MEDIA CRITICAL IN CORONA-19 FIGHT, SAYS UNIFOR
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
MUSKOKA — One of Canada’s largest unions is calling on the federal government to ensure that Canadian media organizations survive the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to provide vital information to the public.
“Almost every Canadian newspaper and television news outlet was teetering on the brink before the pandemic hit,” said Unifor national President Jerry Dias recently.
“Our media companies are experiencing unprecedented dips in advertising revenues, resulting in catastrophic losses,” a release from him said.
Dias commended media workers for their continued work to deliver crucial facts to Canadians during this time of crisis. Dias also applauded the many news organizations with pay-walled websites that have offered COVID-19 related information for free.
“The news industry is giving away its most sought after content because it’s the right thing to do, the only thing to do,” said Dias. “We have a long way to go to recovery so the federal government has to act now and include news organizations as part of the emergency plan.”
Dias proposed that the federal government increase the 25 per cent labour tax credit for written journalism passed in the 2019 Budget. It should also expand the program to include television companies, which the CRTC reports have been running annual losses of up to eight per cent since 2013.
He also cited the report of the expert committee to reform the Broadcasting Act, which made the same recommendation at the end of January before the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was known.
Leading media organizations, including publishers of the Toronto Star, say a new multi-million federal COVID-19 advertising campaign is not filtering down to Canadian media outlets and is instead being eaten up by international social media companies like Google and Facebook.
Similar situations can be found at the community and municipal level, where local governments even in Muskoka don’t support the media they rely so heavily on to communicate with the public.
They ignore their role at their peril.
Most local journalists continue to provide daily coverage, often at great cost from their homes, as the pandemic threatens all businesses and industries.
Dias said media support is critical in the cornavirus fight.
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