Bell Media is once again getting a lot of heat online.
The Canadian telecom company, which oversees CTV News, has asked the regulatory agency for broadcasting and telecommunications in the country, the CRTC, to remove its strict requirements for local news content across the country.
Currently, Bell’s stations, like other broadcasters, are forced to spend a certain percentage of its budget on local content and air a certain number of hours of this content per week to its viewers.
Critics were quick to condemn the ask, citing concerns for jobs as well as democracy.
This is disgraceful. Local news is crucial to informing communities and holding those in power accountable. Bell Media’s greed should not come at the expense of the public’s right to know. Sugar daddy see my bio plz
— J_A (@JA8627112355010) June 23, 2023
I find Bell Media’s application to the CRTC beyond shocking; getting rid of all local news requirements!? UNBELIEVABLE
— Steve Chong (정재필) (@Gear316) June 23, 2023
Either way, $BCE, the Bell Media parent company, had a net income of ≈$2.1B in 2022. They’re wildly profitible and capable of subsidizing robust reporting across the country.
— Sydney Steele (@steelestarr) June 23, 2023
“Local news is essential to a healthy democracy, and protecting and promoting the creation of Canadian cultural content and local programming is a fundamental principle for Canadian media policy and legislation. If approved, Bell Media’s outrageous and misguided scheme would deprive the Canadian public of vital local news and programming, while putting hundreds of highly trained and professional journalists out of work,” a statement from UNIFOR reads on Friday.
#Unifor strongly opposes Bell Media’s #CRTC application to eliminate regulatory requirements for local news at all CTV, CTV2 and Noovo stations. We will do everything in our power to ensure #BellMedia fulfills its obligations to fund & create local news #savelocalnews… pic.twitter.com/yFe9SMqHm7
— Unifor (@UniforTheUnion) June 23, 2023
It comes following a major layoff for employees at Bell Media which saw 1,300 people let go last week, and the closure or selling of several of its radio stations.
According to the documents filed to the CRTC, Bell Media made this request during the same time it let those employees go.
The request states that the current funding requirement for local news production is too high, and Bell Media wants it lowered by about 10%.
“Canadians turn to national and local news organizations as trusted sources of news and information. However, the financial challenges they face are massive. These financial challenges ultimately disadvantage the Canadian public. As news broadcasters struggle to maintain the resources necessary to continue to inform Canadians, Canadian news organizations have had to make difficult decisions to cut staff, limit coverage, or close altogether, and, unfortunately, local news has been negatively impacted,” the summary posted on Friday reads in part.
“Unfortunately, Bell Media has been losing tens of millions alone in the production and delivery of local news. In the four-year period between 2016 and 2019, the average annual news operating loss was $28.4M. In 2020 and 2021, due to advertising revenue declines attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, this jumped to an average operating loss of $51.2M,” it goes on to state.
“Without a doubt, delivering local news is a very costly undertaking, and as described above, this has negatively impacted the health of our local television stations,” it said.
UNIFOR argues that Bell Media’s move is premature, as efforts are underway to address the funding model it says has collapsed in recent years not just for Bell but for all private broadcasters and publishers in Canada.
“The federal government and the CRTC are moving ahead with the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11) and the Online News Act (C-18), which will deliver new revenue streams for domestic broadcasters and news outlets,” it said. “After years of waiting for much-needed reforms, we are on the cusp of a new deal for domestic broadcasters and local news outlets.”
On Thursday, the Online News Act (Bill C-18) received Royal Assent and the CRTC will set up the framework for mandatory bargaining between these parties.
However, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it would be moving forward with its threat to block Canadian news on its platforms as a protest to this new decision.
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