TORONTO – Friends of Canadian Broadcasting has announced a new radio ad campaign which will air in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver starting next week.
The ads ponder a future where social media might be our only source of news. They “alert Canadians to the fact that government policy advantages social media companies that distribute false or misleading information, at the expense of credible Canadian journalism,” reads the Friends press release.
“There is no such thing as democracy without journalism, and Canadian journalism is dying. We are trying to inform voters that this is not a natural death: Ottawa makes the problem worse with billions in subsidies and exemptions for foreign internet media companies – the same corporations that are driving professional and reliable journalism outfits into the ground,” said Friends executive director Daniel Bernhard in a press release.
Friends says it is urging all of federal parties to publicly commit to ending special treatment for Facebook, Google, Netflix and other large foreign online media companies, and to impose the same tax, regulatory and legal requirements that Canadian companies comply with. The group’s research estimates closing one tax loophole could repatriate as much as $500 million to the Canadian media sector, at no cost to taxpayers.
“Right now, the federal government allows Facebook, Google, Netflix and other foreign online media companies to write the rules. This is our house. We should call the shots. Any party that wants to form government should show they know how to act like one,” Bernhard said.
The ads are available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_Pz1TOZ-58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwxB4uTwVfo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnLudpAfzIY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym8xRSF7zu0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl94sEtipVA
