Feds spend millions on self-promotional “news”
Special by Lily Ryan, Editor of the West Quebec Post
In my junk folder are hundreds of emails from a company called “News Canada”. This is a pseudo news agency that offers free newspaper content. I scan through their emails for news leads from time to time, but not once have I published any of their articles.
Generally these barely disguised press releases cover banking news or big-box store openings. Others feature federal ministers making funding announcements. This is a paid service that offers clients a way to push faux “news” onto low-budget community newspapers and their unsuspecting readers. Obviously, Mr Harper’s government doesn’t trust trained journalists to get its message out.
Why does this matter to readers of the West Quebec Post? Well, when was the last time the federal government communicated with you, readers of the Post? Did Veterans Affairs explain improvements in benefit packages to readers? How about changes to federal child tax benefit amounts? Did readers see any ads from the federal government about these?
The answer is no. In fact, the answer is a deafeningly silent big fat NO! And the no is about to get louder with Ottawa’s new way of communicating with Canadians: controlling news that is bought and paid for with your tax dollars
In a Public Works tender notice dated December 17, 2014, News Canada is named as the single tendered company that will provide the federal government with articles tailored to the government ministry in question. The contract is worth $4.34 million over three years for advertorial writing, plus Twitter and Facebook postings. At least $1.25 million in taxpayer funds will flow to this company in 2015.
This is not journalism, which requires research and verification of multiple sources. It will be disguised as such, though. It is possible that some editors across Canada will publish News Canada’s free articles. Readers may be fooled into believing they are reading journalistic articles (researched, fact-checked and verified), but which are in fact nothing but propaganda chockfull of skewed federal government announcements. This should strike fear, perhaps disgust, in the hearts of Canadians.
I assure you, West Quebec Post readers, that you will not find such reprints in your newspaper. We are delighted to be a vehicle for straightforward federal advertising. These are clearly framed as ads, meant to inform the population about changes or improvements to government agencies. West Quebec Post journalists may dig deeper into such announcements, but we assure readers they will be written according to a journalistic code of ethics – as is everything published in this newspaper.
Ed Note: This is the first time we have used an editorial from another newspaper. In this case, we feel the subject matter is important. It is what being a community newspaper is all about – delivering real news, not propaganda from any source, whether it is corporate or government. It is a responsibility that most independent community papers take seriously and what our readers deserve.