Commentary
You wouldn’t think Justin Trudeau’s government and Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch would be caught dead dancing to the same tune, but if this week’s hearings on Canada’s latest media rescue plan was anything to go by, the two are twirling up a storm.
According to advocates for Canada’s Online News Act (Bill C-18), the Australian media baron’s shakedown of online web giants Meta and Google has already saved the newspaper industry Down Under. And, once this country passes its legislation, it’s gonna be jobs, jobs, jobs for journos.
Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next—a U.S.-based trade organization/lobby group—flew into Ottawa from Washington, D.C., to appear before the House of Commons Heritage Committee on Sept. 27. There, he dismissed highly respected critics such as Dr. Michael Geist, Canada research chair in internet law at the University of Ottawa, of spreading misinformation, declared the Aussie rules to be a sweeping victory for journalism, left me with the general impression that anyone who disagreed with him was paid for by global web monopolists, and flew home. In terms of lobbying, it was a masterful performance….