MEDIA LANDSCAPE - Agility PR Solutions
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MEDIA LANDSCAPE
CANADA
MEDIA AND ECONOMY
Canada’s media serves a widely dispersed population stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into
the Arctic Ocean, covering 10m sq. km and with a population of approximately 35.2m (2016 census) and as a result
has highly localised media coverage. With two official languages English (56%) French (21%), Canadian media is
further polarised and focused towards serving specific audiences as well as Indigenous Canadian (5%) and various
other language specific media within Asian or European communities in Canada.
Primary sector service industry accounts for 70% of GDP with agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining making up
58% of exports, and machinery, equipment and automotive products amounting to 38% of exports.
The major media operators are the state-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada and the
privately-run Torstar, Corus, Quebecor, Postmedia, Woodbridge (Globe & Mail), Rogers, Bell Media and Stingray.
The changing media landscape has seen the disappearance of former media industry players such as New Cap (now
rebranded Stingray) and Astral (bought by Bell Media).
According to 2018 estimates published by PwC, the Canadian entertainment and media market was worth over
56 billion Canadian dollars in 2016. According to the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey 2019 the number
of active professional journalists and media production employees in Canada was just over 26k.
Canadians are consuming more media than ever, but trust is not evenly distributed. Despite recent news, they also
report feeling positive and prepared – with media to thank. Canadian media has been credited with doing a good
job at keeping people informed; Canadians trust the media more than the the American public trusts theirs. Survey
respondents report 40% trust in their most-consulted source of information, TV news, as opposed to just 30% in the
U.S. Trust in the press is generally low across the board for all media, largely due to how many details seem to
change. It should be noted that trust is not always proportionate to consumption; while 35% of Canadians consult
social media for information on the coronavirus pandemic, only 5% say they trust the information on social. There
is also dissonance for online news sites (38% consumption but only 14% trust). News radio boasts 26% for
consultation and 10% for trust, while print newspapers boast the exact same metrics as news radio. Canadians
self-report spending more time consuming virtually all media. TV audiences are confirmed through findings from
Bell Media, Corus and CBC, which have said specialty and conventional viewing is up. There is also a divide between
French and English Canadians with the former leaning towards traditional media - TV news stations in French
Canada boasting 51% trust, compared to the 40% trust in English Canada.
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ONLINE AND DIGITAL MEDIA
There has been a pronounced growth in digital media consumption with Canadians browsing news websites in
record numbers since the COVID-19 crisis began, focusing on international and local news and politics. Millions are
relying on their digital devices as their primary source of news, education, information and entertainment. The
market has witnessed dramatic changes in digital media consumption. According to Patti Summerfield,
[mediaincanada.com], April 2020, the reliance on digital devices as a primary source of news, education and
information, was a growing trend pre-COVID, but isolation and being housebound has led to a record growth in
numbers of unique visitors, visitors, and minutes spent following news. There has been increased activity on dating
sites, pets, lifestyle and food. As expected, there have been decreases in sports and real estate. An earlier report by
Paul Briggs for emarketer.com in May 2019 indicated a roughly even split between digital and traditional media
consumption but with digital inching ahead.
The report also stated that almost 41% of the typical Canadian’s
Mobile devices and an appetite day is spent browsing media. This builds on a decade when
for digital video were digital formats increased access to media and multitasking,
considered the main drivers of taking total media time to new heights. Mobile takes up almost
the ascent of digital media. 30% of all media time, with a heavy reliance on smartphones and
tablets for breaking news and social networking.
Time spent with traditional media formats (TV, radio, print) was shown to be in decline. However, the reach of TV
and radio is seen as keeping them as go-to sources for specific use cases e.g. auto commuters using terrestrial radio.
Consumers’ time spent with digital media, including all online activities, was predicted to grow by 2.6%, whereas
traditional media consumption was expected to drop by 2.5%. Video is seen as a major driver of digital
consumption, with video time directly replacing TV time. This seems to be more so than in any other country, due
to the popularity of Netflix and YouTube among Canadians.
Mobile devices and rich experiences in apps are also key drivers of increased digital time with media consumption
via mobile devisces now averaging in excess of 3 hours a day. The increase in smartphones is not just a device story
but of services. Digital services such as social feeds are inherently mobile, and video platforms now deliver instantly
watchable content on smaller screens.
Since 2004 Canadian Media Usage Trends (CMUST) has tracked consumers reach and time spent (in minutes) with
the internet and its main content genres by existing and emerging devices as more Canadians have shifted their
news, entertainment, banking and other activities to the digital space. The 2019 study relates how new devices and
new types of content are triggering ways consumers spend their ever-increasing time online. New insights relating
to Podcast consumption were introduced in CMUST 2018 and have since been updated.
Device market penetration has been tracked over the last 6 years and provides an age skew dimension, revealing
that devices with the greatest growth trajectory are smart TV’s and smart speakers. Legacy media reach and time
spent levels have declined with younger age groups. The Internet has a youth skew; younger age groups are heavy
consumers of Internet content. CMUST additionally found that francophone adults are heavier users of media then
adults generally in Canada. Except for Magazines, French Canadians are heavier users of legacy media and have
broadly similar Internet consumption habits to adults across the country. Women are seen to rule Canadian media
consumption: this demographic consumes more traditional media than men overall; is more likely to read
magazines, use tablets, use smartphones, listen to the radio, and to watch TV. Men are more likely to read
newspapers, use smart TVs and use desktop and laptop computers.
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Consumers in the 45-54-year-old bracket are most likely to listen to the radio and to watch TV while the
55-64-year-old group is most likely to read magazines and newspapers. A significant number (79.7%) still listen to
radio (more than 1 hour per day). Desktops, laptops and tablets are the most popular source of the internet,
although 87.7% of Canadians own smartphones vs 85.5% desktop and laptop owners.
Online audio including streaming music, podcasts and online formats of legacy radio broadcasters continues to be
difficult to measure these platforms with metrics reflecting PHD Canada estimates of online audio weekly reach and
minutes based upon MTM and Vividata sourced data. Last year, online audio hit the 50% weekly reach mark, and
this has since grown to 70% highlighting the main message for online audio in 2019 being accelerated growth. This
is a media category ripe for marketer utilization. The second, 2019, edition of “The Canadian Podcast Listener”, has
shed light on the fledgling podcasting audio channel and is the source of the podcast reach and time data used.
Online video is divided between Pureplay (Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube Movies) and
cobranded video (broadcaster online video) sub-channels. Pureplay represents a significant
portion of total video minutes viewed per week, while reach and time levels for cobranded
video appear to be growing quickly, representing a significant development for Canada’s
legacy broadcast industry.
The internet is arguably undervalued because large swaths of Internet time are either not measured or under
reported by respondents. Consumer time spent with mobile video is generally recognized to be under
self-reported by survey respondents as is time spent accessing the Internet via smart TV sets, wearables,
connected cars, IOT, smart speakers, and game consoles. When these additional, estimated time spent counts
are added to the results from surveys, minutes per capita time jumps from 1,376 to 2,067 minutes per capita for
total adults 18+ in Canada - a 50% increase. The Internet medium now clearly occupies the largest share of the
Canadian consumer’s total media time spent counts.
Visits to online news sites have greatly increased and content categories such as entertainment, games, music,
dating, and spirituality have spiked in engagement. Traffic at e-commerce sites has risen, specifically when it comes
to food and supermarkets. Comscore data for Feb-March 2020 shows that the key themes of media consumption
during the COVID-19 pandemic are characterised by:
Digital consumption continuing to grow since the outbreak, albeit at a slower pace. Total internet visits in
Canada increased by 10%, and time spent online increased by 14%.
