Covid Journal, April 6, 2020
Apparently, ‘our’ media needs ‘our’ help.
The Toronto Star (a publicly traded company) is calling on politicians with dire cries of extinction if they don’t get government subsidies to continue in a world of the internet.
The Star in particular has mounted a failed assault against consumer pocketbooks by tossing up a paywall for the last few years, preventing any sharing of content and therefore and potential expanded interaction (and therefore advertising) as a result of inability to share stories.
Many other ‘Canadian’ publications are in the same boat and the noisiest ones are those related to the Sun Media chain, a conglomerate controlled by an American venture company.
So you’re on the ropes.
Just to help a little with your research, I’ll remind you that EVERYONE is on the ropes right now.
Exploiting this moment of crisis for more public handouts isn’t something the citizens of Canada should feel obligated to support.
Of course, for just $21 million, maybe the Canadian government SHOULD buy out the Toronto Star and own a national news publication to partner with the CBC.
I’d be OK with that so long as we allowed a number of conditions:
- delisting as a publicly traded stock
- NO payouts or buyouts to shareholders, including bonuses, dividends or debt payments
- Sell all non-essential business assets, including the building at the corner of Front/Yonge (probably worth an estimated $200 million)
- Integrate news/information stories with the CBC but also allow for a massive injection of content from truly local sources
- TRUE investigative journalism to start again in this country
If you want the public to fund you, the public will have to have a say in how you do business.
The bigger picture? Nearly every media outlet in the US (and by extension, global influence) has some degree of Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) ‘guidance’. Check out this investigative piece here.
In other news, the threat of SEVERE penalties is on the rise, including the risk of up to ONE YEAR in prison for breaching social distancing requirements.
Are you sure this isn’t a state of Martial Law yet?