Toronto Star VP warns of 'fake journalist' takeover without regular media funding

The head of the Toronto Star and a former employee of Justin Trudeau says “fake journalists” will get the news if the government doesn't force Big Tech to continue funding legacy media outlets.

Ryan Adam, vice president of government and public relations for the Toronto Star, made the comments during a panel with Ethnic Media Services USA.

Adam said Google and Meta should recognize that “the content shared by news organizations has value” and that the government should “force them to consistently compensate content creators with ad revenue.”

“I urge the government to step up and take this approach when the industry is on its knees, and then I urge tech leaders to really recognize the critical role of fact-based journalism in a democracy,” he added.

The Toronto Star is in a panic.

Gov Relations vice-president Ryan Adam said if the Liberals don't “permanently” shake down tech companies with Bill C-18, “fake journalists” will prevail.

It's a fortune earned by writing a hit piece @PierrePoilievre$300 kiddie pool pic.twitter.com/ISavlY4PUx

— Cosmin Dzsurdzsa 🇷🇴 (@cosminDZS) February 12, 2024

Adam warned that the Liberals' failure to make Bill C-18, also known as the Online News Act, a permanent foundation for the legacy media industry would lead to the rise of “fake journalists.”

“In the absence of real journalism, what we're going to have going forward are fake journalists, online pundits and people who don't go through the rigorous fact-checking we do in our newsrooms,” Adam said.

Adam worked in the Prime Minister's Office during the Trudeau government from 2017 to 2019 and also advocated for Bill C-18 on the panel. Admittedly, he too had reservations about too much government interference in the media.

“Before the Online News Act came into force, I can tell you that the Toronto Star had agreements with Google, Meta and Apple and several other technology platforms. So for us it wasn't about newfound income, it was about variable and consistent income,” explained Adam.

“My suggestion is that the government does as little as possible to touch the revenue stream of journalists, because the government can change, politicians are influenced by different forces, so it's not a real business model.”

The Toronto Star was recently in the international spotlight after Company X CEO Elon Musk likened the federally funded office to the historic Soviet propaganda newspaper Pravda.

Musk's comparison came in response to accusations from Conservative leader Pierre Pouilleuvre that the newspaper was planning a hit-and-run story about his family.

Polievre took to social media to criticize the star's alleged intentions, calling his upcoming story a “ridiculous attack” on something as important as his wife's purchase of a $300 splash pool for their children.

The Toronto Star is trying to write a hit piece about my wife buying a $300 plunge pool a few years ago.

In addition, they are attacking us by the NCC for setting up a security fence in Stornoway to protect our children… pic.twitter.com/1FdQ5CwnJG

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) February 6, 2024

Torstar CEO John Boynton has called for additional newspaper subsidies in 2022, despite Adam's insistence that governments avoid determining media revenue as much as possible. In 2019, Tostartar received $6.8 million in federal aid and also benefited from Trudeau's $595 million media bailout. consists of a salary of $13,750 per employee.