Journalism matters. That is the message Unifor’s Media Action Plan is taking to prime time in a new television commercial debuting this week.
“Who else is going to fight to save local news and protect jobs in media if not us, Canada’s largest media union?” said Jake Moore, Chair of Unifor’s Media Council.
The campaign video will air across Canada on several national newscasts over the summer.
“Canadians need reliable local and national news to be informed about events that affect their lives, the experiences of their neighbours, and the impact of social and political policies,” said Tanya Luciani, chair of the Media Action Plan committee.
The steep decline of media advertising has resulted in thousands of layoffs in print, broadcast news, sports and entertainment. Google and Facebook have sucked a whopping $7 billion of advertising money out of the Canada media business yearly while contributing nothing to local news.
All while more than 250 newsrooms have shut their doors across Canada over the last ten years.
These losses include small and mid sized papers in places like Guelph, Moose Jaw, Nanaimo and in Quebec’s eastern townships.
The current government provided a $595 million newspaper rescue package in its last budget.
Unifor has lobbied the federal government over the last four years as part of the #savelocalnews campaign, with demands to level the playing field and apply federal regulations to the American tech giants.
For more information go to MediaActionPlan.ca. Will you stand with media workers, and tell Members of Parliament that local Canadian news matters and must be saved?