Yes, that is what they said but not what they did.
The news release put out Wednesday by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez begins well: "The Government of Canada understands that for a democracy to function properly, it needs to have solid, independent news media."
If only he had stopped there. But instead, the release goes on for another 700 words to outline a plan whose principal effect will be to undermine the independence of the news media.
The purpose of the release was to
announce the plan for the "independent panel of experts" who will be tasked with helping figure out the toughest part of the government's $600 million bailout of the print news business: namely, who should be eligible for the money?
Making a list of State Approved Media Outlets For Purposes of Getting Public Money was always going to be a Pravda-y sort of business.
Instead, Rodriguez has handed deciding the membership of the panel over to eight associations, a group that includes News Media Canada (a newspaper industry lobby group), a handful of press councils and professional organizations, and two media unions including Unifor, an organisation whose leadership has
actively campaignedessentially on behalf of the Liberals.