Eby blasts Bell Media after ‘catastrophic’ mass layoff announcement

In an unprompted tirade as part of an unrelated news conference, David Eby shared his feelings over Bell Media's layoffs in its news departments Wednesday, calling out large media corporations for the "crapification" of local community news.

By Charlie Carey and The Canadian Press

Posted February 8, 2024 11:58 am.

Last Updated February 8, 2024 12:43 pm.

B.C. Premier David Eby gave an earful to Bell Media Thursday morning, after the company announced it was selling off 45 radio stations and laying off thousands of employees across the country.

In an internal memo to Bell Media employees on Thursday, the company said news stations, such as CTV and BNN Bloomberg, would be affected immediately.

The radio stations being sold are in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada, the memo said.

Eby slammed the company, and said Bell and other corporations “like Bell” have overseen the assembly of “so-called media assets that are treasures to local communities.”

“They bought them up like corporate vampires. They suck life out of them by laying off journalists. They have overseen the increased suffocation of local news by laying off journalists,” the premier said.

Eby continued and called out large media corporations for the “crapification” of local community news.

“And now, they say it’s no longer economically viable to run these local radio stations. It’s no longer economically viable to have investigative news. And they were allowed to do this.”

Part of Bell’s reasoning given on Thursday included that its advertising revenues declined by $140 million in 2023 compared with the year before, and that the company’s news division is seeing more than $40 million in annual operating losses.

Eby said the impact on local communities in B.C. is “profound,” noting “unrestrained corporate greed” net the company almost $3 billion in 2023.

“The fact that they cannot find it possible with all of their MBAs to operate a few local news stations in British Columbia, to ensure that people get accurate, impartial, reliable information in an age of disinformation and social media is craziness,” he said.

“On behalf of all of the families of the journalists, the media outlets, on behalf of all British Columbians … I just want to say, shame on you. Shame on you. And I call on the federal government to stop this assembly of media properties, that are not actually properties — to the local communities they serve, they are an indispensable source of information.”

The job cuts at Bell mark the second major round of layoffs at the media and telecommunications giant since last spring, when six per cent of Bell Media jobs were eliminated and nine radio stations were either shuttered or sold.

Bell chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson blamed the federal government for taking too long to provide relief to media companies, as well as the CRTC for being too slow to react to a “crisis that is immediate.”

That extends to two pieces of legislation intended to help Canada’s struggling media sector: Bill C-18, also known as the Online News Act, meant to force tech giants to compensate Canadian news outlets for their content, and Bill C-11, which updates the Broadcasting Act to require digital platforms, such as Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok, to contribute and promote Canadian content.

Bell broke its promise: MP

Meanwhile, Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge is accusing Bell Media of breaking its promise to invest in local news after the company was granted more than $40 million in annual regulatory relief.

St-Onge says the government has worked to help the news industry, and at some point companies have to chip in, too.

The Liberal government’s new Online Streaming Act came into effect last April and abolished certain licensing fees, which St-Onge says will save the company some $40 million a year.

List of divested Bell Media radio stations in B.C. (new owner), per the internal memo: