Manitoba’s Special Legislative Committee on Local Journalism is in the middle of a historic public hearing process that may reshape how local news is supported across the province.

Formed in response to the growing crisis in journalism, including shrinking newsrooms, media closures, and rising “news deserts” in both rural and urban areas, the committee is tasked with reviewing the state of local media and making recommendations to ensure its survival and renewal.

Among the organizations presenting this week was U Multicultural, Manitoba’s only ethnocultural community TV and radio broadcaster licensed by the CRTC. Founder and Executive Director Taya Rtichsheva delivered a message, calling on the province to direct more of its advertising budget toward small, local, and community-run outlets that reflect Manitoba’s full diversity.

“We’ve heard the message from the provincial government to ‘Buy Local,’ but when the government spends millions on advertising campaigns, they don’t include stations like ours,” said Rtichsheva. “We serve Indigenous and newcomer audiences in multiple languages. Yet we were left out of major campaigns intended to reach the very communities we work with daily.”

Why These Hearings Matter

The hearings were launched earlier this year following growing concern about the state of local journalism in Manitoba. The decline of print media, loss of regional newsrooms, and the dominance of large corporate broadcasters have led to a lack of relevant local news in many parts of the province, particularly in smaller towns and marginalized communities.

The committee’s goal is to hear directly from people working in journalism, education, policy, and media production to better understand what’s missing, what’s working, and what can be done. So far, testimonies have come from newspaper editors, journalism professors, rural reporters, and community broadcasters, all pointing to a need for bold, structural change.

One widely supported idea is the earmarking of 25% of Manitoba’s total advertising budget for local media, a concept modeled after federal recommendations and Quebec’s own provincial strategy. Advocates argue that even a small shift in ad spending could stabilize dozens of community media organizations and help rebuild trust with audiences.

U Multicultural’s Call to Action

During her presentation, Rtichsheva offered a clear and urgent message: community broadcasters are doing essential work, but they’re doing it without sustainable funding, infrastructure, or consistent inclusion in government outreach.

U Multicultural is a non-profit, licensed broadcaster based in Winnipeg, that serves more than 30 ethnocultural and Indigenous communities, producing content in five Indigenous languages, Inuktitut, Ojibwe, Cree, Dakota, and Oji-Cree, as well as multiple immigrant languages. It’s also a training ground: since 2019, the organization has helped over 300 individuals, including newcomers and Indigenous youth, develop media and journalism skills.

“We are a gateway,” Rtichsheva explained. “Many of the people who come to us were journalists, editors, or producers in their home countries. They’re here now, in Manitoba, ready to contribute, but there’s no system in place to support their transition into the local media landscape.”

Key Proposals

In addition to asking for a share of government advertising, U Multicultural proposed three long-term strategies:

1. A Manitoba Community/Local News Media Fund
   Inspired by Quebec and Australia, this fund would offer operational support to nonprofit community broadcasters across the province. It would allow stations to cover basic costs, invest in training, and produce consistent local content.
2. Workforce Development for Journalism and Media
   While Manitoba supports workforce training in the film industry, there is currently no equivalent funding for community journalism, audio production, or multilingual broadcasting. U Multicultural is advocating for a dedicated training fund for journalists and media workers, particularly for underrepresented communities.
3. Support for Indigenous-Led Media Production
   U Multicultural is working to establish the Reclamation Studio, a new television and FM radio production space that would be fully operated and managed by Indigenous professionals. The initiative is designed to give Indigenous communities control over their narratives and provide opportunities for cultural preservation through media. A proposed site has been identified in Winnipeg’s historic Hudson’s Bay building. Despite meetings with government officials, the project has yet to receive a formal response or support.
   

A Larger Conversation

U Multicultural is not alone in its call for change. Presenters at the hearings described the damage caused by shrinking ad revenue, limited access to government messaging, and lack of local presence by national broadcasters. Some rural papers have not received provincial ads in years. Others warned that without targeted government intervention, dozens of community newsrooms could disappear in the next five years.

Rtichsheva urged the committee to recognize that community media is not an add-on or niche; it is foundational to a functioning democracy.

“Local journalism isn’t just news. It’s how people see themselves reflected in society. It’s how they connect, speak, and are heard,” she said. “And unless we invest in these platforms, we will keep silencing entire communities.”

What’s Next

The committee will continue hearing from presenters throughout the summer and is expected to deliver a report with formal recommendations to the Legislature by the end of the year.

For U Multicultural, the hearings represent a critical opportunity to be seen, not just as a broadcaster, but as a builder of democratic infrastructure.

“We hope to hear from other community media outlets as the hearings go on,” Rtichsheva said. “The future of journalism in this province depends on all of us being at the table.”

The post OP-ED: U Multicultural urges Manitoba to rethink government ad spending appeared first on Broadcast Dialogue.

Founded by Lisa Meeches in 2000, Eagle Vision’s body of work includes Oscar-winning feature film Capote, factual series Ice Road Truckers (History/AETV International), and drama series Burden of Truth and Skymed, among over 260 hours of content. Their latest feature, Deaner ’89, was nominated for seven Canadian Screen Awards.

Featured on a panel at the Banff World Media Festival entitled “Working with Eagle Vision: 25 Groundbreaking Years, Just Getting Started,” the team revealed the company’s plans for the future.

Good Faith, to be run by longtime Eagle Vision partner and executive producer Kyle Irving, along with business affairs executive and producer Hannah Johnson, will help support creatives with contracting, legal and business affairs needs, responding to a need in the marketplace.

