Jordan Bitove, owner and publisher of Torstar Corp., says increased revenues are needed from governments and corporations to reverse a decades-long decline in domestic media coverage, across the country.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
The head of one of the country’s largest media companies is pushing governments and corporations to strengthen Canada’s democratic traditions by devoting an increased share of their advertising to local media, rather than global tech platforms.
Jordan Bitove, owner and publisher of Torstar Corp., used a speech Thursday at the Canadian Club in Toronto to challenge politicians and CEOs to increase their spending with domestic media outlets to a minimum of 20 per cent of their advertising dollars, while cutting ads placed with Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL-Q, Twitter Inc. and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. META-Q He said increased revenues are needed to reverse a decades-long decline in domestic media coverage across the country.
“Trusted media outlets play a critical role in defending democracy and inform your communities, and it is challenging for us to uphold that role,” said Mr. Bitove. “Digital ad dollars go to tech companies due to the monopolies they have over our audiences. That’s money that’s not only leaving our country, but also a shift that has negative implications for Canadian media.”
Since 2008, Mr. Bitove said 448 Canadian news outlets have shut down, in 323 communities. In the past three years, 52 news platforms closed, and 3,000 jobs were lost. “We’re seeing local news disappear at alarming rates,” he said. “What it means is that we have significant gaps in local information and accountability.”
The federal government paid approximately $140-million for advertising last year, and Mr. Bitove said Torstar received $384,655, or 0.27 per cent, of this spending. He said a major Toronto-based financial institution “with values that align with ours” spent less than $7,000, or .01 per cent, of its $50-million advertising budget at Torstar.
In his speech, and in presentations to potential advertisers, Mr. Bitove is pitching advertisers what he called an “ethical media supply chain,” with domestic media companies devoting additional revenues to improving local news coverage, through steps such as hiring more journalists.
“Trusted media outlets play a critical role in defending democracy and inform your communities, and it is challenging for us to uphold that role,” he said.
Torstar owns the Toronto Star and seven other city news platforms in Ontario, including daily newspapers in Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo, along with more than 70 community newspapers and websites. In 2020, Mr. Bitove purchased a stake in the company, then acquired full control last November.