The Trudeau government will be extending a program which funds local reporting jobs across Canada by spending an additional $58.8 million on top of the $50 million it has already spent since the program began five years ago.
Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge announced the additional spending on Tuesday, which will provide funding for 400 local jobs in various communities until 2027, under the Local Journalism Initiative.
The program was first launched in 2019 to help news organizations employ local reporters in areas that Ottawa feels are underrepresented like LGBTQ+ and Indigenous communities.
Not-for-profit organizations are responsible for administering the funding and aim to secure the independence of the press.
News Media Canada has a contract with the Canadian Press for editorial and technical support and is among the seven non-profits that administer the program.
However, the Canadian Press is not funded directly through the Local Journalism Initiative, nor can it receive its grant money to hire journalists, according to CBC News.
The Canadian Press does have a representative who participates in the panel of reviewers who oversee applications for the program’s grants, administered by News Media Canada.
The program had been set to expire at the end of the month.