Overall Digital Consumption across the Internet has increased with visits up (+10%) and time spent up (+14%)
As COVID-19 became more prevalent in Canada, browsers flocked to news and information websites in record
numbers driven by international and local news, weather and politics
Visitors to sites in the politics sub-category have grown (+61%). They’re staying longer (+86%) and reading
more pages (+39%). Business and finance news have increased visitors (+ 40%), minutes spent (+63%) and
number of pages (+78%)
Canadians are staying connected with their communities via social media and messaging. Unique daily social
media visitors rose by 1.1bn total visits and minutes spent on social media grew to 7.8bn
Government websites have seen an increase in users. Based on this trend and growing global cases of
COVID-19, it is anticipated that Canadian audiences will continue to be drawn to government content
Global movement restrictions have led to increased traffic for travel sites
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TV AND RADIO
The leading multi-platform channel is the state broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada, which operates English, French
and Indigenous language content across TV, Radio and Digital. In terms of its market position, CBC has more
geographical reach than any other broadcaster with a tv and radio presence in all territories, in addition to sister
station Radio-Canada in French-speaking areas.
None of the big commercial networks share the same ‘national’ status as CBC. However, these still enjoy extensive
regional clout across the most populated territories, though CTV is the largest private broadcast television network
also owning speciality television channels such as TSN, RDS, BNN Bloomberg and V. Along with CTV, the media
owner Bell Media operates, IHeartRadio and Sympatico. With a more regional perspective, Quebecor, based out of
Montreal operates the biggest privately-owned Francophone media such as TVA Group and Le Journal de Montreal.
Headquartered in Toronto Rogers, a communications and media company operated a media division that owns
Sportsnet, Omni television and City TV, producing metropolitan news across Canada under the CityTV, CityNews,
CityLine and BT (Breakfast TV) banners. Corus Entertainment ‘Corusent’ is the owner of Global News, which
provides tv and radio coverage across most territories, alongside the Canadian divisions of many major US channels
which has a broad following on social media platforms. Indigenous communities are primarily served by APTN
television programming and the MBC radio network.
NEWSPAPERS
The major national newspapers are The National Post, Globe and Mail and Toronto Star while core regional titles
include the Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Hill Times, Le Devoir, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Edmonton
Journal and Winnipeg Free Press. Despite recent cutbacks, regional media companies such as BlackRock (BC),
Saltwire (Maritimes) and Village Media (Ontario) continue to offer a strong regional news angle via their local news
outlets.
According to market research published by ibisworld.com in February 2020, newspaper publishing (referring to
print newspapers which may also have electronic forms) was already under extreme pressure from revenue losses
due to the decline of advertising in print media, before the additional financial strain caused by the COVID-19
pandemic.
The report also states that many Canadian media outlets have experienced a steep decline in advertising revenue
as nonessential businesses shut down across the country due to the pandemic. Countless journalists and
newspaper employees have or are expected to be laid off (temporary or otherwise). Between 2015-2020, Canada’s
average newspaper publishing industry growth was -9.1% linked also to competition from rival digital platforms.
Typically, industry revenue is dependent upon consumers’ per capita disposable income levels and print
advertising expenditure which are in turn determined by corporate profit. Amid slow growth in total advertising
expenditure over this 5-year period, print advertising has declined sharply.
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More readers now opt to read news articles online, increased by the rapid adoption of tablet and mobile devices.
This declining readership along with reduced advertising revenue stream are direct factors in the decline in industry
revenue. The report’s outlook for the next 5 years projects a likely decline in subscriptions for physical circulation
and will in turn receive lower advertising revenue. Consumers will continue to transition to digital platforms for
their news, supported by the growing number of mobile devices.
The pandemic created a spike in Newspapers have been a critical source of breaking news
readership of newspapers and increased and advice regarding staying healthy and safe during
the demand for accurate and reliable COVID-19. Research has shown that newspaper content is
information. read by 90% of Canadians each week.
Newspapers require help to provide COVID-19 news coverage to Canadian communities, particularly those that
include more vulnerable consumers across the country. In many areas, community newspapers are the only source
of local news and information and therefore it is vital to retain these. As the economy slows, revenue is coming
under pressure with news syndicated from agencies/partner sources.
