OTTAWA, ON (March 1 2024) – For the last five years, the CRFC has been proud to administer the Local Journalism Initiative program on behalf of community, Indigenous, and campus radio stations. We look forward to working with the Department of Canadian Heritage to continue to help grow the success of this critical initiative.
To date, the Local Journalism Initiative has led to the hiring of 212 journalists at 66 stations and has produced over 16,000 articles. Our two national news programs, Viewpoints (Points de vue in French), highlight the exceptional work done by these journalists and are now carried by more than 77 stations nationally.
“In our opinion, the Local Journalism Initiative is an important tool in rural communities, and it’s important to put all our efforts into civic journalism (particularly municipal politics), such as the training we offer our journalist, but also to other media benefiting from the LJI, in the field of journalism.” – François Carrier, CHIP (Fort-Coulonge, Quebec)
“We cannot overstate the tremendous impact of having an LJI journalist serving our community. Corner Brook has gone from being a news desert to people knowing what is going on in their own backyard. It has truly brought back the feeling of “the old days” of radio in Corner Brook when the local radio stations were in the know on everything happening and people relied on that coverage to get through their day. Having a journalist has made this a reality once again and we are incredibly proud we are the ones to provide this service.” – Kody Gardner, CKVB (Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador)
“With the LJI program, we have gained a lot of credibility with our listeners. Our community has been able to keep abreast of everything that’s going on in the region, and the most important thing is to have this information in their mother tongue: French.” – Tina-Anne Thibideau, CFRH (Penetanguishene, Ontario)
The goal of the Local Journalism Initiative is to support the development of original civic journalism in underserved communities. As such, stations have been at the forefront of delivering high-quality audio news to their listeners. From CFMF in Fermont, Quebec to CICK in Smithers, British Columbia, and CKJM in Chéticamp, Nova Scotia, our reporters are first on the ground for their communities.
The work of LJI-funded journalists can be heard on Frequency, the new national platform for local radio news from community radio stations as well as the companion site Fréquence which shares the news created by the francophone LJI journalists
The CRFC will announce more details about the new round of applications for the Local Journalism Initiative as soon as we have those details. If you represent a campus, community, or Indigenous Type B radio station and have questions about the Local Journalism Initiative, please do not hesitate to contact Program Officer Francella Fiallos at francella@crfc-fcrc.ca.
We’d like to acknowledge the generous support of the Department of Canadian Heritage for continuing this vital program. We look forward to three more years of supporting local news production at campus, community, and Indigenous radio stations!