Google’s government-mandated media fund distributed its largest payout to the CBC out of all organizations.
The Canadian Journalism Collective, responsible for distributing over $100 million of annual funds to eligible media organizations, is in the process of publicly disclosing $15.6 million sent to 22 news organizations. The latest recipient organizations were listed in the collective’s second round of disclosures, in addition to the $22.2 million for 108 news organizations already revealed earlier this month.
In the latest round of public disclosure, the collective recently paid the CBC over $6.8 million, becoming the biggest beneficiary of Google’s media subsidies in the country.
Bell Media, encompassing properties like CTV News, BNN Bloomberg, and several radio stations, is the next largest recipient of Google’s media subsidies, receiving a $5.2 million payout.
The Toronto Star received $1.6 million from the CJC, in addition to the $1.9 million that Metroland Media Group received in the last payment period, also a subsidiary of Torstar.
Other legacy media organizations that received money during the last disclosure period include the Globe and Mail, which received $2 million, the Canadian Press which received $1.4 million, and Postmedia’s $4.3 million.
The collective has also distributed significant sums of money to several far-left media organizations. In the latest round of funding, it gave $189,110 to The Walrus, a left-wing digital magazine.
This is in addition to several left-wing outlets that received money in the first round of funding, including $139,633 to The Narwhal, $104,477 to The National Observer, $128,596 to The Tyee, $102,310 to Canadaland, and $41,049 to The Broadbent Institute, likely on behalf of Press Progress.
Honest Reporting Canada, a media watchdog, criticized the collective for giving the far-left outlet The Breach $41,049, an outlet that they claim seeks to whitewash pro-Hamas demonstrations.
The coalition is a non-profit that was established for the express purpose of divvying up funds from the government-brokered payout scheme with Google in compliance with the Liberal government’s Online News Act. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has instead decided to pull all news content from Meta platforms rather than complying with the legislation.
Any outlet that meets the government’s distinction as a qualified Canadian journalism organization is eligible for the program upon application. The funds an outlet receives are calculated based on the total number of hours paid to employees for tasks dedicated to the production of online news.