![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Epoch-TImes-Newspaper-300x225.jpg\")
Ethnic newspapers on the campus of Carleton University<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that we will (benefit), but we don\u2019t know yet,\u201d said Michael Regenstreif, editor of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, when asked if he thinks the publication will be eligible to meet the criteria for funding. He will likely have to wait until the government\u2019s full budget in the Spring.<\/p>\n
An independent panel of members of the news industry appointed by the government will decide which outlets meet the criteria for the government\u2019s $600 million, five-year funding plan.<\/p>\n
Both profit and non-profit news organizations around the country will be able to benefit from things like refundable tax credits for labour costs. Canadians who hold subscriptions will also be allowed a 15 per cent tax credit on their payments.<\/p>\n
Non-profit publications who release free content, however, have even more benefit, being able to issue tax receipts to donors in efforts to incentivize funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about changing the status of how we\u2019re set up corporately in view of what may be coming,\u201d he continued, explaining that The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, though technically a for-profit organization, has been talking about changing its status in an effort to take advantage of benefits.<\/p>\n
Rita Antonelli, a representative for the Ottawa\u2019s Italian language newspaper, L\u2019Ora di Ottawa, wasn\u2019t aware of the plan, but stressed that it too, could use the help.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, without the grants, we\u2019d close up. We wouldn\u2019t survive,\u201d Antonelli said. L\u2019Ora di Ottawa gets grants from the federal department of Canada Heritage, but Antonelli said it\u2019s still not enough to deliver to print Canadian-Italian news to Ottawa and to their 2,000 subscribers across the country.<\/p>\n
The worry is, she said, that Canada\u2019s legacy news outlets will get most of the government\u2019s funding.<\/p>\n
George Abraham, founder and publisher of New Canadian Media, a publication centering on topics like immigration and culture said the same, stressing the importance of smaller publications in diversifying the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy worry is that the bulk of these funds will be garnered by legacy media that is largely headed towards irrelevance,\u201d he continued. He said the \u201cbig guns\u201d of the journalism industry who have been lobbying for this funding for years \u201cdo not reflect the Canada of today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The media should allow for a \u201cmultiplicity of voices across Canada\u201d and be a \u201ctrue reflection of Canadian demographics.\u201d For that, smaller publications are essential, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the government should find a way to see where are the gaps, where are ordinary citizens not able to find the kind of information that enables them to be full participants of Canadian democracy.\u201d That, he explained, will lead the way into the future.<\/p>\n