The New Canadian Media funding, it will scare you

Starting in April, to receive funding from our government, New Media must be delivered to the public by a television set.

Oh it can still be on a web site, or a CDROM, or included in mixed marketing with a product launch or appear on YouTube, but it must also appear on television.

The fund will favour projects produced in high definition and will require applicants to make their projects available on at least two distribution platforms, one of which must be television.

In typical conservative oxymoron logic the Minister of Heritage, James Moore stated that the merging of Canada New Media Fund with the Canadian Television Fund will support Canadian content in the new era of consumer choice, emerging technology, and is an investment in Canada's future.

The whole purpose of investing in New Media is to develop new means of mass communication, interactive media, new sensory media, new ways to learn, communicate and inform. The whole purpose of our government investing in new media was to develop new made in Canada technologies and new Canadian content.

Of course Moore delivered his announcement from the set of the CTV crime show Flashpoint, which has been picked up by CBS in the US. Flashpoint is about a Toronto SWAT team that every week has some reason to kill or not kill a terrorist, bank robber, kidnapper or the like. A well produced American styled cop show with plenty of fire power that is intended to both entertain and keep us terrified about leaving the house.

Unfortunately the only thing uniquely Canadian about the show, are the street names, shots of the CN Tower and I guess the odd eh (Americans think that is cute). My presumption here is that FlashPoint would be eligible for funding in April since full episodes are available on CTV.ca.

Moore, stated that the government expects to dole out $310 million over the next two years and with the new rules the main recipients will be Globemedia and Canwest, the two national broadcasters that have been big supporters of the conservative party, with timely biassed reporting. As an added bonus for the conservative CBC bashers…

The change will also remove funding for CBC/Radio-Canada, however, the public broadcaster will be allowed to compete for in-house production cash that it was previously excluded from.

For those interested in the old Canadian New Media, you should probably take a gander here, or here, or here, or here and spend sometime here while you still can.


JAWL