Lobbyists insisted that the Online News Act would bring about a new golden era. That hasn’t stopped the constant wave of pink slips which continued at Global.
When lobbyists pushed Bill C-18 (known as Canada’s link tax), they argued that news deserts were rapidly expanding and it was all the fault of the internet. They made obviously fabricated stories about how the “tech giants” were “stealing” from them and that it was time that they “paid their fair share”. Obviously, there was no “theft” that was going on and it was just a constant stream of bullshit artists inventing tall tales to lawmakers they were actively bribing lobbying at the time. Not only were lawmakers told these obvious lies, but they were basically paid to believe them too. So, no amount of reasoning from experts were ever going to change their minds. In fact, some lawmakers even went so far as to accuse experts of being part of a grand conspiracy by “Big Tech” in an effort to thwart the legislation by the diabolical plot to bring facts and reality to the table.
Of course, this was only the beginning of the bullshit. The professional liars making these tall tales went so far as to say that if Bill C-18 was passed, then this would bring about a new “golden era” that would completely “revitalize” the entire news sector. They proclaimed that the passage of Bill C-18 would spur massive amounts of hiring and the news sector would be much more lively than ever. This even as the Australian link tax law brought about massive layoffs in the sector. While senator Paula Simons happily accepted my tip and asked the hard questions over why the layoffs happened despite Australia getting their link tax law (a heck of a moment of pride for me, truth be told), lobbyists quickly dismissed this as little more than a “business decision” that totally doesn’t reflect how great and wonderful everything is in Australia since they passed their link tax law.
Of course, this decision wasn’t an anomaly by any means. In fact, it was effectively foreshadowing of things to come here in Canada. After the Online News Act was passed, the so-called “golden era” arrived in Canada – the golden era for the pink slips to start flowing that is.
Bell laid off 1,300 employees and raised dividend payments to shareholders. While then Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, furiously called the decision a garbage decision, lawmakers hauled Bell into committee where Bell took the opportunity to mock lawmakers for being the gullible suckers that they were. Bell then issued another round of layoffs for good measure on top of it all shortly after.
The CBC would also go on to announce that they were laying off 10% of its workforce. The Canadian government, already realizing that they had been had all this time, asked the CBC what it would take to prevent said layoffs. The CBC essentially responded by demanding a bailout in exchange for calling off the layoffs. The CBC got their bailout and the corporation took that money and proceeded to shower its CEO with bonuses afterwards. Fool the Canadian government twice, shame on the government.
Sensing that this was a trend that was going to continue, the government also issued another bailout onto the sector hoping that this would somehow stem the tide of layoffs that ensued after they passed the Online News Act. Spoiler alert: it didn’t. After the bailouts happened, Corus laid off 25% of their workforce, contributing to the massive wave of layoffs hitting the sector. More recently, Corus also halted projects with Nelvana, dealing a crippling blow to Canada’s animation sector.
Today, we are learning that the layoffs are continuing with Global. 46 more layoffs hit mostly in BC and Alberta and Unifor, the union representing those employees, had confirmed this news. From Broadcast Dialogue:
According to the union, the cuts have impacted members in B.C. and Alberta, with one member in the Eastern bargaining unit. Of the 46 jobs impacted, 26 are journalists.
“The most recent Global News layoffs are a devastating blow to local news across the country and to our democracy,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne, in a statement. “We will support our members through this difficult and uncertain time.”
An additional report from Daily Hive offered additional details:
Corus told Daily Hive that the cuts amounted to “difficult but necessary changes to create a more sustainable future for the company and our News division.”
Interestingly, the last few stories related to Corus layoffs that Daily Hive has reported on featured the same quote: “difficult but necessary changes.”
“We are applying new workflows and ways of working, using the latest technology that will enable us to pave the way forward for the future of Global News. As a result, certain roles within some stations have been impacted,” Corus’ statement continued.
So, this is what the new “golden era” of journalism ended up looking like – same as the previous era. Filled with pink slips and cutbacks. The Canadian government did everything it was asked to do by the lobbyists. They passed the Online Streaming Act, passed the Online News Act, and issued numerous bailouts to the sector. This with the promise that, this time is different and that the latest move is certain to stop the layoffs this time. In response, the companies issued the layoffs anyway, proving that they had the government buying their lies hook line and sinker.
Of course, if you thought that the lobbyists were done with their ridiculous lies, you have another thing coming to you. The Canadian government has been under considerable pressure from the United States to rescind the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act. Since they have done nothing more than cause damage both nationally and internationally, rescinding these two would do Canadians a huge favour. For lobbyists, though, they are continuing to fill their roles as pathological liars and claimed that these two acts were the only things keeping the sector afloat. They claimed that if either was rescinded, then the entire sector would practically collapse overnight and that it would be a huge mistake for the government to rescind those laws. It’s… kind of remarkable how committed they are to the lies, really.
The reality is that the Online News Act, Online Streaming Act, and the subsequent bailouts have done nothing to “revitalize” the news sector. The companies had zero intention of retaining those jobs all along, let alone hiring additional crew. They were wanting to hoard even more money for themselves while letting the quality of the news continue to suffer. As time goes on, I can only see even the flow of pink slips to continue. Welcome to the golden era of journalism.
Drew Wilson on Mastodon, Twitter and Facebook.
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