Sask. Indigenous newspaper on hiatus after Meta ban tanks ad sales: editor-in-chief

An Indigenous newspaper covering communities across Saskatchewan says it is taking a "hopefully brief" but indefinite hiatus because it can't afford to pay journalists or print its next edition.

Eagle Feather News editor-in-chief Kerry Benjoe says ad revenue has tanked since Facebook and Instagram banned Canadian news in response to the federal Online News Act — which requires platforms to pay journalism outlets for content shared on those platforms — in June.

"It's grim. It's dismal. it's not a good place to be right now," Benjoe said in an interview with CBC on Tuesday.

She said the paper has been using savings to cover wages and operating costs, but the money has run out and she hasn't taken a paycheque since December.

"Our paper is free, but that doesn't mean we can afford to produce it without any funds," said Benjoe.

"I think Eagle Feather has a really important role to play within the community, not only just by telling stories but helping develop young writers ... to tell Indigenous stories through an Indigenous lens."

Eagle Feather's hyper-local, community-driven reporting has covered stories about politics, sports, culture and education, as well as good news and solutions-focused stories.

"It's up to us to celebrate our own and lift our own up if nobody else is going to do it," said Dene journalist Betty Ann Adam. "That's what Eagle Feather did.

"It built community, it built pride."

In January 2021, Eagle Feather wrote about a young girl from Cote First Nation who was told her ribbon skirt wasn't appropriate for a school formal by a staff member.

The story garnered widespread attention. It was picked up by several traditional media outlets, including CBC, and eventually led to Canada's Parliament passing a motion to make Jan. 4 National Ribbon Skirt Day. 

Adam, who reported for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix for 29 years and also briefly worked as an associate editor for Eagle Feather News, said the hiatus "is going to leave a real hole" for Indigenous communities and democracy as a whole, as other outlets like CTV and CBC face cuts.

"As citizens, every time a newspaper goes to sleep, there's a terrible loss," said Adam. "We don't know how much we don't know when there's no newspaper telling us about it."

Recently, the University of Regina said it would overhaul its journalism bachelor program and pause admissions to its masters of journalism in response to the changing — and shrinking — media landscape.