However, it is worth noting that there are regional pockets of resistance to this trend,
particularly in areas heavily invested in local news. The Moosomin World-Spectator, one of 59
papers operating in Saskatchewan, is a paper run for the community and businesses and it is
that symbiotic relationship that owner and publisher Kevin Weedmark credits with the paper's
success, achieving consistent growth from 2014 to the year ending 2019.
In his view, the World-Spectator covers stories about Moosomin and surrounding areas, getting the stories no other
publication can or is willing to cover. Interviewed in a feature for CBC, Weedmark claimed he also treats the paper
as a public service for the community and not a business, though things have been good since he started 15 years
ago. The paper has increased its circulation to about 4,400 people from approximately 2,200 at the beginning of his
career.
The paper also participates in community events and challenges, encouraging people to shop local. In turn, the
businesses continue to advertise with the paper, allowing it to put out the weekly paper, totalling 36 pages,
alongside a 24-page gift guide and a 48-page winter fun guide, 108 pages of locally produced content.
Other owners and publishers, like Daniel Bushman, have had to think of ways to entice advertisers. He is an owner
of the community papers in Watrous, his hometown, and nearby Lanigan. They were two separate papers with their
own circulation, but Bushman works for both. Anyone looking to advertise in either paper can advertise in both for
a discount. He also believes in not treating the papers like a business but instead a community pillar. The Watrous
Manitou has a circulation of about 1,200 while the Lanigan Advisor is read by more than 700. Both receive
appreciation from the community because they are reflected in the stories. The bottom line is local papers cannot
survive without local support.
agilitypr.comJOURNALISM IN CANADA
For a decade or more the Canadian media has been experiencing consolidation with Torstar’s regional operations
centralised to its HQ in Toronto in late 2019. Similarly, TC Transcontinental announced layoffs switching to new
printing system in Spring 2020.
There is mixed picture in regard to whether the overall number of journalists in the profession is on the decline.
It is undeniably true, as the Canadian Media Guild has pointed out, that the number of journalists working in
Canada has rapidly fallen over the last decade as successive rounds of newsroom layoffs have put many
journalists out of work or prompted them to quit for PR or communications.
Longer term data from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey shows that the number of journalists in Canada
has risen slightly, in absolute terms, over the past 30 years. As outlined in a study co-authored by Sabrina
Wilkinson with Dwayne Winseck, Professor at Carleton University, the Labour Force Survey reports that the number
of journalists rose from 9,959 in 1987 to 11,700 in 2017. Interestingly, the steepest, increase occurred during the past
20 years, the same period during which the internet emerged as a prominent feature of the media landscape in
Canada and globally.
At the same time, there are caveats and limitations to the Labour Force Survey, including a risk of variability when
industries as small as journalism are examined. A range of public inquiries and reports have focused on Canadian
journalism, citing concerns about exactly how many jobs have been lost in journalism and how much of that
frustrated talent has fled to other professions. The data shows that the nature of journalistic employment in Canada
has changed substantially. The Labour Force Survey dataset provides information about the number of journalists
who are permanently employed and employed by news organizations. Journalists employed by news organizations
are those who consider their primary job to be working for an organization, in contrast to self-employment in the
form of freelance work. Permanently employed journalists are workers at titles whose job is one that is expected to
last if the employee wants it, political and economic conditions allowing.
In the first decade (1987-96), the Labour Force Survey suggests that around 5% of journalists were freelancers, in
contrast to roughly 17% in the most recent 10 years. The percentage of journalists permanently employed by
organizations has also fallen in recent years to 60-70% of the total number of journalists in the survey, from
approximately 70-80% in the early years. Fewer journalists, therefore, are working for organisations and in
permanent positions. Freelance journalists and bloggers routinely contribute to the major national and regional
titles. These might include well known counselling columnists or automotive writers who contribute to both news
and specialist sites. Whilst Twitter remains a major arena for political commentators, Instagram is the preferred
mode du jour for stylists and lifestyle journalists, particularly in fashion, beauty, interiors, food and travel. The
emerging channels of choice for liberal/progressive millennials such as Vancouver’s Daily Hive or VICE Canada enjoy
a strong Twitter presence, particularly in the major cities.
