Canadian Heritage has announced $58.8 million in funding to extend the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) through 2027. Initially launched in 2019 as a five-year, $50 million program, the initiative provides annual funding for more than 400 journalist positions across the country, with a focus on creating original local journalism in underserved communities. The National Campus & Community Radio Association (NCRA) was among the organizations appealing for renewal of the program, saying the new funding “will assist in addressing the news deserts that the Canadian media landscape is challenged with.” Read more here.
Canadian Heritage has announced a call for applications for the position of President of CBC/Radio-Canada. The process to find Catherine Tait’s successor is being led by an Independent Advisory Committee, chaired by former Just for Laughs President & CEO Charles Décarie, which will recommend candidates to the minister “that both reflect Canada’s diversity and can lead at a critical time of modernization,” according to a Heritage department release. Read more here.
Google has initiated an open call to news organizations that wish to receive compensation under the Online News Act. News outlets, whose content is made available by the search engine, have until April 30 to participate. The CRTC has published guidelines on how to participate, in addition to eligibility criteria.
The Competition Bureau has obtained a court order to gather information and advance an ongoing investigation into Google’s online advertising practices in Canada. The Bureau is investigating whether Google has engaged in practices that harm competition in the online display advertising industry in Canada. The Bureau’s investigation initially focused on allegations that Google was leveraging its market power in the supply of video advertising into the market for advertiser buying tools. The Bureau has now expanded its scope to examine whether Google is leveraging its market power across display advertising technology services in a way that harms competition and using predatory pricing in certain display ad tech services.
MTM’s Newcomers and the News report finds the vast majority of newcomers have a substantial interest in news. Nine in 10 (92%) say they have consumed news in some form in the previous month. MTM found newcomers favour online news consumption over traditional platforms. Half get their news via social media and a quarter via online news websites. Women, younger newcomers and those with lower household incomes are the most prone to use social media as their primary news source. Almost half of newcomers (49%) consume news in either English or French and another language. Only three per cent of newcomers who consume news do so exclusively in languages other than English or French.
The Dr. Borna Meisami Commemorative Foundation (DBMF) is recognizing Anna Maria Tremonti with its Shero-Award in recognition of her impactful work amplifying the voices of gender-based violence (GBV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors. Tremonti, a domestic abuse survivor herself, will receive the honour at the annual Stride for Survivors Walkathon at Sunnybrook Park on May 26. Through its three programs, Restoring Smiles, Restoring Strength and Restoring Sleep, DBMF provides pro-bono dental, medical, physio and rehabilitative therapy for female survivors of GBV and IPV living in 50 Ontario-based shelters and 37 sexual assault care centres.
The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario’s (RNAO) annual Media Awards competition has extended the entry deadline until March 8. The competition honours outstanding nursing and health-care journalism in a variety of categories: community newspaper, daily newspaper, radio, television, online, podcast and multicultural. Stories published or broadcast in Ontario in 2023 are eligible.
