June 7 was an exciting day at Indiegraf with the announcement that Google selected the Canadian Journalism Collective to distribute its $100 million CAD annual contribution to the Canadian news ecosystem mandated under the Online News Act.
The Canadian Journalism Collective-Collectif Canadien de Journalisme (CJC-CCJ) is a nonprofit founded by a steering committee chaired by Indiegraf CEO Erin Millar and made up of a diverse group of publishers and broadcasters including representatives from Indiegraf publishers Pivot, The Breach, Energetic City, The Discourse, The Resolve and IndigiNews. The CJC-CCJ was founded to promote sustainability, equity and innovation in the Canadian news ecosystem.
“We look forward to working with the full diversity of the Canadian news ecosystem including traditional print and broadcast organizations and independent local news publishers including those who serve Indigenous, Black and racialized communities and Francophone communities,” said Sadia Zaman, Independent Board Director, in a statement on behalf of the CJC-CCJ.
“Indiegraf exists to make news entrepreneurship easier so that all communities can access quality local journalism. Ensuring that independent media, journalism startups and traditional newsrooms alike can equitably access new revenue streams is critical to that mission,” said Indiegraf’s Millar. “This is why Indiegraf is advocating for an approach with the Online News Act that meaningfully includes news innovators, and I am encouraged that diversity of representation and transparency were prioritized in Google’s decision.”
The Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18, became Canadian law in June 2023. In December 2023, the Department of Canadian Heritage announced an agreement that mandated Google to contribute $100 million annually to Canadian news organizations. In early 2024, Google posted an open call for groups interested in serving as the single collective tasked with negotiating and distributing its $100 million annual contribution.
In a June 7 statement announcing its decision, Google’s vice-president of Global News Partnerships Jaffer Zaidi said the selection process was informed by “diversity of representation, a robust governance structure, a high level of transparency, and assurance that as much funding as possible would go to news organizations. We are confident that [the CJC-CCJ’s] approach is best aligned with these principles and will support the full diversity of the Canadian news ecosystem.”
The CRTC, the Canadian broadcast regulator, is expected to soon begin a 30-day public consultation on the agreement between the CJC-CCJ and Google before granting Google an exemption to the Online News Act. Once the commission’s work is complete, the CJC-CCJ plans to conduct a formal and comprehensive stakeholder engagement process.
Indiegraf and our partner publishers have long advocated for the Online News Act to be transparent, fair and include news innovators since Bill C-18 was introduced in 2022. When the law was passed in 2023 and Meta responded by pulling news content from its platforms in Canada, Indiegraf drew attention to the fact that news startups and publishers serving immigrant and Indigenous communities were disproportionately harmed. Indiegraf’s experts team has collaborated with publishers impacted by Meta’s news ban to create alternative approaches to reaching audiences and developing long-term resilience and distribution independence.
Most recently, Indiegraf sponsored a workshop at DemocracyXChange, a conference co-created by OCAD University and the Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University, which brought together independent publishers and other stakeholders to discuss the Online News Act among other issues impacting the future of journalism in Canadian democracy.
“This is a long road, and I am grateful for our Canadian partner publishers’ resilience, creativity and determination not only to persist through this storm but contribute to a better future for the news ecosystem,” says Millar. “All eyes are on Canada with California and other jurisdictions considering similar policies, and Indiegraf will continue advocating for funding solutions and policies that promote equity, growth and sustainability in local news ecosystems.”
