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ns id eh al to n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, F eb ru ar y 8, 20 18 | Trudeau not interested in bailing out newspaper industry OPINION Ted Brellisford/The Hamilton Spectator A worker works on offset presses at a Torstar printing operation. Torstar Chair John Honderich writes: if you believe, as I do, that a vigorous, investigative press is essential for a strong democracy, we should all be very concerned.' • Continued from page 1 investigation. After months of hearings and dozens of witnesses, it came up with 20 practical recommendations. For the record, it should be noted I participated in both processes. As Chair of Torstar and a 40-year vet­ eran of the Toronto Star, I care passionately about quality journalism and the health of our democracy. Needless to say, the very survival of Torstar's dai­ lies and weeklies is also foremost on my mind. That said, now that the Trudeau government is more than halfway through its mandate, what has been its response? My view? Studied indif­ ference. Across the board, the Trudeau government has either ignored or rejected virtually all the recom­ mendations. What particu­ larly stings is that the vast majority would not cost taxpayers anything. To make matters worse, in announcing her govern­ ment's decisions, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly em­ phasized her government wasn't interested in bailing out "industry models that are no longer viable." Left starkly unclear was where quality journalism would then originate. And newspaper executives, my­ self included, were left ask­ ing: if this is what the Tru­ deau government really thinks, then why did we go through this lengthy pro­ cess. To illustrate the point, let me chronicle the fate of 10 recommendations: 1. Copyright protection for newspapers: Under Ca­ nadian copyright law, orig­ inal content from Canadi­ an newspapers can be easi­ ly duplicated and distrib­ uted on the internet for free. The Public Policy Fo­ rum recommended Ottawa amend the law to help newspapers protect their content "for a reasonable time." Newspapers, under­ standably, have also ar­ gued they should be paid for their content. The result? Nothing to date. 2. Facebook and Google: These two multinational giants now control more than 70 per cent of all digi­ tal advertising in Canada. Yet the playing field is pa­ tently unfair for Canadian media. Under Canadian tax law, companies can only deduct the cost of advertis­ ing if ads are placed in Ca­ nadian publications. Yet this law does not apply to the internet. So not only do Facebook and Google, because they are headquartered outside Canada, not pay corporate tax or GST/HST, they ac­ cept ads on the same basis as Canadian media. The list of countries that have sought to ad­ dress similar concerns is impressive: New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Ja­ pan, Switzerland, South Africa, Israel and the Eu­ ropean Union. Last month Australia launched its own investigation. Both the Public Policy Forum and many media groups have asked Ottawa to do the same. The result? Nothing to date 3. Federal government advertising: For the past several years, Ottawa has followed a "digital-first" strategy in placement of federal ads. That, in turn, has led to a reduction in the propor­ tion of federal spending for daily newspaper ads by 96 per cent and for communi­ ty newspaper ads by 21 per cent. These figures, impor­ tantly, come directly from the Heritage Department. The issue was fully studied last year by the Commons Standing Com­ mittee on Government Op­ erations and Estimates. In its final report, it con­ cluded Ottawa's advertis­ ing strategy had resulted in a "misalignment" of the reality that many Canadi­ ans still rely on traditional media. It urged more spending be directed to tra­ ditional media "including TV, radio and print me­ dia." The result? Nothing to date. 4. Digital tax credits: The Heritage Committee recommended that news­ papers be given a tempo­ rary five-year tax credit for a portion of the labour and capital they spend on digital innovation. The result? Nothing to date. 5. Canadian Periodical Fund: Established before Confederation, this fund has provided financial sup­ port to Canadian maga­ zines and weeklies for more than a century. Macleans magazine, for example, receives $2 mil­ lion annually from this fund, allowing it to contin­ ue in operation. Both the Public Policy Forum and the Heritage Committee recommended that daily newspapers be included in this fund. The result? Idea reject­ ed. 6. Canadian Press: Can­ ada's national wire service has had a pension problem for several decades. Eight years ago, the three owners of CP (one be­ ing Torstar) went to Otta­ wa to see if CP could get an extended period to meet its obligations. The proposal, fully supported by CP's staff, was enthusiastically endorsed by then finance minister Jim Flaherty. And it cost Ottawa noth­ ing. "CP is too important to this country," he told us. Eight years later, inter­ est rates being even lower, the three owners returned to Ottawa to see if this re­ lief could be extended. In France, for example, the French equivalent of CP is seen as so important to French democracy, that the government directly subsidizes it. And what did current Finance Minister Bill Mor- neau tell us? "Why should I do anything special for CP?" The result? Request de­ nied. One year later, CP is en­ tering a different federal relief program. But it has been a slog. 7. CP and local journal­ ism: To help provide news coverage in smaller com­ munities, the Forum sug­ gested Canadian Press be given the mandate and re­ sources to fill the gaps. The idea is for CP to hire 60 to 80 reporters across the country to do the bread and butter coverage of city halls, courts and legislatures. The estimated cost is $8 million to $10 million a year A similar concept has been rolled out in Great Britain by the BBC. The result? Nothing to date. 8. CBC and cbc.ca: The huge exception, of course, to Ottawa's studied indif­ ference is our national broadcaster. The Trudeau government has pledged an additional $675 million over five years to the CBC. Parenthetically, just one per cent of Ottawa's to­ tal funding to the CBC would pay for more than half the Toronto Star's newsroom. In today's digital world, the greatest competitor to Canadian newspaper web­ sites is the cbc.ca. It is an excellent website, flush with resources and fund­ ed, of course, by the public. Not only that. It is free. Furthermore, it is out in the market competing for digital advertising. The Heritage Commit­ tee, in its report, proposed that Canada adopt the Brit­ ish model where the BBC does not compete for ads. The rationale is that the public broadcaster has an obvious advantage with its guaranteed public fund­ ing. The result? Idea reject­ ed. 9. Nonprofit journalism and philanthropy: In the U.S., Germany and other countries, nonprofitable journalism ventures are funded by grants from foundations. Under their laws, such grants are con­ sidered charitable dona­ tions. This is how such re­ nowned investigative American websites as Po­ litico and ProPublica along with Britain's Guardian newspaper survive. Both the Forum and the federal task force on chari­ ties urged the passage of similar legislation here. The result? Idea reject­ ed. 10. Investigative jour­ nalism support: To help promote investigative and civic journalism, the Pub­ lic Policy Forum recom­ mended the creation of a legal advisory service. Large newspapers, such as the Star, have in-house counsel that provide essen­ tial legal advice on difficult investigations or articles. For smaller publications, these costs can be prohibi­ tive. The result? Nothing to date. In summary, this list speaks for itself. In fact, there are other more ex­ pensive proposals that are deliberately not included. Again, most of the 10 above cost nothing, but rather in­ volved changing the law or practice. Studied indifference. I believe this country and its journalism and de­ mocracy deserve better. - John Honderich is Chair of Torstar Corporation. Trudeau not interested in bailing out newspaper industry