Newspapers have a future — if they get help

It’s fantastic that Andrew Coyne can rage against the idea that there should be some measure of government support for newspapers in Canada — in the pages of those very newspapers. It demonstrates the value of what those of us arguing for government support are trying to preserve: independent publications providing forums for news and opinion on matters of public interest.

News is not about spewing propaganda or public relations; it is about independently gathering facts and presenting fair opinions not tarnished by falsehoods. The ability of a large and central part of Canadian news media — newspapers — to do this has been diminished as old business models have fallen apart and new ones have been slow to develop.

Canadian publishers have made the case for measures from the federal government that could help newspaper companies further of a government agency. By Mr. Coyne’s logic, most local TV reporters, magazine writers and CBC journalists are tainted, their integrity compromised.

Mr. Coyne also says newspapers should be the last to argue for government support of newspapers, least of all in their own pages. This is like arguing farmers should not be involved in any discussion of marketing boards. Others will determine how best to handle their products.

The view that newspapers should not get public support is a remarkably narrow one, contrary to what is going on around the world where countries are coming to terms with how to ensure the sustainability of news coverage after the disruption that digital technology has caused. Earlier this month, British Prime Minister Theresa May launched a review into whether state intervention is needed to preserve national and local newspapers. She said the decline of local journalism is a threat to democracy and is fuelling the rise in fake news.

Last week, an Australian Senate report suggested such measures as making news media subscriptions tax-deductible and allowing non-profit news organizations to raise tax-deductible donations. Even in the United States, that bastion of the freedom of the press, charitable laws have enabled many news organizations to get donations from philanthropists and regular readers. The Canadian government has a report from its own House of Commons heritage committee making many of the same recommendations supported by newspaper publishers.

Mr. Coyne suggests newspapers are headed for a horrific crash and are making some kind of pathetic plea for a government bailout, an idea no respectable newspaper would have dreamed of indulging in the past. I am also opposed to a government bailout and would not be making arguments for government support if I did not believe newspapers could transition to successful business models. I always tell people that I am not worried about the future of the Winnipeg Free Press; I am worried about the present. Dealing with that requires some help.

As a journalist for the past 35 years, the only idea I can’t dream of indulging is that core providers of news in communities would disappear. That’s why I’m asking for the help now.