AI, local news, and the struggle for Canadian journalism

Tashi Farmilo

At the International Institute of Communications

(IIC) Canada 2025 Annual Conference in Ottawa, held October 20 and 21, journalists, broadcasters, academics, and policy leaders gathered to examine the pressures facing Canadian media. The central focus was how artificial intelligence is reshaping journalism at a time when local news is already in sharp decline.

Over two days of discussion, speakers explored the legal, technical, and editorial impacts of AI. Some sessions addressed copyright concerns and platform policy, while others looked at infrastructure and tools already in use. A consistent message emerged: AI may be helpful in some areas, but it also introduces new risks and could accelerate the weakening of public trust in news.

AI is already assisting with routine tasks. Newsrooms are using it to summarise transcripts, extract quotes, and organise public records. Projects like Civic Searchlight, used by the National Observer, help identify stories from municipal meetings that would otherwise go unreported. Several presenters noted that AI can help smaller outlets produce more with fewer resources.

Despite these advantages, serious concerns were raised. AI-generated content often sounds convincing even when it is factually incorrect. Without human oversight, the accuracy of reporting is difficult to guarantee. There is also concern that high-quality journalism may become accessible only to those willing to pay for it, while most Canadians are left with automated content that lacks editorial standards or accountability.

One panel, titled Canadian News: Issues and Solutions, brought these concerns into sharper focus. Moderated by Greg O’Brien of CHCH-TV, the session featured Sara-Christine Gemson of the Public Policy Forum, Kevin Desjardins of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, and digital strategist Sue Gardner.

Gemson described how the decline of local journalism is already affecting democracy. Since 2008, more than 450 local outlets have closed across Canada. Three out of five communities have seen a net loss in local news coverage. In Newfoundland and Labrador alone, 23 outlets have shut down, many of them small newspapers. She cited one federal riding where, during the last election, a rumour about the closure of a major federal agency spread unchecked. With no reporters left to confirm or challenge the claim, voters had little information about their local candidates. That race was decided by just 12 votes.

Desjardins pushed back on the idea that traditional media has outlived its usefulness. "If you want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, that’s a 683 million dollar baby," he said, referring to the annual investment made by private broadcasters in news production. He noted that this figure is more than double the CBC's spending and exceeds the combined total for all print and digital news outlets in the country. "The funding model is distressed, not broken," he added. "Our members remain the single largest group keeping journalists in newsrooms."

Gardner focused on the risks of a media system increasingly shaped by government policy rather than audience needs. She warned that current funding approaches may be encouraging media organisations to prioritise federal support instead of responding to the public. "We are incentivising people to pay attention to Ottawa, not to Canadians," she said. "And that is a dangerous place for democracy to be."

She also pointed to the fallout from the federal government's dispute with tech giants over news compensation laws. In response, Meta removed Canadian news from Facebook and Instagram. Google reduced the visibility of Canadian news in its search results. "They said it, then they did it, and they stayed doing it," Gardner said. "We have been pushed out of the global conversation on how journalism and platforms will coexist."

The conference made clear that AI is no longer an abstract idea. It is already changing how news is created, shared, and consumed. Whether this change strengthens journalism or contributes to its decline will depend on the decisions made by governments, tech companies, and media leaders in the months ahead. For now, the trust that journalism relies on still comes from human reporters, editors, and institutions rooted in communities, not from algorithms.