Much of the criticism, and all of the drama, over the Liberals’ online news bill has centred on the provisions that will compel technology companies such as Google and Facebook to pay media firms for links to news stories that appear on their platforms.
That criticism of Bill C-18 is amply merited. Whatever the government’s intent, the immediate result might well be to dramatically reduce the accessibility of Canadian journalism beyond news organizations’ own sites. Google warned Thursday that it will remove links to Canadian news stories once the bill takes effect. Facebook is already giving notice it will end its pre-existing arrangements with Canadian publishers.
The short-term consequences of Bill C-18 could be a disaster – but the long-term effects might be even worse. At the heart of Bill C-18 is bland bureaucratic language that stipulates how media organizations can qualify for payments from tech companies. But those rules are more than a checklist. They look a lot like the licensing of officially sanctioned newsrooms and a threat to journalistic independence, particularly given the involvement of the CRTC.
Some requirements are inoffensive: requiring that a media organization operate in Canada and employs at least two journalists aren’t very high hurdles to clear. But the government’s bill goes much further.
Bill C-18 requires that a “qualified Canadian journalism organization” produce content that is “primarily focused on matters of general interest and reports of current events, including coverage of democratic institutions and processes.”
Excluded are organizations that focus on industry-specific news, sports, recreation, arts, lifestyle or entertainment.
Reporting on politics and current events is essential; it’s at the heart of what The Globe and Mail does. But there is more to the world than politics and business. The enormous value judgment embedded in Bill C-18 dismisses that wider world.
Want to create a (digital) literary magazine, or a focused newsletter on Canadian cinema or film production? You’re on your own. Sports news, in the Liberals’ view, is an oxymoron, and not real – sorry, qualified – journalism.
That narrow thinking runs counter to the direction of innovation in digital news, where startups are launching focused offerings to attract a dedicated base of paying subscribers. Among its many other flaws, Bill C-18 impoverishes that kind of innovation, establishing officially approved genres of journalism and ultimately giving Canadians fewer choices.
Legacy players of a protectionist bent might feel like celebrating, if the new kids aren’t allowed on the playing field. But there are worrisome provisions in the Online News Act that clear the way for encroachment by the CRTC.
The bill requires that an organization receiving payments under Bill C-18 is either a member of a “recognized journalistic association,” follows the code of ethics of such an association or has its own code of ethics.
Such a code has to adhere to “recognized processes and principles of the journalism profession, including fairness, independence and rigour in reporting news and handling sources.” And who will be evaluating whether those ethics codes are up to snuff? The CRTC, with zero experience or expertise? During debate over Bill C-18, a Department of Heritage official said journalism would remain self-regulating, but those assurances do not appear in the legislation.
Good journalism is based on rigorous ethical standards, to be sure. Codifying those principles isn’t a problem; The Globe and Mail has done so, and published them. But is quite a different matter for those standards to become not just an official requirement to qualify for payment, but one that will be open to continual challenge. Because, of course, qualifying isn’t the end of the CRTC’s involvement. Section 59(1) spells out that if an eligible news business contravenes the act or (yet to be published) regulations or (yet to be conceived of) orders made under the act – payments can be cut off.
Bluntly, C-18 opens the door for the CRTC to decide if newsrooms are abiding by its view of proper journalistic standards of conduct, and penalize those who fail that test. Even the mere prospect of such intervention is a problem, not just for newsrooms but ultimately for all Canadians.
Readers, not governments, are best positioned to hold news organizations to account, as subscribers assume central importance in the economics of the industry. If the Liberals will not scrap C-18, they must ensure the bill’s regulations prevent the CRTC from meddling with newsrooms.