Torstar owner calls for governments and companies to increase ad spending with local media

He said increased revenues are needed to reverse a decades-long decline in domestic media coverage across the country.

Since 2008, Mr. Bitove said 448 Canadian news outlets have shut down, in 323 communities. In the past three years, 52 news platforms closed, and 3,000 jobs were lost. “We’re seeing local news disappear at alarming rates,” he said. “What it means is that we have significant gaps in local information and accountability.”

In his speech, and in presentations to potential advertisers, Mr. Bitove is pitching advertisers what he called an “ethical media supply chain,” with domestic media companies devoting additional revenues to improving local news coverage, through steps such as hiring more journalists.

Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen