Media Beat: The Battle To Keep Community Radio On The Air (Opinion Column)

Unless you live in a city and have the funds and or inclination to pay for news content, finding out what is going on locally and provincially is becoming an increasingly arduous task. In the hinterlands, the paucity of community news has reached a critical juncture that is hitting hard at every level – from community fundraising drives to medical alerts.

The most damaging blow to small-town news was when Meta (Facebook and Instagram) blocked news in the country as an act of defiance to the Online News Act. The decision meant that Canadian news sources were expunged from the popular social media sites, including the 200+ community radio stations that used Facebook pages to expand their reach and talk about the news of the day in small-town Canada. Put bluntly, it was a devastating blow that has negatively impacted every local initiative in these communities.

Community radio broadcasting is walking a financial tightrope these days, and yet more and more remote and rural communities find themselves increasingly reliant on them for local news and the sole source of news and information during disasters.

When Hurricane Fiona hit the Maritimes in Sept. of 2022, the devastation earned it the distinction of being the costliest hurricane to hit the islands and coastal provinces ever. For communities in and around Glace Bay, Nova Scotia and parts of Cape Breton, CKOA-FM The Coast was the sole source of information when the storm knocked out several CBC transmitters. In a word, it was a lifeline to the outside world and the provider of news and information about how and when essential services would likely be resumed. Living in a remote area without hydro, a water pump and internet services, a battery-operated radio is about the only link many Canadians have to keep them informed.

The Canadian broadcasting system is in a giant mess, in large part brought on by the internal disarray the CRTC finds itself in with a mandate that has been expanded and a process for implementing change that is slower than slow. Former journalist and CRTC vice-chair Peter Menzies wrote a well-researched and informative feature for the Globe and Mail earlier this month that said it all in the headline: Broadcasting reform in Canada is going as expected – which is to say, badly.

With major American tech companies digging in their heels and resisting a mandate to pay into funds for Canadian content, be it news, movies or music, the legal battles ahead offer no quick fixes. Recently, Netflix has joined the aggrieved parties fighting the CRTC’s rulings.

For the 130+ community radio stations with a staff of 300 and 6,000 volunteers, the fight to stay relevant in a shrinking world of reach, the battles that go on with the online titans versus the CRTC, and the drive to serve local audiences have become almost mind-numbing, especially with little financial aid available in Canada to keep these warriors on the air.

It all sounds a bit glum because it is, and it’s time the CRTC and the federal government realized that the heart and soul of Canadian broadcasting is what these little guys are all about and they need a voice.