Defending the interests of journalists in an ever more challenging commercial climate, CWA Canada is the country’s
only all-media union, representing media workers coast to coast, including over 5,000 members of the Canadian
Media Guild. They represent workers in the communications industry, news services, digital media, radio,
television, newspapers, print shops or mailing operations. Their members can be found everywhere from
administration, customer service, sales, and staff support to, production, distribution and, the newsroom. Their
employers include the CBC, The Canadian Press, Thomson Reuters, VICE Media and newspapers from coast to coast
such as the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Sudbury Star, Red Deer Advocate and
Victoria Times Colonist.
agilitypr.comCHALLENGES TO JOURNALISM
Across Canada media companies have had to re-direct resources and remodel content strategies. Small and
mid-sized businesses, the traditional cash cows for local titles, are looking at alternatives to paid media. For already
cash-strapped small publications this has hit hard. Frontline reporters and editors are forced to take on larger
workloads. Programmatic and social advertising have made the jobs of sales reps much harder, and journalists are
working to cover the specific local impacts of the virus with fewer resources than the big national dailies, while also
dealing with a drain of ad dollars.
Bob Cox, chair of News Media Canada, says that its members’ revenues are taking a hit as companies pull ads and
that moreover there are other challenges beyond advertising. With reporters increasingly restricted on how much
they can get out into communities, delivery and circulation could also see be affected. He insists that getting local
angles on developing stories is of the utmost importance, but many newspapers have already had to deal with years
of local content being replaced with national and wire content due to scarce resources.
Some measures have been taken to help local news media. The Facebook Journalism Project
announced a USD$1 million program to provide grants to local news organizations in Canada
and the U.S. who are covering the coronavirus. Grants of up to $5,000 each will be given to local
newsrooms to help cover unexpected costs, which include increases to cover developing
events and resources to help organizations work remotely. News Media Canada is partnering
with Facebook to help direct the flow of grants to organizations.
Metroland has developed a sales program to help local businesses. Torstar operations intend to expand a program
that allows people to purchase pre-emptive vouchers via their local papers assisting local advertisers and readers
with a community program called #togetherlocal which enables readers to purchase gift cards from local
businesses at a discounted rate through their local Metroland titles. The aim, according to Donna Luelo of Torstar
Regional Daily Brands, is to provide those businesses with some revenue to help support their long-term survival,
while also encouraging communities to go out to those businesses once lockdown restrictions lift.
The picture is rosier for radio. Kevin Kivi, EVP, general manager, Horizon Media claims that numbers are expected to
continue to grow as more and more Canadians look to feel connected with their local communities, irrespective of
their size. This opinion is in line with research from Mindshare Canada, which also indicates that Canadians may be
entering a state of “news fatigue”.
The search for “good news” and variations of the term has been
steadily rising on Google this month with most searches coming
from Prince Edward Island, followed by British Columbia. Even as The unrelenting stream of
media like The Globe and Mail see record digital readership and coronavirus-related news is
specialty news services like CP24 and CBC grow their base, it is driving Canadians to look for
most likely that the Canadian public cannot sustain this more positivity.
onslaught of constant COVID-19 news.
The search for “good news” and variations of the term has been steadily rising on Google this month with most
searches coming from Prince Edward Island, followed by British Columbia. Even as media like The Globe and Mail
see record digital readership and specialty news services like CP24 and CBC grow their base, it is most likely that the
Canadian public cannot sustain this onslaught of constant COVID-19 news.
agilitypr.comData suggests that Canadians are digesting more news but that certain scripted programs are providing
much-needed comfort. CBC reports that audiences in the 25-54 age demographic are up by 17% week-over-week.
Even though average viewership among top shows hasn’t changed significantly, the programs that people tune into
have begun to change. On March 19, the top three programs for the night – the CTV Evening News, Grey’s Anatomy
and Station 19 boasted an average audience (across the three shows) similar to that which was pulled in three
weeks prior (2.03 million, up slightly from 1.98 million). But news took a much bigger share in the more recent week,
with 35.3% of the average minute audience (up from 27.2%).
News Media Canada has been lobbying hard for state support for the industry. The Canadian federal government
has announced some action to support the Canadian news and broadcasting sectors during the COVID-19
pandemic. These measures include the following draft legislative proposals, following on from the 2019 federal
budget:
Allowing news publishers and media organizations that receive support through the ‘Aid to Publishers’ grant of
the Canada Periodical Fund to qualify for the Canadian journalism labour tax credit
A new Advisory Board
Removing the requirement that qualified Canadian journalism organizations be “primarily” engaged in the
production of original news content and not be significantly engaged in the production of content to promote
goods or services. Newsroom employees eligible for the labour tax credit would need to spend at least 75 per
cent of their time engaged in the production of original written news content.
The Canadian government is also spending big on radio; the Ontario government has purchased nearly 10,000
radio ads in Toronto since the crisis began.
The Trudeau administration has announced plans to launch an educational advertising campaign to support
trusted Canadian sources of information.
Nearly two thirds of Canadians believe that the federal government should provide funding to prevent media
bankruptcies. Canadians say that professional journalism is essential given the COVID-19 outbreak and should
be supported by the federal government.
COVID-19 CHALLENGES
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented the Canadian news media with a unique set of challenges. Numerous
Canadian titles are experiencing layoffs due to local advertising revenue being cut back, with staff at SaltWire
Network, Congeco and Black Press, the publisher of the Vancouver Courier, reporting layoffs on social media. It
should be stressed that much of the data is sketchy because details of cuts announced by some large employers
with multiple media holdings are unknown.
Quebecor Inc., for instance, announced the temporary layoff of
The pandemic is responsible for
1,150 employees, but analysts have been unable to crunch
layoffs, pay cuts and reduced
numbers on how those job losses were distributed throughout its
hours for many Canadian titles.
television, magazine and newspaper divisions.
Equally, although privately owned companies such as Black Press Media and Glacier Media Group in Western
Canada have implemented layoffs, pay cuts and reduced hours, we do not have information on the total number of
jobs involved or how the cuts have affected each one of their publications. Glacier owns close to 70 newspapers
while Black Press owns nearly 100.
agilitypr.comThe impact of cuts invariably affects newsrooms. Content at news websites is increasingly sourced from agencies
(e.g. Reuters, AP), sister organisations (the Vancouver Province and Vancouver Star for instance pool staff and
editorial resources) and across different areas of the brand. Journalists from Postmedia will be by lined so, for
instance, National Post or Financial Post columns will also be accessible to readers of the Edmonton Journal. This
serves to consolidate resources and provide national coverage at local level. News desks at major national brands
are commonly structured with dedicated staff reporting to a Managing Editor. However, local and community
newspapers often have a single reporter covering a general beat and acting as sole point of contact. Metroland
Media in Ontario pools local and community news together via its community websites such as InsideHalton.com,
providing links to local news titles but under one shared brand. This enables browsers to identify who covers which
area, often remote rural locations, but grouped under the Metroland banner. The availability of journalists for
targeting invariably depends on the brand. The Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and CBC have traditionally furnished
direct contact details on request whereas others such as Corus and I Heart Radio have moved towards web boxes or
social channels only.
In terms of radio news content, local network channels share a core interest in community
news, weather and road reports, whilst following strict chat or music playlist formats. Radio
content is commonly distributed to general managers or program directors, overseeing
breakfast, afternoon and evening schedules, with shows becoming sub-brands. At a national
level, CBC radio content is broadcast across time zones via local CBC stations and increasingly
as podcasts.
The elephant in the room is the competition provided by social media and the Canadian federal government is
studying how Australia and France are levelling the playing field between news producers and global online
aggregators such as Facebook and Google, although applying one of those models onto Canada may not be a
simple endeavour.
