The redistribution of the 100 million announced by Google to Canadian media should be coordinated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), not by a newly founded organization chosen by the search engine giant, as was announced on June 7, estimates a collective of Canadian publishers who claim to represent more than 95% of the industry.
The group is led by News Media Canada, which alone has more than 550 Canadian media outlets, from community publications to major outlets like The Press and the Globe and Mail.
Read the statement from Canada’s media publishers
The collective asks, among other things, the CRTC to ensure that the organization chosen for the redistribution of the 100 million is not in a conflict of interest. Canada’s News Media, its CEO Paul Deegan immediately recognizes, was in the running to become the organization called upon to redistribute Google’s funds.
Ultimately, another non-profit organization, the Canadian Journalism Collective, founded for this purpose last May, which mainly brings together independent and community media, was chosen.
1500 media in the running
For months, the choice of this organization has caused a lot of ink to flow, especially in English Canada, with small media saying in particular that they fear seeing the 100 million envelope monopolized by the bigger ones.
Mr. Deegan refuses to explicitly denounce the choice of the Canadian Journalism Collective. “We asked Google, they chose someone else […] What we are asking of the CRTC is to guarantee the integrity of the process and ensure that the legislation and regulations are respected. »
There Online News Act, resulting from Bill C-18, was adopted in June 2023 and came into force in December of that year. It forces the payment by web giants of royalties to Canadian media. While Meta reacted by removing all media content from its Facebook and Instagram platforms, Google announced in November the payment of an amount of 100 million indexed each year. Part of the payment terms was defined via regulation by Ottawa last December: a maximum of 37 million, including 7 million to CBC/Radio-Canada, was imposed for television broadcasters. The remaining 63 million will be redistributed by the organization chosen by Google, among the approximately 1,500 media outlets which requested compensation.
A second check
This list, which The Press was able to consult, is very heterogeneous, ranging from large known media to small specialized publications like Toronto Life or magazines like Chatelaine. However, the Online News Act defines eligible news businesses and specifically excludes media devoted “primarily to [à] a given topic, such as news specific to a particular industry, sports, leisure, arts, lifestyle or entertainment.
“The chosen collective will have to verify this eligibility themselves,” explains Mr. Deegan.
What we are saying is that we need a second audit from the CRTC, independent of this organization.
Paul Deegan, CEO of News Media Canada
It was not possible to obtain an interview with an official from the Canadian Journalism Collective (CCJ). By email, a spokesperson, Gabrielle Brassard-Lecours, indicated that the organization would work “with stakeholders and interested parties in order to distribute funding equitably and in accordance with the Online News Act and CRTC regulations. Mme Brassard-Lecours, an independent Quebec journalist who notably co-founded the publications Ricochet and Pivot Québec, also recalls that the CRTC announced on its website a public consultation on the issue.
“Once the Agency [sic] has completed its work, we will proceed with an official and comprehensive process of mobilizing stakeholders,” indicates the email.
According to the CCJ website, its board of directors is made up of 15 people, notably from media such as Pivot and The Resolve or from organizations such as the Federation of Autonomous Community Televisions of Quebec. The “chair of the steering committee” is Erin Millar, CEO of the firm Indiegraf, which offers a series of publishing and advertising tools for small media outlets.
At the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ), president Éric-Pierre Champagne assures that he “understands everyone’s concerns”. “Small media were afraid of being forgotten, they were afraid that the big media consortium would be chosen: that’s not what happened […] On the other hand, they want to ensure that there will be no over-representation of small media. The rules must be clear. »
He believes that it is not up to Google to define these rules. “We allow them to choose with whom they will negotiate; it is a problem. Maybe in the long run, once the funds are distributed, everyone will be happy. But the government must continue to monitor this very closely and ensure that the spirit and letter of the law are respected. »