PC MLAs criticize local media committee report over lack of involvement

A report from Manitoba government’s all-party committee recommending tax credits and mandated government advertising for local media has garnered criticism from opposition committee members over their lack of involvement.

The committee of six MLAs, two from the Progressive Conservatives and four from the NDP, released its final report on Dec. 19. It outlined three recommendations, including exploring a provincial tax credit for local media outlets, mandating a minimum 25 percent of the government’s advertising budget go to local journalism, and creating a reporting mechanism for government ad spending.

Committee member PC MLA Konrad Narth said he only found out about the written report one day before it was made public and both him and fellow PC committee member Greg Nesbitt didn’t have any say on creating the recommendations. Narth has since requested his and Nesbitt’s names be removed from the report.

“I drove around all those communities, sat in these consultation meetings, listened, took notes and then watched what the NDP had drafted and presented as a report that had our involvement, has our names in it, but we had nothing to do with it,” he said.

He said there was equal participation from all parties during the consultation period but he wasn’t included in meetings or discussions when creating the report, calling it “bizarre.”

Narth calls the recommendations “soft and weak” because the government hasn’t said how much its ad spending is despite the committee recommending a dedicated portion for local media.

The Carillon asked the province what its advertising budget was for the 2025-2026 budget and how much is dedicated for local media outlets, but didn’t get a response by deadline.

NDP MLA for St. Boniface and committee chair Robert Loiselle said the committee’s consensus was government needs to do a better job at supporting local journalism in the province, after holding public meetings and hearing from publishers.

“Social media, even though it’s out there and prevalent, it’s really local media that supports what goes on in our local communities,” he said, adding a made-in-Manitoba solution is needed.

The committee held six meetings in Gimli, Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson and Winkler between June and October 2025.

Loiselle said he appreciates the PC MLAs attending the community consultations. The report was shared with the PC members before it was made public so they could have input, he said, but didn’t offer any feedback.

“They were given the report beforehand. They could’ve communicated with me and they chose not to,” Loiselle said.

He said the 2025 wildfires showed why strong local journalism is important, when information needed to be shared for evacuations.

“People looked towards their local media for real-time life-saving information, and they got it,” he said.

Mark Buss, president of the Manitoba Community Newspaper Association and editor of The Clipper, sees the recommendations made as a positive step for local journalism support. He said mandating a portion of the government’s future advertising for local journalism outlets can help bolster the finances for media. Local outlets weren’t seeking a handout from the government or dedicated funding when the committee was created and during public hearings, Buss said.

“This is a portion of their budget, which is already on the books. So it’s not like they have to go out and find new money to, in effect, give journalism outlets money,” he said, noting it’s a win-win situation for everybody.

But the 25 percent proposed is a “ghost number” because the advertising spending budget isn’t publicly known and its difficult to know what the funding impact will be, Buss said. If the government is already at the recommended threshold for local journalism for advertising spending, then there won’t be any new funding available, he said.

Buss said multiple newspapers have gone out of business because of lost revenue going to social media, with the remaining outlets still in a “difficult spot.”

“There’s less newspapers. There’s less staff at newspapers, there’s less reporters. That means there’s less people working in the office. It’s just sort of that trickle down effect,” Buss said.

From 2008 to Oct. 1, 2025, 603 news outlets closed in 388 communities across Canada, according to News Media Canada, a national media advocacy group. Of the closures, 440 were community newspapers that published less than five times a week.

Local news holds a necessary role in rural communities due to the lack of alternative forms of reliable information available, Buss said.

“If local news and news outlets are not going to the school division meetings or to the municipal council meetings or going to these events, covering, a bake sale, or the smaller community things, no one is going to, he said.