Canada placed second only to South Korea in terms of utilising social media for news, according to a veteran Canadian journalist.
It’s no secret that the journalism industry has had a difficult time in recent years.
Journalism has struggled to preserve ad income in the age of YouTube, Craigslist, Facebook, and Google due to the growth of the Internet.
That’s why Australia’s law, approved in summer 2021, has been hailed as a watershed event in the development of a mechanism that permits news organisations to get compensated for their work. Following a protracted legal struggle with Facebook and Google, Australia’s government mandated that the digital behemoths compensate local media for content.
CANADA SHOULD HOLD TECH GIANTS ACCOUNTABLE, SAYS VETERAN JOURNALIST STEVE LADURANTAYE.
The Canadian government is now considering alternatives for enacting similar laws, according to veteran journalist Steve Ladurantaye, who believes it is long time.
“The fact is that these behemoths like Facebook and Google earn handsomely from the media material that is shared and read on their platforms,” Ladurantaye explained. “These corporations already have a significant impact on our lives. It’s not unreasonable to expect them to share their success with the news organisations that helped them get there in the first place.”
Canada’s Heritage Minister, Steven Guilbeault, announced in August 2021 that government leaders were considering two alternatives for having digital media behemoths pay journalistic organisations. The first option appears to be modelled after Australia’s approach, which lays out particular guidelines for agreements between digital behemoths and local media. An independent media fund was suggested as the alternative possibility.
THE CANADIAN SENATE IS CONSIDERING LEVELING THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYING FIELD.
According to The Toronto Star, media leaders are optimistic that one of these options will eventually receive widespread support in Parliament. The rule, according to Paul Deegan, the new president and CEO of News Media Canada, may have a huge beneficial influence on his company.
“We’re asking for legislation to level the playing field between publishers and platforms, notably Google and Facebook,” Deegan said, adding that he believes the problem will be addressed in the platforms of Canada’s major parties.
Steve Ladurantaye has worked in the media on both sides of the aisle. He spent two years as Twitter’s head of news and government relations, but he also has extensive experience with newspapers like as the CBC and The Globe and Mail.
He noted that local media has been in desperate need of assistance for years, and that there are compelling reasons to save independent publishers.
“We understand the stakes. “We’ve witnessed the impact of disinformation, which is frequently propagated on social media, on elections and political debate,” said Ladurantaye. “While social media has a place in our future, it should not be used to replace all of our journalistic institutions. This is why the legislation is so critical.”
Increasing numbers of individuals across the world are getting their news through social media, even if those platforms aren’t always the source of that information.
CANADIANS USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO READ NEWS MORE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY.
The Pew Research Center published a survey of 38 nations’ news habits in 2018. Canada comes in second only to South Korea in terms of utilising social media for news.
South Korea came out on top with 57 percent of the vote, followed by Canada with 42 percent. Surprisingly, people in developing nations were equally as likely to use social media for news as people in wealthy ones, according to the survey.
“In contrast to internet news usage, where there is a clear link between national economic status and online news consumption,” the research stated, “social media news use is not highly associated to country-level income.” “People in advanced economies (median 36%) use social media for news on a daily basis at similar rates as those in emerging or developing nations (33%).”
Australia isn’t the only country holding tech behemoths to account. Google was also asked by France’s competition authority to establish an arrangement with the country’s news organisations and publishers. France punished Google 500 million euros a year later for breaking the accords.
“Governments all over the world are finally waking up and holding these corporations accountable,” says the author. Ladurantaye
“There appears to be a groundswell throughout the world,” Deegan said, of countries examining big tech from the standpoints of privacy, competitiveness, and other factors. “Legislators and regulators all around the world are taking a close look at this, and I believe it is critical for Canada not to fall behind.”