That the City follow the example of the Province of British Columbia and the Federal and Quebec governments and stop all adverti sing with Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram.
Quebec governments, and stop all advertising with Meta platforms, Facebook and Instagram, with the exception of boosting black press stories. And then we would direct that portion that we spend on Meta to boost local media stories. So let's take the $2,000 and boost local media stories that relate to the city. Councilor Manley, you wish to speak to it? Yeah, I think if I'm in favor of not spending money on Facebook or Instagram, with the exception of boosting stories that cover city council that are put out by the bulletin.
Any discussion on this, councillor Armstrong? And then, you know, my issue with this is, what is the definition of advertising? Number one, we saw when we did our community surveys that a lot of people get their information on what's going on in the city through Facebook. Doesn't mean we have to boost it. But I know I share stuff all the time about what's going on in the city and that's the only place they get their information from. So can I tell you if it was boosted by somebody else before it got to me? I don't know. So does that mean if we do this, does that mean that I'm now prohibited from boosting it on my site? I know a lot of times, some people say it's for money, others say it's not. So I think the whole thing is problematic. So I just can't support. Thank you, Councilor Prino.
Thank you, your worship. I'm having very similar struggle as Councilor Armstrong. Is it's so minimal? We're doing, what, $113,000 with black press and a possible 2000, and we're concerned about that. I think we are blowing something out of the water that I don't think we need to worry. I support black press 100 times over, and I think what we do is so minimal that I'm not sure why we're worried about it. I won't be voting in favor of this.
Thank you. I struggle with this because I am a huge supporter of local journalism and local media. It's super important for people to be able to access information about what's happening in their community. The move that BC made came after the federal and Quebec government suspended advertising. That's in response to Facebook and Instagram's announcement that they're blocking Canadian news. So the issue here is that people are going to be going onto Facebook and Instagram and they're not going to be seeing those traditional media sources that they used to see. I think that's an important gap that the city needs to continue to provide information through these platforms to residents, because that is one major way that people get information. It's on social media. And if the news sources aren't going to be there anymore, then who is left to provide the accurate information, if not the city and us? Boosting our own programs and. Information that's of critical importance to our residents. So I see a role for both and I'm really happy to hear those numbers. I would have imagined that the advertising dollars for Meta would be much higher, so I'm really shocked to hear it's so low, frankly, and happy to hear that we're supporting Black Press to the tune of over $110,000 a year in advertising. That's substantial. So, yeah, I appreciate the intent of this letter from Black Press and I hope that they continue to invest in true local journalism and I will not be supporting this motion. Thank you,
news media. And the letter likewise is in our package. And it's a request from Black Press locally. And I'm wondering if anyone from Mr. McHugh, I'm wondering if anyone cares to make a motion respecting this or consider making a motion in due course. What they're asking for is for the cities. Now to show support for local news media by following the example of the province of British Columbia, the government of the province of Quebec, and the Federal government. And stop all. Advertising with Meta platforms, Facebook and Instagram, and asking that you direct staff to divert the portion of your advertising budget spent on Meta to invest in local news media. Ms. Gurry, as I understand it, we've spent the grand total of what in the last year or so? If you can give a little report here. Thank you,
Worship. So, yes, I looked into this after receiving the correspondence, and according to the Statement of Financial Information, for 2022, we spent close to over $113,000 for black press Media, and we spent approximately very minimal amount of money for Facebook and Instagram, up to $2,000 last year. And that's on Boosts for our posts. It's a minimal amount of money, but I also know that my staff are looking at ways in communications to support local media and ways to use our channels to promote their new sources and provide the links to their sites, to our local sites, as well as all major local NBC news outlets. So we're looking at other ways to support as well as financially, given that we spend minimal amount of money on Facebook and Instagram. So that is the numbers that you're looking at. Should there be a motion tonight. So,