This commitment from Google represents the tech giant’s largest pledge to assist the media industry in Canada. They will spend $100 million a year to support evidence-based journalism organizations to support this effort. As of April 23, Google had distributed almost $22.2 million to 108 Canadian news organizations. This move further establishes the tech giant as a serious player in trying to solve some of the biggest problems facing the journalism industry.
According to the Canadian Press, about $98 million is expected to be directed to local journalism organizations. This funding is intended to support and strengthen local journalism efforts. The funding is designed to help these entities recover from financial losses exacerbated by the dominance of tech platforms in the digital news landscape. What’s important to point out is that $2 million of Google’s overall contribution will be set aside for these administrative costs.
This new program is a promising step in fully realizing the Online News Act’s objectives. We’ve long argued that it serves journalism in general by enabling coalitions of organizations to recoup their losses. If they’re exempted as part of a five-year exemption under this act, Google’s payments will be a game-changer for the Canadian news ecosystem.
These payments represent the lion’s share of the funds—sixty percent—that eligible organizations will eventually receive. Those in the broadcasting industry will split $29.4 million, about 30 percent of the total fund. According to estimates, broadcasters could bring in about $6,806 per eligible employee. At the same time, publishers would have to pay around $13,798 to break even for each full-time equivalent journalist on staff.
In addition, publishers will share the rest of the money, which is projected to be $61.7 million. Eligible publishers should be excited about the amount they could earn, $6.90 for every hour they attest to working. At the same time, broadcasters will be guaranteed more than $3.40 per hour.
We look forward to two additional tranches of payments released by the end of this year. This will help to strengthen the sustainability of journalism organizations across Canada.
“Big Tech compensates news media for their journalism equitably and fairly across Canada’s news ecosystem.” – Sarah Spring
“It’s a historic investment that is empowering a broad range of voices and setting new democratic precedents in media funding and transparency.” – Sarah Spring
