieczna, an associate journalism professor at Concordia University, says that as corporate media decrease prioritization of resources for local coverage, it offers an opportunity for journalism startups, particularly those that cater to readers who are underserved by mainstream media.
She says financial decisions by legacy media are increasingly in tension with the important role that journalism plays in a functioning democracy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2023.
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