LTE: Who Gets Heard When the City Buys Ads?

Dear Editor.

We rely on local media to keep our city healthy and transparent. Local media holds the city  accountable, gives residents accurate information, and helps make sure decisions are made openly. Supporting local journalism isn’t just about buying ads, it’s about making sure residents have the information they need to stay involved in our community and make informed decisions.

Since January 2020, the City of Cornwall’s Economic Development department has spent $175,000 on advertising with a single media outlet in Ottawa to attract businesses. Another $177,000 was spent across six local media outlets (Cornwall Seaway News, Standard-Freeholder, Cornwall Newswatch, Big Catch Communications, Indian Time and the Seeker). Even though information was available for seven outlets in total, most of the money went to just two.

This raises some concerns. Local media rely on city advertising not only to survive but to do the kind of honest reporting we depend on. Yet most local spending went to just one outlet, which limits the diversity of voices in our community, including female-led and Indigenous media. Only about 5% of advertising went to female-led outlets, and none went to Indian Time (before it unfortunately closed down in late 2024), despite the strong economic ties between Akwesasne and Cornwall. In 2014, Akwesasne residents spent $32 million in Cornwall, versus $25 million in Massena, NY (data was pulled from an MNP report). That’s significant.

A city requires transparency and accountability for the tax dollars it spends, especially during a budget crunch. Residents deserve to know why decisions are made, how they’re measured, and what results they bring. For the Ottawa media spend, how many companies has this attracted? How many tax dollars has this brought in? How many jobs have been created? What is the true return on investment (ROI)? Focusing resources in one place without clear, public, reporting makes it hard to know if public dollars are being used wisely or if they’re supporting all local media fairly.

If the city has data showing the results of these advertising decisions, it should be shared. If not, it’s time to rethink how Economic Development advertising is evaluated, allocated, and reported so that public funds are spent effectively and fairly, helping all local media thrive.

Public money should support both economic development and a strong, transparent democracy. That means making sure all local media outlets get a fair shot. 

Sincerely,
Kelly Bergeron