As many of you know, Facebook and other online giants are, in response to the federal government’s Online News Act (Bill C-18), blocking access to news content by Canadian users via their platforms. The feds want the online giants to compensate Canadian news organizations for linking to said organizations’ content on their platforms, while the giants are saying no way. And not only are Facebook et al blocking Canadians’ access to news content on those platforms, they are also blocking Canadians’ access to most media outlets’ Facebook pages, Twitter/X accounts etc., regardless of whether the outlet publishes news content. For example, I recently attempted to access the Facebook page of community radio station CHCR-FM, in the small village of Killaloe (birthplace of the Beavertail), about an hour’s drive from my home base of Renfrew, and although CHCR (Canadian Homegrown Community Radio) does not actively publish news content like, say, Renfrew’s 96.1 myFM or the Renfrew Mercury, Facebook has cut them off from doing anything on that platform, and Canadians from accessing any of CHCR’s Facebook content, short of using a VPN set to a different country to circumvent the blocks.
For those residents of the Ottawa Valley and the Pontiac who previously relied in part on Facebook to stay informed on what’s happening in their communities, I am providing a master list of links to the websites of fourteen area media outlets, most of which publish news content on their sites. Be sure to bookmark/favourite these sites in your web browser, and visit these sites regularly. This list is current as of September 12th, 2023.
RADIO
Pure Country 96.7 Pembroke
104.9 myFM Pembroke
96.1 myFM Renfrew
Valley Heritage Radio 98.7 Renfrew
Oldies 107.7 Arnprior
CHCR 102.9 Killaloe/104.5 Wilno
106.5 Moose FM Barry’s Bay
CHIP 101.9 Fort-Coulonge QC
PRINT
Eganville Leader
Renfrew Mercury and Arnprior Chronicle-Guide
Pembroke Observer
Petawawa Post
The Equity (Shawville QC)
TELEVISION
YourTV Ottawa Valley (Cogeco cable channel 700)
Here’s hoping that the two sides soon come to some sort of happy medium (pun intended) in this matter, because frankly, it’s annoying seeing yet another thing “not available in Canada”.