List of Canadian Alternatives to American owned media pretending to be Canadian, infiltrating Canadian culture and politics
"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.
Postmedia Network Canada Corp. is an American-owned Canadian-based media conglomerate that owns:
| 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 |
| 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 |
| West End Phoenix | West End Phoenix | Non-profit | Subscribe |
| The Local | The Local TO Publishing | Non-profit, Registered Journalism Organization | Donate |
| The Maple | The Maple | Non-profit | Membership |
| 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 |
| The Line | unincorporated | unincorporated | - |
| Organization | Social Media |
|---|---|
| Centre for Inquiry Canada | YouTube |
| Humanist Canada | YouTube |
Honourable mention: The Conversation Canada, Australian owned, with a Canadian newsroom.
Image is licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0.
Is it surprising that the American owned media tend to be highly in favour of corporations?
The most promising counters to dark money:
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.
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.
In fairness, Self-Owns are kind of The Beaverton's thing.
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.
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.
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.
Just for clarity, the Vancouver Sun is also owned by Post Media Group.
Thanks, I've added Vancouver Sun!
Postmedia also now owns Saltwire, which operated most of the major newspapers in Atlantic Canada: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SaltWire_Network
This is a great post, thank you!
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.
Where does Winnipeg Free Press sit?
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
Huh, the Gazette is part of Postmedia?
That explains a LOT!
Yes! That's why it's such a big problem that American owned media infiltrates Canadian culture and politics!!
Thank you for your effort and time!
Glad to be supported by the broader community!
And while you're here, come join us over at !fairvote@lemmy.ca. We are trying to restore control of government back to the people!
Could you add The Line? https://www.readtheline.ca/ (political commentary, some original journalism)
Added!
Thanks!
I wish more of these sites had RSS feeds. I know The Narwhal and CBC do, but most don't seem to use it.
Also, thanks for making this list! :)
Consider adding The Maple, they do some good work.
Excellent, they've been added.
Also, stay tuned for a secret project I've been working on.
How about Black media, which at one point ran every small town newspaper in BC. Pretty sure that was some billionaire but BC based.
Not gonna say they are good because they definitely have shilled for conservatives in the past. I'm just curious where they are today on this scale. Would not surprise me if they were bought south.
*Edit.. not surprising
I presume you're referring to Black Press Group. This is now owned by American Carpenter Media Group.
A little late to the party but there's also the West End Phoenix and The Local
If magazines count, Spacing is a great one focused on urbanism.
I know they are awful but I have wonder how canadian are media companies like rebel media, if nothing else it might be one more reason to stay away
CBC News 2024-09-19: Rebel News not eligible for journalism tax credits, Federal Court rules.
Ground news is also Canadian, from Kitchener, ON. While not a news network, it is a good news aggregator that shows political bias.
I've added Ground news into another section. There isn't much information I could find on their ownership type, but they are Canadian!
Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Regina Leader-Post newspapers are owned by Postmedia Network now and should also be in the Media to Avoid list. Great resource! It helped me curate my RSS feeds.
In the future, I'm planning on making an Add-on that will tell you which sites are non-Canadian. Stay tuned!
A good replacement for Saltwire is the Halifax Examiner.
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).
The Torstar group - the Toronto Star - aren't here - are they actually still Canadian?
The Toronto Star exists in the post body. However, the infographic only features acquisition resistant, Canadian owned and operated media, of which the Toronto Star is not.
are they wearing flannel, have a mustache, and say eh and i'm sorry a lot?
Worse, they publish articles undermining the Government and programs that actually help ordinary Canadians.
Overstory Media Group is probably Canadian
probably Canadian
Yes, that's what I have found to be the case as well. I wasn't able to find ownership or other details...
I'll add them nonetheless, hoping someone can provide sources.
Canadaland - mostly a collection of podcasts, listener-funded.
Thanks! Canadaland has been added!
Can you add theconversation.com/ca
https://theconversation.com/ca/who-we-are
Their Canadian newsroom is in Toronto, and all articles are editorials from Canadian institutions. They're also non profit and a registered charity now.