The River Valley Sun operates in an area considered a ‘news desert.’ Journalism in our region consists of us, one Post Media reporter who provides news to a provincial paper, and national news outlets in Fredericton (CBC, CTV, and Global) who only send reporters here when there is ‘big news’ to cover. While we have a private radio station, it does not employ radio news reporters.
The price tag to publish a newspaper is staggering, which is why large corporations have gotten out of the local media landscape in rural Canada. No corporation would invest in a region with little financial return. And yet, providing reliable and trustworthy news to Canadians is more important than ever. The rise of ‘fake news’ and misinformation across social media platforms has skyrocketed.
Earlier this month, YouTube removed two far-right Canadian influencers, Lauren Chen and Lauren Southern, from their platform after it was discovered they were involved with a Russian propaganda scheme. The two were with Tenet Media, founded by Chen and her husband, Liam Donovan. The U.S. Justice Department accuses the media company of setting up the conservative outlet as a front for pro-Kremlin propaganda.
A CBC report looking at the U.S. indictment against Tenet Media described the company’s content as a constant stream of anti-immigration, anti-LGBTQIA+ rights, and anti-feminism. Chen was a popular guest on Fox News and the Daily Wire.
The investigation found that Chen was working for Russia’s state-run news agency and was directed to produce content that blamed the U.S. and Ukraine for the March 2024 terror attack on Moscow that was claimed by ISIS.
Southern shared Canadian-focused content on Tenet, with posts like “Canada Is Becoming A COMMUNIST HELLHOLE,” which tried to compare Canada to communist Russia, and “Mean Tweets = Life in PRISON in Canada,” which was about the proposed Online Harms bill, which is supposed to create more robust protection for children online and protect people from online hate. Southern has also shared posts about the ‘great replacement’ conspiracy theory that believes radicalized immigrants are replacing the white majority.
This case is our canary in a coal mine, reinforcing the need for credible, trustworthy journalism produced by trained journalists in media organizations with ethical journalistic policies and guidelines.
A News Media Canada report published in Dec. 2023 noted that 82 per cent of Canadians feel that reliable journalism is an essential part of a democratic society. That number increases to 87 per cent for online readers.
The Trudeau government has tried to support local journalism (albeit too little, too late). The Department of Heritage provides funding to the independent organization News Media Canada, which then distributes grants to small publications like ours across the country.
Our senior reporter, Jim Dumville, is employed by us, but his salary comes from the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) Fund. The program is earmarked explicitly for regions with news deserts — like ours. News Media Canada decides who gets funding related to regional needs, and we must re-apply to that organization each year.
Without that funding, the River Valley Sun would not be the robust paper you’ve come to expect. With last year’s printing bill for 12 issues pushing well over $30,000, this paper would have been thin and bereft of much news content without our LJI grant. That fund freed up the income to hire our court reporter, pay freelancers, hire summer students, employ delivery drivers, and contract out some of our graphic design work.
To keep things going, I work a dozen jobs. I am in charge of ad sales, ad design, invoicing, newspaper layout, some writing, payroll, GST and government remittances; I answer phones, do most of the banking and mailing, help deliver the paper, coordinate staff, and post stories to the web. My friends and family think I am crazy for doing this, but I know how vital the paper is to our community. Western New Brunswick has had a newspaper since 1848, and, God willing, that history won’t end on my watch.
We have applied to become a Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization, which would give us access to the Canadian Google Media Fund. That fund is expected to start distributing money next spring. It was created to help journalism organizations make up for the massive advertising losses in the industry since the onset of online platforms like Facebook. Social media has made it cheap and easy for everyone to advertise, and while that’s great for the consumer, it’s been the death knell for local news.
If we qualify, the funding COULD give us up to $34,000 a year, which MIGHT mean that when I retire in a few years, someone MAY want to buy us. Right now, that’s our main focus – to ensure the paper continues to serve our region beyond my retirement. With the current economy, we can’t continue to cover local news without government help, and we need the public to voice their support of journalism organizations like ours, both federally and provincially, so we can continue to serve you.
Readers could help by encouraging the province to support local news. While our MLAs give us the odd ad here and there, the government has provided little in advertising revenue. Since taking office, provincial departments within the Higgs government have purchased just 10 ads from us in four years and only one since the Bugle-Observer ceased printing in Feb. 2024. Where is the provincial support for papers like ours? Once-a-month ads would go a long way in helping us and others like us serve our communities.
While we sell monthly ads to our local MP, we receive no federal advertising. When the government announced it stopped buying Facebook ads, we and other newspapers hoped the feds might start advertising locally, but nothing materialized.
As Trudeau’s popularity continues to plummet and Pierre Poilievre’s poll numbers continue to rise, journalists across Canada fighting to keep rural newspapers going are worried. It’s no secret that Pierre Poilievre dislikes journalists. He often rallies against us, telling the public that journalists are in the ‘pocket’ of Trudeau, which, for the record, is fake news. The River Valley Sun has no time to be in anyone’s pocket. We work long hours covering municipal council meetings, local events, and other ultra-local issues important to our readers.
Journalism remains a pillar of democracy. We help citizens make informed choices by providing trustworthy information. We provide the public with accurate, timely stories about local issues, ensuring the news is relevant to our readers. We tell you what’s going on in your own backyard.
If you value what we do, please remind our political leaders why you want to see ultra-local community journalism supported throughout rural Canada. Explain what your local paper gives your community, and remind them of what gets lost when local news organizations shutter.
More than 450 Canadian news outlets have closed since 2008. Journalists and publishers know what’s at stake, and our readers know the risks when people don’t support their local paper. I just hope our politicians understand the dangers, too.
