Community media absent in the 'Canada's Communications Future' report

The long awaited overhaul of Canada's broadcast and telecommunications acts came another step closer to realization last week with the release of the report "Canada's Communications Future: Time to Act."

The report was commissioned in June 2018 by the Trudeau government because the current acts are outdated, especially because of all the changes that have happened because of the internet.

The report has been a year and a half in the making, and recommends sweeping changes to everything from the structure of Canada's broadcast regulators, to fixing Canada's broken news media and how Canadian content will be funded. And of course, what to do about Netflix, which is the part of the report that's getting the most attention.

Today's guests on rabble radio are Barry Rooke of the National Campus and Community Radio Association and Cathy Edwards, executive director of the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users, also known as CACTUS. They say they're disappointed that the non profit community media sector was barely included in the report. Victoria Fenner talked to them yesterday.

Disclosure: Victoria Fenner works with Cathy Edwards at CACTUS.

You can also read Karl Nerenberg's take on the policy review document last week on rabble: "Trudeau Must Not Ignore Bold Report on Media in Internet Age."

Image: CHCO Community TV, Charlotte County, NB. Used with permission