TORONTO – In the wake of Meta’s threat to ban Canadian news on its platforms because of the Online News Act, Unifor is calling on all provincial and municipal governments to follow the federal and Quebec governments’ announcements that they will stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
Unifor is also calling on corporations who are responsible for a large portion of the more than $4 billion in revenue Facebook takes out of Canada every year to also stand up for local news and Canadian content.
Unifor strongly opposes Bell Media’s application to the CRTC to eliminate all regulatory requirements for local news at all of its CTV, CTV2 and Noovo stations across Canada. We will do everything in our power to ensure that Bell Media continues to live up to its legislated obligations to fund and create local news and programming.
Unifor applauds last week’s passing of Bill C-18: The Online News Act as an important next step towards supporting local news and Canadian content in the media.
“The government has made it law for digital platforms, such as Google and Facebook, to pay their fair share. This is something Unifor members have fought hard for and now we need to make sure it works,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President.
For too many of our members and media workers this has to feel like Groundhog Day.
News of the proposed merger between Postmedia and Nordstar is brutal on top of the other job losses and cuts in media since the start of this year.
The sector has been in a continuous and sometimes rapid decline. We at Unifor are deeply concerned about the continued consolidation of our Canadian news media.
TORONTO – Unifor is deeply concerned and outraged about today’s announcement from Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. (BCE Inc.) to cut 1,300 positions and to close six and sell three radio stations in response to not being able to outwait Bill C-11.
World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in Dec. 1993 and is an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, assess the state of press freedom and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Unifor Media Council Chair Julie Kotsis shone a spotlight on challenges newsrooms and media workers face across the country at the Canadian Hillman Prize Celebration on March 30 in Toronto.
In her speech, Kotsis – a journalist at the Windsor Star with more than three decades of experience under her belt – said the news industry is at a crossroads with shrinking newsrooms and cost-cutting, combined with the harassment and abuse journalists and media workers face in the field and online.
TORONTO –Unifor is demanding an update on the Competition Bureau’s civil investigation into whether Google has engaged in certain practices that harm competition in the online display advertising industry in Canada.
“Every day that Google is allowed to monopolize ad revenue, more harm is inflicted on the Canadian news industry, which has a negative impact on democracy as a whole,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.
TORONTO–The news of layoffs and restructuring at Global News this week chips away at already barebones newsrooms and puts democracy at risk as the number of media workers dwindles in the industry, says Unifor.
“It is becoming impossibly difficult for media workers to face the news of restructuring and layoffs on a regular basis,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “Journalists are the backbone of our democracy. We need to save local news by investing in newsrooms – not cutting them. We will continue to support our members during this devastating time.”
Three women journalists, two of whom are Unifor members, were recognized tonight at the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression gala in Toronto for their brave efforts to fight back against misogyny and their online abusers.
This year’s Tara Singh Hayer Award was presented to Toronto Star podcast co-host and producer Saba Eitizaz and Global News political reporter Rachel Gilmore, both Unifor members, and The Hill Times journalist Erica Ifill.
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