What we know so far about Google's $100M media fund
The Online News Act comes into effect Dec. 19 - regulations will be published before that date
This week, Google struck an agreement with the federal government that will see the online giant pay $100 million to news outlets across the country.
The compensation was required by the Online News Act. The Trudeau government said the law was needed to support journalism that drives civic engagement, counters disinformation and upholds democracy.
Details of how the $100 million in compensation will be managed and distributed have not yet been published. Here is what we know so far.
What is the Canadian Online News Act?
Bill C-18, the Online News Act, became law on June 22, 2023; it doesn't take effect until December 19. Regulations detailing how the law will be applied will be published before the law takes effect.
The law requires digital platforms with 20 million unique monthly users and annual revenues of $1 billion or more to compensate news outlets for sharing links to their pages. Only Google and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, meet those criteria in Canada.
The federal government has said the bill is meant to support journalism by encouraging platforms to reach voluntary agreements with media outlets. If a platform is unable to reach an agreement, the law requires that it participate in mediation.
If mediation fails, the law says an arbitration process would evaluate proposals from the platform and the affected news services. The arbitration panel would then choose one of the offers.
Meta managed to exclude itself from paying compensation by ceasing to share links to Canadian news articles on its platforms. Google struck a deal directly with the Liberal government instead of negotiating with individual news outlets.
What deal did Google strike with Ottawa?
Google has agreed to provide an annual payment of $100 million, indexed to inflation, to news media in Canada in exchange for continuing to share links to Canadian news outlet pages.
As a part of the deal, Google provided assurances that Canadian news outlets will be treated fairly in comparison with deals it might strike with news media in other countries.
A government statement said that if news outlets abroad strike a better deal with Google, the company would go back to the federal government "with a view to resolving any concerns."
How will the money be managed?
Some details of how the $100 million from Google will be managed have been released. Further guidance is expected when final regulations are published before the law comes into force on Dec. 19.
When it announced the deal, the Liberal government said Google would meet with "a single collective" to distribute the money to all "interested eligible news businesses based on the number of full-time equivalent journalists engaged by those businesses."
Appearing at a House of Commons committee on Thursday, Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said it's possible that "several collectives" of news media outlets could negotiate with Google.
St-Onge said the collective or collectives distributing the money will be required to do so in a "transparent manner under the legislation" and the process will be "supervised by the [Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission] CRTC."
Who is eligible for a share of the $100 million?
Under section 11.1 of the Online News Act, eligible news organizations include non-profit and for-profit outlets that produce local, regional and national news content.
The legislation says that media outlets receiving a portion of the funding must include outlets covering "local and regional markets in every province and territory, anglophone and francophone communities, and Black and other racialized communities," and must include "a significant portion of official language minority community news outlets" and "a significant portion of Indigenous news outlets."
St-Onge told the committee Thursday that "all media carrying out journalism in Canada" — including "legacy media" like major broadcasters and newspapers — "will be able to put their hands up and become part of that collective under the agreement with Google."
As a news organization, CBC/Radio-Canada could see a financial benefit under the Online News Act. The law requires that the CBC provide an annual report on any compensation for news it receives from digital operators.
How will the money be divided?
Exactly how the money will be distributed remains unclear. When St-Onge announced the deal, she said in a media statement that all eligible news outlets would receive funding "based on the number of full-time equivalent journalists engaged by those businesses."
Critics of the bill have said that the legacy media outlets which employ most of Canada's journalists will benefit most from the fund, while minority language, community, Indigenous and independent news outlets could receive far less.
At least one major media company isn't on board. The owner and publisher of Torstar, which owns the Toronto Star and other publications, called the deal a "disappointment" that the company couldn't support, according to a report in the Star.
St-Onge told a House committee this week that she will "take into account the fact that CBC Radio-Canada represents a large proportion of journalists" when drafting regulations.
Deputy Heritage Minister Isabelle Mondou told the same committee this week that she did not want to get ahead of the forthcoming regulations, but that concerns about the share of the funds going to legacy media will be addressed in the regulations.
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