“We decided to launch a new business affairs company that leans into our industry-leading business affairs experience, we plan to offer a variety of services depending on the needs of the producer/project. We can bring a level of experience that provides broadcasters, funders and banks with a level of comfort they require,” said Irving. “Beyond Executive Producer services, we can tailor an à la carte business affairs package that can include (or not) funding application oversight and maintenance, broadcast licence agreement negotiations, creating financing plans and tax credit modelling, advising on labour relations and the negotiation of labour variances, advising on banking agreements and cash flows, among other things including, generally taking care of the shit many creative producers don’t want to do, or know how to do in reliable, effective ways.”

Live From Winnipeg is a new content company that promises to feature a diverse slate of comedy, drama, unscripted and narrative programming. It will be helmed by veteran producer, writer and director Rebecca Gibson. Along with Head of Development Maxine Bruce, upcoming projects include adapting Maureen Jennings’ (Murdoch Mysteries, Bomb Girls) Paradise Café Mysteries book series. They’re also in early-stage development on a contemporary procedural television series based on the books and seeking broadcast partners, in addition to developing factual series Museum Mysteries.

“For the past twenty-five years, Eagle Vision has built not only a strong catalogue of content, we’ve built relationships, and an in-house talent pool with a lot of creative energy. This new slate of companies encompasses a wide yet focused range of goals based on who we are today and where we are going. We’re going to leverage what we’ve built as a group of companies and the relationships and reputation we have established to ensure an exciting future,” said Meeches. “Storytelling is medicine, first and foremost we are storytellers, now and into the future with Eagle Vision, we want to create space for people to grow and thrive so that is what Kyle, Rebecca and Hannah are continuing to do with Good Faith and Live From Winnipeg.”

Additionally, Dinae Robinson has been promoted to Head of Content at Eagle Vision where she will oversee all Indigenous-led projects, while also developing her own creative projects. She’ll also continue to contribute to Eagle Vision shows as a writer, director, producer, series creator, and showrunner.

The new sister companies joins Eagle Vision’s already established production company, its distribution company Migizi Distribution, and Talon Production Services – the largest props and production services house between Toronto and Vancouver.

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The Manitoba Day Of Caring For Wildfire Evacuees is modelled after a similar effort undertaken last summer in Alberta, following wildfires that devastated the community of Jasper. It went on to raise more than $2.9 million.

Manitoba has undertaken one of the largest evacuations in provincial history, with 17,000 people evacuated from Northern Manitoba, including the communities of Lynn Lake, Cross Lake, Pimicikamak Cree Nation, and Tataskwayak Cree Nation (Split Lake). In the West, an evacuation order continues for the City of Flin Flon, Schist Lake, Bakers Narrows, and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan). Fires are also being fought in the east near Bird River and the Ontario border near Ingolf.

More than 30 radio stations are participating, including those owned and operated by Golden West Broadcasting, Pattison Media, Bell Media, Corus Entertainment, Evanov Communications, and Native Communications Inc.:

AM1250 (CHML-AM) Steinbach

MIX 96.7FM (CILT-FM) Steinbach

COUNTRY 107.7FM (CJXR-FM) Steinbach

CFAM 950 Altona

EAGLE 93.5 FM (CJEL-FM) Winkler

COUNTRY 88.9FM (CKMW-FM) Winkler

CFRY 920 Portage

MIX 96.5FM (CJPG-FM) Portage

COUNTRY 93.1FM (CHPO-FM) Portage

Q Country 91.5 (CKLQ-FM) Brandon

94.7 STAR FM (CKLF-FM) Brandon

CJRB RADIO 1220 Boissevain

CHVN 95.1FM Winnipeg

CLASSIC 107.1FM (CKCL-FM) Winnipeg

QX104 (CFQX-FM) Winnipeg

ALT 94-3 (CHNW-FM) Winnipeg

680 CJOB Winnipeg

92.1 CITI (CITI-FM) Winnipeg

KiSS 102.3 (CKY-FM) Winnipeg

103.1 Virgin Radio (CKMM-FM) Winnipeg

Bounce 99.9 (CFWM-FM) Winnipeg

Bounce 96.1 (CKX-FM) Brandon

Pure Country 101 (CKXA-FM) Brandon

Power 97 (CJKR-FM) Winnipeg

Country 99 (CFPG-FM) Winnipeg

Energy 106 (CHWE-FM) Winnipeg

HOT 100.5 (CFJL-FM) Winnipeg

92.7 CKJS Winnipeg

NCI FM (CICY-FM) Manitoba

Now Country 104.7 FM (CIUR-FM) Winnipeg

“It’s amazing what can happen when we work together. It only took one email and right away, broadcasters across Manitoba were all in,” said Trev Schellenberg, Manitoba Content Lead, at Golden West Broadcasting, who is spearheading the effort. “That’s the spirit of this province—when people need help, we show up. Through this Manitoba Day of Caring for Wildfire Evacuees, we’re giving our audiences an opportunity to make a real difference for families impacted by these devastating wildfires. We’re hoping to see a big response for the Red Cross on Thursday and a powerful show of care from Manitobans.”

Listeners can participate by donating to the Red Cross, texting the word RADIO to 20222 to donate $10, and share via social media using the hashtag #MBDayofCaring.

The post Radio rallies around wildfire evacuees with Manitoba Day of Caring appeared first on Broadcast Dialogue.