In more recent news CWA Canada hailed the announcement that the emergency benefit program will now be
extended to many precarious workers in the media industry, arguing that the change was good news for thousands
of precarious media and other workers. This is an acute phenomenon in the media industry, where temporary and
part-time workers make up a growing proportion of the workforce, including 25% cent of staff at the CBC. With
many struggling financially even in ordinary times; during this unprecedented public health crisis, thousands are in
dire need. The CWA claims that the random nature of the available work renders many precarious workers ineligible
for the CERB. The Canadian Media Guild attacked CBC for its decision to modified its News Network service and
replace local evening and late-night newscasts across Canada, with the exception of CBC North programs
Northbeat and Igalaaq, produced in Inuktitut amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying that the union shares
Canadians’ surprise that the public broadcaster would decrease its service during an unprecedented health crisis,
at a time when Canadians need reliable, trusted information more than ever.
When the corporation announced its intention to replace local supper-hour and late-night newscasts with
broadcasts from CBC News Network in Toronto for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis the decision exposed the
tensions between national and local news media, particularly in remote areas of the country dependent on
regionally-centric news. In a Facebook post, journalist Jonathan Crowe, who worked on CBC News Here and Now
for 30 years, said that viewers expecting local news but got blanket network coverage of the COVID-19 crisis and
were thus unable to see stories about their community told to them by the familiar faces they’ve come to know and
trust over the years.
agilitypr.comFor his part Robert Hurst, former president of CTV news, in an opinion piece published in The Globe and Mail,
criticised CBC for wiping out more than 75 hours a week of original local news reporting at a time of crisis and for
not explaining why local newscasts were shut down. His view reflects a broader sense that central newsrooms are
scaling down when they need to be ramping up. With dedicated reporters and editors volunteering to work long
hours, journalists want to be covering the big story, which is why they got into journalism in the first place, to make
a difference and to provide a community service.
Shame on the CBC for closing its local newscasts amid the coronavirus pandemic.
This is a moment when news gathering and reporting is a critical public service.
This is a moment when citizens need and crave information.
ROBERT HURST - PUBLISHED MARCH 19, 2020
Research by The Discourse published a report examining growth in local news markets, which found that during the
same period when 260 titles had closed, which were on the whole mainly print newspapers), over 90 new, mainly
independent, digital media titles were launched, serving expanding audiences, generating revenue, improving
coverage of those legacy publications through competition and having an impact on policy. Dozens of start-ups and
digital publishers have been launched in recent years to fill gaps in coverage as newspapers close or reduce
coverage (e.g. The Pointer, The Halifax Examiner). These titles are already playing a critical role in the Canadian
news ecosystem and have the potential to play an ever more prominent role in the future. However, as small
independents, they have been overlooked by government programs to help news media. Other programs such as
Facebook’s Local News Aggregator, which The Discourse participated in, also tend to support larger players more
likely to benefit than small independents.
Of course, small independents can offer advantages over the
Independent titles are highly
newspaper majors. Without established mastheads and
efficient and attract their
entrenched cultures, they are better placed to address
community, but they often offer
newsroom equity. Without big production overheads and
‘clickbait’ news.
debt liabilities, they are efficient and offer value for money.
Moreover, being locally owned, they are accountable to their communities. Yet they also have disadvantages, not
benefiting from economies of scale and too small to justify hiring marketing staff. There is continual pressure to
write and publish light ‘clickbait’ news. There is an additional lack of support for journalist entrepreneurs e.g. no
equivalent of US Knight Foundation or Democracy Fund to fund new ideas nor is there a Canadian version of news
accelerator Matter or the News Revenue Hub engine.
Disclose research also revealed that women and black people were underrepresented among the founders of ‘new
journalism upstarts’ reflecting the Canadian news industry’s broader problem with diversity. The research
suggested that if access to support and funding was not addressed, the next generation of Canadian media will also
fail to represent Canadians in their full diversity, exacerbating the inequities of the legacy system that left so many
people feeling unheard and disconnected.
