Community newspapers face 'existential crisis' amid declining revenues, Meta's news ban, some say

Running a community newspaper in today's media landscape hasn't become any easier in the four months since Meta blocked Canadian news links from appearing on social media sites Facebook and Instagram, Susan Legge says.

Legge is the publisher of Beach Metro Community News, a monthly paper that covers local stories in Toronto's east end everything from profiles on business leaders and a new church pastorto local politics to the Santa Claus parade.

She says her newsroom is having a harder time reaching its audience and making sure its stories get read.

It isn't just the newspaper's problem, Legge says, it's the community's problem.

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While most community newspapers across the city have shut down due to declining revenues, Torontos West End Phoenix continues to thrive. CBC Toronto tagged along on one of the teams recent delivery days to find out their key to success.

After all, during the recent Scarborough city byelection, Beach Metro was an outlier when it came to covering the candidates: the newspaper profiled all 24.

If locals can't find and share civic coverage, Legge wonders how people will stay informed at the local level.

"We really need to start thinking about how this is going to affect society," she said.

Layoffs, newspaper closures

Canadian news media have struggled to survive in recent years, and 2023 was no exception.

BCE Inc. cut 1,300 positions about three per cent of its workforce and sold or closed nine radio stations. Metroland Media Group laid off more than 600 people and Nordstar announced plans to stop printing most of its 70 community newspapers across Ontario.

Metroland blamed the media industry's "existential crisis" for the layoffs, specifically the changing preferences of consumers and advertisers, while BCE said the cuts were the result of unfavourable public policy and regulatory conditions that it can no longer wait out.

The federal government's controversial Online News Act, Bill C-18, was passed in June, which would have seen Canadian media outlets receive some money from big tech giants who use or share their work.

Rather than do that, Meta began banning Canadian content from its platforms in August. In November, weeks before the Dec. 19 date on which the Online News Act rules came into force, Google agreed to pay into a media fund.

"We're handcuffed for sure," said Dave Bidini, publisher of the West End Phoenix.

Instagram was almost an extension of the physical paper, he said, garnering a "robust" following that it's difficult to stay engaged with now that news has been blocked in Canada.

The future of local news

However, further west, at the South Etobicoke News, publisher Tom Godfrey says it's business as usual.

The paper's audience skews older and loves to "have something in their hands," he said, so social media isn't much of a loss for the newspaper, which publishes 15,000 copies monthly and emails out 15,000 more digital copies.

The newspaper's hyper-local focus is also a boon, Godfrey said.

"I think there's always going to be a niche for this kind of news," he said. "I think what you find here is a very targeted audience, and very engaged."

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There aren't many independent neighbourhood newspapers left in Toronto, but one has found a way to survive 50 years. Beach Metro Community News publishes more than 25,000 papers twice a month, which are delivered to homes and businesses by volunteers. Talia Ricci spoke with those involved with the non-profit paper about this milestone.

Beach Metro still puts out a physical paper twice a month, but Legge says Facebook and Instagram helped engage readers in real time, making it easier for stories to be shared beyond existing subscribers.

"The loss is deeply felt," she said, as the web traffic that comes from access to certain social media sites is far more valuable than a cut of ad revenue from the same tech giants limiting access.

"How can you work in journalism, and expect any kind of success when you're being hindered by things that you would normally be able to use to get your stories out?"