Vue Weekly just cross to the spirit world to join Alberta Venture, Edmonton 24, and many other publications in Edmonton. These beautiful publications showcased the best of Edmonton’s arts, creativity, business, events, festivals, sports, its beautiful people, and created jobs for talented and creative Edmontonians. But today, they are in the  annals of Edmonton media, in part due to the dwindling of media advertising revenues, and the emergence of the new media giants of Facebook, Google, and maybe Twitter.

As a community, who relies on the media from news, education, jobs, arts, culture, and almost everything, making it a public service, are we going to sit and watch our media disappear with our treasures creating an uncertain future for our young people, or are we going to stop the new media giants from finishing the dinner of our media and moving to their lunch and breakfast?

Feds to the rescue of the media industry

This week, the federal government unveiled a $595-million package over five years to help Canada’s media sector. This will be a good step forward if it is well focused on supporting the media to innovate, either competing or partnering with the new media giants, or find an entirely new path. If the grant goes further to fund projects that show innovation and a departure from the old ways of doing things, and show ways to monetize content, that will be very effective.

It is very important to share that the media giants had financial support but from a different source, private sector. Facebook took years to build their platform and attract an audience before they figure out how to monetize it, and today still perfecting their craft to monetize it, while Twitter only turn a profit recently. These giants took time to innovate and monetize their innovations, so too will be needed for Canadian media to catch up or compete, in other words, stop the media giants who already finished eating their dinner, and now moving to eat their lunch.

A Goliath that innovates faster than a David

I am sure if Vue Weekly or Alberta Venture had the opportunity to present a new way of running a publication, with access to funds, they will take it and will be in existence today, saving our city’s treasure. Competing against a Goliath that innovates faster than a David needs some extra support and a complete overall of the media industry, from the journalism schools, to the classification of who is a journalist, and who is a media. Traditionally, journalists or content creators are not entrepreneurs. They sell their content to publishers as employees or contractors and publishers in turn get the content to the public. The new media giants learned that different audiences want different content, and audiences care first about the content, before the content producer, and figure out how to get different content to different audiences at little or no cost. They figured out how to make content personal, local, and global in one platform. The giants have mastered the art of getting content at little or no cost and attract a global audience, and now building tools to monetize their platforms with third party involvement and expertise.

Journalists camping in the pocket of the liberals

This is not the first time that the federal government in Canada is supporting an industry. A Fraser Institute Report in 2014, shared that Government subsidies in Canada is at a staggering $684 Billion. The beneficiaries include  utilities, auto, aircraft manufacturing, and many more.

I watched this very passionate video gaining popularity online by Michelle Rempel, Conservative MP for Calgary Nose Hill. Michelle said in the video that any journalist who receive the grants is in the pocket of  the Liberal Government. I did not hear any idea on how to prevent the dying out of publications. I am expecting a reply from Brittany Lorenz, Regional Advisor & Caucus Liaison for the Prairies, Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition, “In a world where the City of Edmonton, Provincial and Federal Governments spend more money on the social media giants than on local media, are you guys going to let media and culture and talents die or are you going to help safe them? How are you going to help?”