Canada is one of the world’s most “hyper-diverse” countries in the world; a term referring to the wide array of
different home country sources of immigration. This is a large, growing, complex, fragmented and important
consumer segment calling for the attention of marketers. The book Migration Nation published by Brown and
Cheng, Environics Research Group, provides important recommendations to help guide today’s marketers who
wish to immerse in the diverse, as the media moves towards a post-‘Ethnic/Mainstream’ binary mindset.
agilitypr.comDespite the challenges some media companies are now facing, given a potential decrease in ad spend, many have
undertaken initiatives in order to make normally paid content free. The Globe and Mail and the Star have removed
their paywalls on most COVID-19 coverage and are reporting record digital numbers. The Globe and Mail has
additionally launched a free special newsletter. The daily news briefing focuses on all things COVID-19 and is
dubbed “Coronavirus Update”. CP-24 and some of Stingray’s audio channels are also now freely distributed to all
Canadians, and Bell Media has extended the availability of their specialty news networks.
For its part CBC has made changes to its local evening and late-night news. In a shift announced March 18, the CBC
News Network began to serve as a breaking news service integrating journalism and coverage from across the
network, The National and local CBC stations. Whilst CBC North continued to produce and broadcast its specific
programming from Yellowknife and Iqualuit, the spots that previously contained local market newscasts at 6 p.m.
and 11 p.m. on weeknights were temporarily replaced by content from the CBC News Network. In addition, the
Power and Politics slot was temporarily suspended, with the Ottawa-based team re-deployed toward the national
coverage efforts.
Meanwhile, new formats are being been pioneered by broadcasters such as iHeart Radio with its The Living Room
Sessions as a way of bringing music to listeners and to foster relations between audiences and artists, Storytime
programming aimed at children and Radio Family Hub. iHeart’s head of content and strategy, Rob Farina says his
team have also ramped up its news and information content with a daily COVID-19 information content. Audio has
seen audiences surge as social habits change. A new digital station Lift has been launched consisting of curated
‘positivity’ playlists dedicated to people on the frontlines and seeking some uplifting content during the crisis.
Not all stations have been able to effectively monetize those audiences among pulled spend, but some stations are
seeing boosts from high-spend campaigns from provincial governments and D2C advertisers like home exercise
equipment and media brand Peloton.
Sports media has also been impacted. Sports have a long history in Canada, from early Indigenous games (e.g.
baggataway) to more modern sports such as MMA, snowboarding and kitesurfing. Officially, Canada has two
national sports: lacrosse in the Summer and hockey in the Winter. Other major sports include North American
football, soccer, basketball, curling and baseball. Lacrosse enjoys high popularity within indigenous communities.
The spring months would normally see ice hockey and basketball approaching the playoff stage of the season.
Without these fixtures, the Globe and Mail has reduced its sports section, although not purged it completely. The
Globe’s sports content now includes columns focusing on life after sports, profiles of athletes at home alongside a
new, AI-powered take on baseball and a simulated stats-powered sports series.
Coverage is also fragmenting to specialist interest in younger sports such as UFC and off-roading, offering an
alternative to the established sports. Despite the emergence of sports sites such as The Athletic, Rogers continues
to monopolise sports coverage, particularly in ice hockey, not only providing in-depth coverage but also owning the
naming rights to the Toronto Blue Jays, Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers.
agilitypr.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
Television and online news Paywalls are coming down Government is stepping in to
remain the go-to sources fill advertising shortfall
AUTHOR
Oliver Hanson, Senior Media Editor, Canada
Oliver studied Politics and Spanish 1997 at Exeter University and as an Erasmus student read Spanish Politics at the
Autonomous University of Barcelona for a year. Oliver has worked in the news distribution industry for over a
decade using his translation skills creating news summaries from Spanish and Catalan sources. With an interest in
Canadian politics, particularly identity politics, Oliver has 15 years’ experience in media research with specialist
knowledge of national newspapers.
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https://mediaincanada.com/2020/04/01/amidst-isolation-whose-media-habits-are-changing-most/
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id-19-pandemic-1.4869793
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http://www.cwacanada.ca
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