Here’s what the Canadian federal budget says about the $30 million it will provide for newspapers and magazines over the next two years:
Community Newspapers and Magazines
Canadians continue to look to local magazines and publications to see reflections of themselves and their communities. Budget 2009 will continue this tradition by providing $30 million over the next two years to support continued access to Canadian magazines and community newspapers.
Specifically, funding will contribute to a revitalized, streamlined program that provides aid to publishers. It will also contribute to diverse Canadian content by supporting business innovation for print and online magazines, in an ever-changing industry. This support will help ensure that Canadians in all parts of the country have affordable and reliable access to Canadian culture.
Very curious to see how those vague words are translated into policy.
Update: My source for this is the Globe & Mail, which did the journalistic thing and put the budget document online for all of us: http://bit.ly/BNZM
Tags: canada, government, newspapers
I just found your site through the backlink at newsless.org.
A question: is there any thinking about using this is support as seed money for innovative approaches that have the possibility of going to scale?
IMHO, it’s a way to invest in the future as opposed to pay for the past. The thought would be that standards for innovation would be set up. Maybe similar to the things the Knight Foundation is doing.
Government funding going, or not so much going concerns does not really make sense to me. But, seed money to incubate the new approaches before they generate their own revenue makes alot of sense.
I look forward to following your blog. You are safely in my RSS reader , in the folder marked “Serious Conversations about journalism: