Left-wing Canadian media outlets are raking in the cash after Google paid out $22.2 million to news companies under pressure from the Liberal government’s Online News Act.
The Canadian Journalism Collective, established to divvy up funds from the government-brokered payout scheme, is periodically publishing the list of all 108 new organizations that stand to benefit from the deal with Google.
The list of organizations, available on its website, was largely absent of any independent conservative media outlets.
As of April 23, Google has distributed $22.2 million in payouts through the Canada Journalism Initiative to 108 news organizations, many of whom already receive taxpayer funds through the Canada Periodical Fund and the Canadian Journalism Labour Tax Credit.
Google has established the Canada Journalism Collective to comply with the Liberal government’s Online News Act while Meta has opted to pull news content from Facebook and Instagram in Canada instead of complying with the government’s terms.
Notable legacy media organizations that received large payouts from the Canada Journalism Collective include $2 million to the Globe and Mail, $1.4 million to the Canadian Press, $4.3 million to Postmedia, and $1.9 million to Metroland Media.
Any outlet who meets the government’s distinction as a qualified Canadian journalism organization is eligible for the program upon application and funds paid out to each outlet is based on the number of full-time journalists the publication employs.
Several left-wing independent media organizations received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the initiative, but only one centre-right newsroom was paid out by the fund.
The Hub — a centre-right news and commentary site — received $22,2248 from the Canada Journalism Initiative, but donated all of the proceeds to charity to signal their disapproval of the initiative.
On the other hand, the left-wing outlet Canadaland received $102,310 from the Canada Journalism Initiative while The Tyee received $128,596.
The left-wing environmentalist outlet The Narwhal received $139,633 while The National Observer received $104,777.
The Broadbent Institute — a social democratic advocacy organization closely aligned with the NDP — received $41,049 from the initiative, likely on behalf of their activist far-left outlet Press Progress.
Another far-left outlet called The Breach received $41,177 from the fund. The outlet describes itself as dedicated to the “crises of racism, inequality, colonialism, and climate breakdown—and what to do about it,” and supporting radical policies like defunding the police or “land back.”
The Canada Journalism Collective also paid out the left-wing francophone outlet The Pivot, which proudly takes a “progressive” editorial position. The Pivot has also received government funds through other initiatives and from the government of Quebec.
This year, Google will deliver three more payouts totalling over $100 million and will continue to do so on an annual basis in inflation-adjusted payments.