Ottawa, Ontario, April 29, 2026 – Today, Senator Andrew Cardozo released a new report on Making News Media Sustainable: options for the long term. The report is written with the help of media policy commentator and researcher Howard Law.
“There is a crisis in the economic sustainability of Canadian news media. The traditional advertising-supported revenue model of news media is no longer functioning sufficiently to sustain a robust, diverse, and reliable news media in Canada. News media’s share of advertising revenues has been steadily declining for two decades. Subscription revenues have failed to expand enough to fill the gap. This is a crisis for the news media in Canada, and therefore a crisis for democracy”, notes Senator Cardozo.
This new report proposes 15 options for public policy responses to this problem, including
- Continue public funding to traditional and online news media for the foreseeable future and ensure that it is distributed through a mechanism that is arms-length from government and insulated from political interference.
- Encourage charitable foundations to support news media and ensure tax laws facilitate this.
- Require governments, federal and provincial, to spend at least 50% of their advertising budgets with Canadian media.
The report is available in both official languages at https://senatorcardozo.ca/en/projects/the-future-of-news-media-in-canada/report-making-news-media-sustainable-options-for-the-long-term/
Quote
“We set out to take stock of national policy on aid to news journalism and to ignite a real dialogue about whether to stay the course or do something different. We are hoping the ideas put forward in our report are conversation starters and that advocates and the critics of current policy will jump in”.
~ Howard Law, author of Canada vs. California (2024) and the MediaPolicy.ca blog
For more information:
Ross Speer
Office of the Honourable Andrew Cardozo
613 996-9545 / 343-598-0527
ross.speer@sen.parl.gc.ca