Journalism professor Randy Boswell has proposed the establishment of a “Community News Innovation Fund” in a submission to the House of Commons committee inquiring into the future of local news in Canada.
The proposal, submitted as part of the Commons heritage committee’s ongoing examination of “Media and Local Communities,” highlights the potential benefits to many Canadian towns and cities of “microgrant” funding for small-scale, digital journalism enterprises trying to carve out sustainable niches in today’s highly volatile news market.
The committee’s inquiry was triggered by the recent shutdown of some Canadian newspapers, the layoffs and merged newsrooms at the Postmedia-Sun news organizations and the threatened demise of several local television newscasts.
In his submission to the federal committee, chaired by Liberal MP Hedy Fry, Boswell noted that both veteran journalists displaced by current industry turmoil and aspiring journalists seeking to launch their careers could benefit from modest amounts of federal funding to purchase equipment, design websites, create social media strategies or otherwise support journalism startups and existing community-news enterprises.
Wednesday, April 6, 2016 in Journalism News, News
Share: Twitter, Facebook
