Canadian Media Sources Guide
Introduction
“When local news disappears, misinformation thrives.” - The Walrus
This guide is maintained by a single person and may contain errors. Please suggest corrections for any fact-based news sources that should be included.
Inclusion Criteria
- High standards for journalistic integrity
- Funding from the Canadian Local Journalism Initiative
- Qualified donee status as a registered journalism organization
Media to Avoid 🚫
Postmedia Network
Postmedia Network Canada Corp. is an American-owned Canadian-based media conglomerate that owns:
- Canada.com
- National Post
- Financial Post
- Calgary Herald
- Edmonton Journal
- Telegraph-Journal
- The London Free Press
- The Gazette
- Ottawa Citizen
- Sudbury Star
- Windsor Star
- Vancouver Sun
Sun Media
- Calgary Sun
- Edmonton Sun
- Ottawa Sun
- Toronto Sun
- Winnipeg Sun
Saltwire Network
- The Chronicle Herald
- Cape Breton Post
- The Telegram
- The Guardian (Charlottetown)
Canadian Alternatives 🇨🇦
Français ⚜️
| Les médias | Propriété | Type de propriété | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radio Canada | Patrimoine canadien (Gouvernement du Canada) | Gouvernement | TOU.TV L’EXTRA |
| TFO | Office des télécommunications éducatives de langue française de l’Ontario TFO (Gouvernement du Ontario) | Gouvernement | Don |
| Télé-Québec | Société de télédiffusion du Québec (Gouvernement du Québec) | Gouvernement | - |
| La Presse | La Presse Inc. | À but non lucratif, organisations journalistiques enregistrées | Don, CanaDon |
| L’Acadie Nouvelle | Acadie Nouvelle ltée. | À but non lucratif | Abonnement |
| Coop Media NB | NB Media Co-op | À but non lucratif | Don |
#### À but lucratif
| Les médias | Propriété | Type de propriété | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Devoir | Le Devoir Inc. | Organisations journalistiques enregistrées | Don |
English 🦄
Non-profit and Government Media
| Media | Ownership | Ownership type | Donate |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBC News | Canadian Heritage (Government of Canada) | Government | CBC Gem Premium, CBC Shop |
| TVO | The Ontario Education Communications Authority (Government of Ontario) | Government | Donate |
| APTN News | APTN | Government | Contribute |
| Investigative Journalism Foundation | Investigative Journalism Foundation | Non-profit | Subscribe, IJF Shop |
| PressProgress | Broadbent Institute | Non-profit | Membership |
| Rabble.ca | Self-owned | Non-profit | Donate |
| Halifax Examiner | Self-owned | Non-profit | Subscribe, Donate |
| The Walrus | The Walrus Foundation | Non-profit, registered charity | Donate |
| The Narwhal | The Narwhal News Society | Non-profit, Registered journalism organization | Donate, CanadaHelps |
| Chek News | Employee-owned | Non-profit | Chekplus |
| The Tyee | Appears to be self-owned | Non-profit, Registered Journalism Organization (pending) | Donate |
| The Breach | Breach Media Canada | Non-profit | Donate |
| The Grind | Arts and Labour Media Inc. | Non-profit | Membership |
| Briarpatch | Briarpatch Inc. | Non-profit | Donate |
| Unrigged News | Collaboration between non-profit outlets | Non-profit | - |
| Prince Albert Daily Herald | Employee-owned & operated | Non-profit | Subscription |
| NB Media Co-op | NB Media Co-op | Non-profit | Donate |
#### For-profit Media
| Media | Ownership | Ownership type | Donate/Subscribe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada’s National Observer | Observer Media Group | For-profit | Donate, Subscribe |
| The Canadian Press News | The Globe and Mail, Torstar | For-profit | - |
| The Globe and Mail | The Woodbridge Company | For-profit | Subscribe |
| Toronto Star | Torstar | For-profit | Subscribe |
| Reuters | Thompson family | For-profit | Subscribe |
| Global News | Corus Entertainment | For-profit | - |
| Winnipeg Free Press | FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership | For-profit | Donate |
| Canadaland | Appears to be self-owned | Appears to be for-profit | Patreon, Canadaland store |
Additional Resources
Political Commentary
News Aggregator
Organizations Countering Dark Money
Critical Thinking Resources
| Organization | Social Media |
|---|---|
| Centre for Inquiry Canada | YouTube |
| Humanist Canada | YouTube |
Image is licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0.
You should add “Le Devoir” in the french ones. It’s by far the best newspaper in Quebec, and internationally recognized.
I did originally have Le Devoir, actually, but then I realized it was a for-profit institution.
I have decided to feature only non-profit (in the infographic), as these cannot be acquired (like so many of our other media outlets have).
Is it surprising that the American owned media tend to be highly in favour of corporations?
The most promising counters to dark money:
- Democracy Watch
- The Investigative Journalism Foundation
- Council of Canadians
- Protecting Canada
- Canadians for Tax Fairness
- PressProgress
- Fair Vote Canada
- Bluesky Starter Pack: Ontario journalists that cover work & wage issues.
Obligatory, come join us over at !fairvote@lemmy.ca . We are trying to restore control of government back to the people!
“Wes’ Brot ich ess’ des’ Lied ich sing”
I’ll sing the song of whoever gives me bread.
