Facebook and Twitter took over as the top recipients of federal advertising dollars in the 2017-18 fiscal year, according to new figures. Of the $39.2 million spent on government ads last year, almost $18.2 million went toward digital ads (46 per cent of the total budget). Social media ads accounted for 43 per cent of that digital spending ($7.8 million), with the vast majority purchased on Facebook (73 per cent). Twitter, LinkedIn and Snapchat were also a target of government digital ad buys. That compares to spending of $4.5 million on TV ads, $570,00 on print and $392,000 on radio advertising.
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has earmarked $10M in funding for 49 digital media projects. A total of $3.9M will be invested in 21 projects through the second round of funding of its Experimental Stream’s Innovation Program, Prototyping and an additional $2.2M is being invested in 10 projects through the Experimental Stream’s Innovation Program, Marketing and Promotion. A further $3.9M is being invested in 18 projects through the Web Series Pilot Program. Recipients include games, interactive media and software applications, in addition to 14 web dramas, and four children’s and youth projects. Click here to view a list of projects receiving funding through the Web Series Pilot Program.
BuzzFeed staff in Canada have filed to unionize with the Canadian Media Guild (CMG). In a post to Medium this week, employees write that “being isolated from the New York City mothership while working alongside it has had its issues. As revealed in the recent round of layoffs, there is a lack of uniform severance and communication standards across the company. We also have serious concerns regarding contract and freelance work, as well as equal distribution of benefits. We are striving to improve transparency, equity, diversity, and better working conditions across the company.” U.S. BuzzFeed News employees are also unionizing under the NewsGuild of New York, which represents staff at the New York Times, Reuters, the Daily Beast, and Los Angeles Times.
