Federal government commissions project to track local ‘news deserts’ in Canada
OTTAWA — The federal government is working on a project that would map out areas of Canada that lack local news coverage.
The federal government of Canada is launching a multi-phase, multi-year project to map out areas of the country where local news coverage is lacking. This initiative, undertaken by Canadian Heritage with the help of independent industry experts, aims to measure the extent and spread of "news deserts" and "news poverty" in Canada. The project responds to stakeholder demands for better data, allowing the government to target its policy efforts more effectively.
Experts involved in the project, such as April Lindgren, professor emerita at Toronto Metropolitan University's journalism school, explain that while there may not be many places with no local news coverage at all, many regions struggle due to declining newsroom staffing levels, which prevent consistent coverage of local issues.
Lindgren advocates for a news directory not only to direct government support where it's needed but also to help Canadians identify reliable local news sources in an era of AI misinformation and disinformation.
The project leverages AI tools to compile a first-pass list of local news outlets across Canada's 5,000 municipalities, which is then reviewed by a network of human verifiers, including local librarians. This AI-assisted approach helps identify potentially thousands of URLs, some of which are easily identified as non-local news sources. The refined list of potential news outlets is then passed on to human verifiers to ensure accuracy and completeness.
The first phase of the project, a proof-of-concept that cost $110,000, identified the disproportionate impact of local news outlet closures on smaller, rural, and lower-income communities. This has led to lower civic engagement, increased misinformation, and rising political polarization. The government is currently assessing the second phase, which will map news outlets in all communities in Ontario and Quebec, with the third phase planned to expand the data set nationwide by 2028.
The government is seeking funding partners for the subsequent phases, including Statistics Canada, the CRTC, and CBC/Radio-Canada.
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