In case anyone is wondering about who owns POSTMEDIA NETWORK
Top Shareholders:
Postmedia Network Canada Corp.- 63% - Chatham Asset Management LLC (a multinational American company)
- 17% - Allianz Global Investors GmbH (a multinational German company)
- 13% - Leon Cooperman (a billionaire Jewish investor from New York)
- less than 1% is Canadian companies
- rest of the percentage is listed as ‘unknown’
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/POSTMEDIA-NETWORK-CANADA--42378696/company-shareholders/
Why do you feel the need to mention the investor is Jewish? I’m all-in on boycotting the US, but I’m not a goddamn anti-semite FFS.
I’m 100% for calling out the people who control the narrative in Canada, especially since the people pulling the strings all the way at the top have strong, long time, ties with the GOP.
I could maybe see saying that Leon has a hand in making the narrative say that anti-zion is anti-Semitism. Preferably backed with evidence.
But the way the person you replied to worded it comes off as:
Leon…the JEEEEEWWWWWWWWW!!!Like the man is personally responsible for SpAcE LaSeRs™.
It’s disgusting, and is counterproductive. It’s a distraction from reality. Reality being, that regardless of what Leon believes, he’s part of the parasite class. He and the rest of the 0.1% do not contribute to society, they only continue to exist by leeching off of the rest of us.
In 2022 Postmedia received $9.9 million, their “operating income” that year was $13 million.
That’s our taxes. $9.9 million of Canadian’s hard earned money, being syphoned off to the States.
Then there’s Canfor, who control the majority of Canadian lumber production. They’re dismantling mills, and shipping them to the Southern US.
Our country is being picked clean…
Who owns The Beaverton?? LOL
As far as I can tell, The Beaverton are self owned (but still Canadian). However, I am reluctant to include them because they are satire, and I don’t want to cause confusion.
Oh, I wasn’t saying to include them. Just bring a smartass.
Millions of beavers who generate income from damming rivers in northern Canada to generate water power and create irrigation for southern farmers. Don’t make fun of them … they have sleeper cells all over North America that will down a tree on your house or car or public building.
Fantastic list.
Without the Narwhal, most of us would have no fucking clue what DoFo and Co were up to with the Greenbelt since 2018. Just as a for instance.
Someone posted a story yesterday from a new print paper called The Grind, and it’s really decent. Looks on the level so far. idk if it makes your cut for the list, but anyone looking for a free local paper in Toronto you can read irl like it’s 2010, they’ve got some drop locations in the city (Gateway news stands in the TTC, some record and book shops).
https://briarpatchmagazine.com/ out of Regina is another classic. Been around since the 70s and it’s unionized afaik.
https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/
The Canadian Press is Canada’s national news agency.
Added!
The Globe and Mail is owned by a private holding company that is, in turn, owned by the Thomson family, which Wikipedia describes as Canadian.
Yes, please give me a source on their American ownership … As far as I can tell, the Thomson family is Canadian, so I can’t exclude them.
They’re Canadian, AFAICT.
Edit: to be clear: the Globe and Mail belongs in the Canadian Alternatives part of the list.
If you’re francophone (or just a francophile) I highly recommend La Presse and Le Devoir. The former is a non-profit and considered a “newspaper of record”, the latter isn’t non-profit but is still an independent publication and is also often considered a newspaper of record.
And of course there’s Radio-Canada, the French language publication of the CBC.
The French avoid list for me mostly revolves around Québecor — but this is more of a journalistic integrity issue rather than an American media problem. I find it important from a moral and ethical perspective to avoid media megacorp conglomerates (and this is also yet another reason to avoid Postmedia).
One more thing on franco media, reading the news is a great way of developing vocabulary in your second language. Give it a shot, it’s really fulfilling and in this case unlocks some great independent / non-profit options :)
Thanks! Especially for the link to the newspaper of record, it’s important we have reputable sources.
Just for clarity, the Vancouver Sun is also owned by Post Media Group.
Thanks, I’ve added Vancouver Sun!
No Reuters?
One of the best wire agency/news networks in the entire world is Canadian, kind of shocking to see it not mentioned here.
My apologies, it’s just a single person (me) doing all of this, to reduce corporate/American influence. Thanks for letting me know, I’ll add it shortly!
I’m sorry for the aggressive tone as well, your tables and lists made it look professional so my standards may have been too high lol
More gracefully, Global might be worth adding too given they are owned buy CHORUS
Great! We have a fantastic list thanks to you and others!
This is a great post, thank you!
Postmedia also now owns Saltwire, which operated most of the major newspapers in Atlantic Canada: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SaltWire_Network
You should have never let our oligarchs to operate like that IMHO
I am all about free speech etc but you can’t a hostile foreign actor operating at the same level in mission critical industries. They will always exploit it for personal again at the expense of your national security.
Come join us over at !fairvote@lemmy.ca . We are trying to restore control of government back to the people!
full disclosure: I am american
we are trying to restore control of government back to the people!
i am DTF on this point tho haha
Where does Winnipeg Free Press sit?
I hate to post another comment, but another great tool for media reading in general is RSS feed aggregators. Yes they can be janky, but it is the easiest way to explicitly choose what media you receive, rather than relying on algorithms in news apps / social media to dictate all that you read.
NetNewsWire is a great option for Apple devices Feedbro integrates into your web browser And Feeder is the one I use on my Android phone.
Here is a general comparison list on Wikipedia of different feed aggregators.
If you are a bit more technically inclined, I highly recommend hosting your own feed aggregator online (allowing you to sync your saved articles / read articles between devices, and better battery life on mobile devices). The two apps I usually see recommended for this are tt-rss “Tiny Tiny RSS” as well as FreshRSS.
