$400M fund, tax changes, local news service urged to help restore Canada’s media
OTTAWA — Taxing Google and Facebook, reining in the CBC and spending $100 million in taxpayer dollars to foster healthy journalism would help a struggling media sector ferret out “fake news” and ensure the continued health of Canada’s democracy, a major new report released Thursday concludes.
The 100-page Public Policy Forum report, authored by veteran journalist Ed Greenspon, also calls for a sales tax on foreign companies selling digital subscriptions in Canada and other tax measures that would provide a “Future of Journalism and Democracy” fund with $300 to $400 million a year, designed to support local and indigenous news, along with research on the role of news in society.
The report’s dozen recommendations also include creating a new “local” mandate for The Canadian Press that would operate under a separate, not-for-profit entity; requiring the CBC to share for free the right to publish its news content with other organizations; and ending the public broadcaster’s ability to sell digital ads.
Canada’s news industry finds itself in deep crisis, brought on largely by a shift in advertising to digital media sites, that remains a legitimate threat to the health of Canada’s democracy, Greenspon told a news conference Thursday.