Ontario Supporting Multicultural News Journalism

April 19, 2018

New Fund Will Increase Multicultural Coverage of Local, Regional and National News

Ontario’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport is strengthening professional multicultural news journalism with a new fund. It is aimed at increasing the breadth, depth and reach of multicultural news coverage across the province.

The Multicultural Journalism Fund will help to increase coverage of local, regional and national issues from diverse perspectives. It will assist independent journalists as well as news organizations that produce journalism to serve multicultural communities, build audiences for multicultural news journalism and attract advertising revenue.

The fund will also support digital innovation in multicultural news journalism to reach new audiences, including the development of digital platforms.

This fund is part of the Ontario Culture Strategy’s commitment to connect people and communities by sharing and celebrating the province’s diverse heritage.

Ontario’s plan to support, create opportunity and make life more affordable during this period of rapid economic change includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 years old, and 65 or over, through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.

The Multicultural Journalism Fund is a three-year pilot project that will provide $2 million annually to increase coverage of local, regional and national issues from diverse perspectives.

According to the 2016 census, immigrants account for 29.1 per cent of Ontario’s population, representing more than half of Canada’s total racialized population.

The Multicultural Journalism Fund is a three-year pilot project. It will
provide $2 million annually to increase coverage of local, regional
and national issues from diverse perspectives.