There’s Nothing Independent about most Canadian Media Outlets
If the government is paying journalists’ salaries, it’s virtually impossible for them to report honestly on the government.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is a Crown corporation, which means it is a Canadian government-owned entity, although it is run somewhat like a private company. At least that was the intent. This media outlet is funded to the tune of $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion (Cdn), depending on which sources you read or hear—money courtesy of all Canadian taxpayers, whether or not they watch, listen to, or like the CBC.
The Canadian federal government also subsidizes several so-called private-sector television outlets (CTV and Global), as well as radio, online, and print media outlets, including Canada’s “papers of record,” the Toronto-based Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star, to an overall total of at least $230 million annually, perhaps substantially more than that. Taxpayers are once again on the hook. Whether they like or patronize these entities is of no consequence.
Additionally, media companies and their news people—journalists, reporters, producers, directors, editors, etc.—are compromised. They are supposed to follow the truth wherever it may lead and hold government—in their cases, the payer of their salaries, in whole or in part—to account. This arrangement is somewhat akin to a bribe. Journalists and editors may be reluctant to criticize the state under these circumstances out of fear that doing so will cost them their jobs. This increases the odds of incubating a state media that sees it as being in its best interest to support, run interference for, and propagandize on behalf of its government, even if its writers and editors aren’t true believers (many are!).
In fairness, some Canadian media outlets take no government funding. They include, but are not limited to, The Epoch Times weekly newspaper (Canadian edition) and such conservative online news sources as Blacklock’s Reporter, The Rebel, and Juno, as well as podcasters Jasmine Laine and David Krayden. Taking no government money means they are less apt to aid and abet state propaganda.
In short, it is a conflict of interest for governments to own or subsidize media outlets. A media organization should follow the lead of those that take no government money. Their revenue is generated through subscriptions, crowdfunding, and paid advertising. No doubt some will claim that these outlets will be at the mercy of their advertisers or private owners, just as state-owned or subsidized media outlets are at the mercy of their government.
This may well be true, but there is a crucial difference. At least a wholly private media outlet won’t have a captive membership—specifically, all taxpayers, whether they like it or not. Those who like a private media outlet will subscribe and/or donate. Those with no interest in or liking for that outlet need not subscribe or donate. They are free to walk away rather than being forced to support it through taxation. In essence, the consumer-driven market determines whether the entity succeeds or fails.
Finally, there will always be a demand for news and entertainment services, with or without government funding. But these media outlets are businesses. Some may not survive without government help, and they will go the way of other businesses that can’t make a go of it. Others will do fabulously well, and some may simply muddle through. But it is time for government to get out of the way and let a consumer-driven free market pick its winners and losers.
This is truer than ever today, with Canada’s federal government running a debt north of $1.3 trillion. Cuts must be made somewhere, so selling the CBC to private interests and ending subsidies to other media outlets would be a start.
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Source
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/09/there-s-nothing-independent-about-most-canadian-media-outlets/
