As you may have read here, the sale of The Herald fell through after financing for the deal collapsed.

As we continue our commitment to the communities we serve, we’re making an important improvement; we’re going online.

Now we have been online through social media since 2016, however the media landscape is changing quickly and we’re not sure how much longer you will be able to find your hometown news on your Facebook feed.

The fight is over the Online News Act. Bill C-18 was- according to the federal government – going to address the market imbalance between Meta – Facebook and Instagram – and Google and the news organizations who use the sites to promote their product. Big Tech make billions using news content without paying for it. The Online News Act would force them to negotiate payment deals with Canadian news outlets. The Parliamentary Budget officer believes news media outlets could see north of $300 million in revenue.

Meta and Google don’t like the idea, arguing news organizations reap benefit from their free services, which is true.

Of course, there is more to it than that; Big Tech is also scooping up the lion’s share of advertising in Canada. In the communities I serve, it’s common for local businesses to respond to advertising pitches with “No thanks, I use Facebook. It’s free.” You can explain algorithms and question whether all those eyes on their single post every week are from their community or Outer Mongolia, but it’s pretty hard to beat free. It’s also pretty hard to staff a newsroom free.

And so, big companies cut staff, usually in the newsroom, as revenues fall. While you hear about Bell Media chopping 1,300 jobs or Postmedia and Nordstar Capital talking about merging, you likely never hear about the financial struggles of The Sarnia Journal, The Valley Gazette in Barrys Bay, Nunavut News/North, Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette. But they are struggling to deal with the massive reach of Big Tech.

According to statistics compiled by the Ontario Community Newspaper Association, in 2006 – the same time Facebook went public – there were 302 community newspapers who were part of the association. It’s down to 209 now – a handful because they’ve moved online only, but the majority simply have closed.

With the financial viability of journalism in turmoil, you would think we would be excited to tap into some of that cash from Meta and Google. But we have always been skeptical small independent newspapers would benefit from this. And after seeing the regulations for C-18 released Monday, I was right not to bank on it. There are enough loopholes to drive a truck through.

Meantime, Meta and Google are flexing their muscles, threatening to remove any news links from their platforms; that’s a big hit for the little papers serving small communities. For us, it would mean the end of an online presence. So, we’ve purchased the domain name theheraldnews.ca and will be going live soon.We hope you’ll follow along when the time comes.

Even with an online presence, The Herald, like other papers, cannot make a living off of digital revenue alone. We simply don’t have enough eyes on the page in a small town.

Independent community newspaper owners have a strong commitment to the people they serve. Many publishers I know work well past retirement age because they know the importance of local independent journalism.

Without a viable source of income, who will take over these mom and pop shops?

Who will tell the stories of those communities?

Who will hold local government accountable?

Who will help build communities in the way a good community newspaper can?

Maybe I should say this is a lose-lose-lose situation.