Local news coverage in Canada in steep decline, inviting misinformation: report
The number of local news outlets has been in significant decline in Canada, leaving suburban residents in particular "starving" for local coverage, a new report found — and creating gaps for misinformation to take hold.
The report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that almost 2.5 million Canadians live in a postal code with either one or zero local news outlets, double the proportion from 2008.
Put bluntly, "local news is dying," said David Macdonald, report co-author and CCPA senior economist.
"Without local news, disinformation, often from social media, will happily fill the void of high-quality, trusted local news."
He and co-author Sonja Macdonald (no relation), a principal at Civicplan, found that since 2008, Canada has lost 11 per cent of its newspaper and online media outlets. That's about 25 a year over the past decade.
There are currently 2,900 local news outlets in the country between radio, TV, newspapers and online media.
Macdonald said 2023 was a particularly bad year for the sector with the closure of 83 outlets due to the bankruptcy of Metroland and the closure of Metro Media in Quebec.
Meanwhile, the number of private broadcasting outlets in radio and TV has shrunk by nine per cent since 2008. Last year was the worst year on record, with a net loss of 14.5 outlets driven by closures at CTV and Corus.
The report found every province and territory except Ontario has seen a decline in local news outlets in communities with less than 100,000 people.
The only reason Ontario is faring marginally better is because it has seen some growth in online-only outlets like INsauga, said Macdonald.
Even so, local news coverage is lagging on a per-person basis as the populations of regions surrounding major cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal grow, he said.
"We just have not seen the kind of growth that's necessary in local news outlets to actually cover the goings-on in those suburban spots," he said.
The cities with the least news deprivation are regional hubs like Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Saint John, N.B., which produce broadcast content for the entire province or territory, the report said.
As local news coverage has declined over the years, the industry has also become more consolidated as companies have bought up local outlets, whether newspapers or broadcast stations. These moves often resulted in significant reductions in local news programming and staff, the report said.
Because of this consolidation, when one of those companies runs into challenges, more news coverage is at risk, said Macdonald.
The Metroland case is a grim example, he said.
In September 2023, Ontario-based Metroland Media Group announced mass layoffs, a move to a digital-only model and an end to its flyer business as it planned to restructure under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Creditors approved the company's restructuring proposal later that year.
The major issue driving the decline in local news across the country is the business model Canadian news outlets have long relied on, which is being threatened by social media and search giants like Meta and Google, the report said.
"The ad-fuelled business of news is having a very difficult time in the internet age," said Macdonald.
"All those ad dollars are being scooped by social media, being scooped by search, and so you just don't have the budget to support local news. That model is dying."
The "worst-case scenario" can be found in Newfoundland and Labrador, he said, where small towns in that province have lost three-quarters of their news outlets in the past 16 years.
Macdonald said the industry needs to "fundamentally shift" away from the traditional model for news outlets.
The report argues that despite efforts by the federal government and regulatory supports for this business model, "its demise is accelerating." It argues for a more balanced approach, including having existing parts of the current media system taking on new or augmented roles while also making room for innovation.
Opportunities include expanding upon the model being tested by new entrants in areas that are losing community newspapers, an online-only news website supported by micro-targeted advertising.
The report also identifies the CBC as a key part of the solution, noting the public broadcaster needs to expand more into local and regional areas, and should have a formal implementation strategy for local news service.
"This needs to go beyond the recent announcements of single reporters serving large geographic areas," the report said.
The federal government recently passed the Online News Act, legislation meant to extract money from tech giants to compensate news organizations. Google secured a five-year exemption from the Act by agreeing to pay $100 million a year to media organizations, while Meta decided to block access to Canadian news on its platforms.
"There's certainly recognition this is a big problem," said Macdonald.
However, "I think there's been a fundamental change here," he said.
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