Get ready for government ＂approved＂ media outlets
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Summary
The federal government is putting together a list of journalists who are eligible for a tax credit program that allows Canadians to write off their digital news subscriptions. But what does this mean for the media? Is this a good or bad thing?
Transcript
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That's perhaps one of the most accurate and effective ways of summing up the problems
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with governments subsidizing various industries.
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It's especially concerning when we're talking about the media.
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But yes, between the $600 million government bailout that Justin Trudeau is giving to the
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journalism industry and a tax credit program that lets Canadians write off digital news subscriptions,
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the federal government is basically making itself the benefactor of the press.
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And we are now faced with one of the most predictable and dangerous consequences of that.
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The federal government has revealed that it will be putting together a list of qualifying
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journalism outlets as far as who can be eligible for this tax credit fund that lets Canadians
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write off subscriptions. But the problem is that now the government has to come up with a list
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directed by cabinet which is a partisan entity to determine which journalism outlets are effectively
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real outlets. Here was how Blacklock's reporter described it when it broke the story.
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Federal agencies will publish an A-list of newspapers and websites deemed reliable
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under a multi-million dollar subsidy program. Now quoted in this story and also in a story in the
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post-millennial is a spokesperson for Finance Canada who says the rules allow for publication
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of a list of qualifying journalism organizations. It would allow for the Canada Revenue Agency to have
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a list saying here are the organizations that qualify for the digital tax credits. And you could
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go to that list and determine these are the media outlets that government decides are reliable,
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effective or qualified. But the problem with this is that it means that government is faced with making
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a judgment call about which is real news and which is fake news. Who is on the right side of them and
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who is on the wrong side of them. And this means that for media outlets they're no longer accountable
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simply to their readers or even to their subscribers and advertisers but they now have to balance this
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with their new sugar daddy, the government. And they have to all of a sudden find out
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what their content restrictions are if any. And of course the government's going to say that
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the media will always remain independent. But let's take a look at the Globe and Mail. Justin Trudeau
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after that infamous bombshell story about Jody Wilson-Raybould came out said that the story was not
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accurate. Karina Gould, the democratic institutions minister, has spoken about taking aim at fake news and
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regulating anyone that doesn't comply with the government's position on fake news. Even as a daily example,
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journalism outlets are oftentimes issuing corrections for mistakes they've made small or large.
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CBC issued one about Air Canada's exploration of purchasing Air Transat. Originally CBC said Air
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Canada was going to purchase Air Transat then an hour later corrected it to say they were just in talks to.
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Does that mean CBC is no longer reliable? Are their government funds going to be taken away
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because of that? What about advocacy journalism outlets? People like True North say or on the left side
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the National Observer or Rabble or Rebel. Are these going to be deemed reliable? No. Why? Why not?
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The government will now have to decide who it supports having a voice in journalism and who it doesn't.
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And before you say that it's not about censorship, I agree the government is not taking away anyone's voice.
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But if a Canadian consumer is wanting to subscribe to a media platform and the government says these are
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the ones we recognize, they're going to form a judgment call as a consumer and say,
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oh well I guess this one is real and this one isn't. Or they'll simply make it as an economic decision.
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If the government will give me a tax break for signing up for this outlet but not this one,
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I'm going to go with the one where I get a bit of my money back.
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So now government is picking winners and losers and it's impossible for this to not have editorial oversight.
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What happens if a column is written that the government doesn't like? Does that threaten an
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outlet's reliability? Now the backdrop of this is that in just two months time Canada will be co-hosting
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a press freedom summit in the United Kingdom which I'm planning to cover and True North is actually
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crowdfunding it because we don't get a government subsidy and I need your help to get there.
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There's a link in the description box where you can donate a few dollars or a few hundred dollars to
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help this cause. We're almost at our goal. But the point of this is that Canada will be teaming
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up with the United Kingdom which will one week before the conference be prosecuting Tommy Robinson
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to say that these two countries have something to offer the world insofar as press freedom is
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concerned. That Canada and the UK can export their mentality of a free speech and a free press approach
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to other countries. And the whole point of this idea of a government approved list of journalism
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outlets and list of journalists proves that Canada is in the game of not allowing free speech and
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allowing consumers and readers to make up their own minds, but effectively telling Canadians these
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are the real ones and these are not. And when the government makes that call we're in dangerous