Commentary
Twenty years ago, the newspaper I worked for turned an easy $50 million-plus a year in profit. Less than three months ago, its building was sold and remnants of its once-bustling newsroom work from their homes. Its owners increasingly depend on federal government assistance, the latest version of which, the Online News Act (Bill C-18), is now under review in the Senate.
The news lobby has no apparent qualms that this bill will create a media industry dependent upon the good graces of the two most imposing powers in the lives of citizens these days: Big Tech and Big Government. They claim, unconvincingly, that Facebook and Google have been “stealing” their journalism and must pay them—through C-18—hundreds of millions in annual compensation….