SEAN SILCOFF TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
BILL CURRY – OTTAWA
Globe and Mail
PUBLISHED MARCH 19, 2019
Image: Budget experts and reporters look over copies of the 2019 federal budget booklet at a lockup session in Ottawa on March 19, 2019.
FRED CHARTRAND/THE CANADIAN PRESS
The federal government is laying out specific criteria that journalism organizations will have to meet in order to qualify for its $595-million package supporting Canada’s struggling news media.
According to the budget, only “qualified Canadian journalism organizations” – or QCJOs – will be eligible for the three measures first laid out in last November’s fall economic statement to assist an industry that has seen revenues steadily decline in the face of competition from global digital platforms such as Facebook and Google.
The measures include allowing QCJOs to transform into tax-exempt non-profit organizations, which can raise tax-deductible donations from individuals; providing refundable tax credits on labour costs associated with producing original news; and providing a temporary, non-refundable tax credit for “qualifying subscribers of eligible digital news media.”
…
—
It’s when you read details of media bailout that the chill sets in
Andrew Coyne – National Post
March 20, 2019 8:24 PM EDT
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157282553024595&id=110225254594
—
Commentary
I agree with supporting proper indepedent journalism to help combat the spread of fake news and manipulating of the public if it comes with transparency and accountability measures that are enforced. Without this it will be similar to the muzzling of scientists that took place under the Harper Conservative governments. If they spoke out against the government or its special interests they lost funding. The Trudeau Liberal government said they would stop doing this but have they? Even if so they have found other ways to try and hide their wrong doings. More needs to be done to drain the swamp they all in.
—
Comments from above post
“There in lies the problem. How do you control it in a “non partisan” way? You can’t.
Humans by our very nature get polarized by things. We have beliefs or opinions about everything, so how do you control something where opinions are really the bread and butter?
Is this a flawed idea and makes no sense other than an “ideal” that the present government wants to try and implement.
However well their present intentions, there is no way to keep this completely independent. The author of this article is correct. It shouldn’t be allowed to go through and is a waste of money.”
—
Related:
Gould wants Google to change its mind about refusing election ads
Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould points out that Google put together an online ad registry for the U.S. midterm election. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
—
Commentary
The Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould asked Google to setup an ad registry for election ads, restrict foreign election ads and block bot accounts. This part of complying with new legislation that was created to try and prevent interference with our elections. Google did this in the US mid terms but said it was too difficult to comply here so is not allowing any ads. They will still allow news.
It clear something needed to be done to prevent foreign and domestic interference in elections which occured in the US, UK and elsewhere but it looks like Google finds it to hard to comply.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5044364
—
TECH
Canada considering forcing social media companies to remove extremist content
March 21, 2019 9:22 am
By Amanda Connolly and Katie Dangerfield Global News
