As Billionaire Overlords Cheer Journalism’s Death, Fight Back

Journalism is so over. That’s what we’re told by Elon Musk, who paid a fortune for Twitter to turn it into a hellscape of disinformation.

Journalism is a nuisance. That’s the message from Mark Zuckerberg, who blocks Canadian news from Facebook and Instagram as he, like Musk, cosies up to Donald Trump.

There’s a reason these multi-billionaires want us to believe fact-based, well-sourced reporting is dying. They actually want it dead. And they are doing their best to make it happen.

Which means the great challenge of our era is to find ways to make journalism resilient and thrive.

We can’t let its enemies win.

If that sounds alarmist, I admit I certainly wasn’t talking this way even five years ago.

But at the start of 2023, I researched the state of news media in preparation for giving the Southam Lecture at the University of Victoria. What I concluded is reflected in the title of my talk: “The War on Journalists.”

You can watch it on YouTube if you have an hour (!). But here’s the gist.

As newsrooms shrink and the web fills with fakery, public interest journalism isn’t dying a natural death. Identifiable forces are actively opposed to its principles and practice, because what reporters do gets in the way of their power-seeking agendas.

So, yes, a bunch of mega-rich tech bros are at war with journalists.

So are authoritarian leaders like Trump, who vows to punish journalists who dared hold him accountable.

Everything we’ve seen since I gave my talk a year and a half ago, unfortunately, proves my point:

• Musk actively campaigning for Trump while Amazon baron and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos reins in his newsroom and in an act of “anticipatory obedience” kills his paper’s endorsement of Trump’s opponent.
• Zuckerberg scurrying to kiss Trump’s ring right after his election.
• Russia funding extremist video “news” commentators produced by pawns in Canada.
• Politicians openly and cynically painting journalists as untrustworthy and vowing to dismantle public broadcasters like the CBC.
• More newsroom layoffs — these days in Canada, the number of people working in marketing and public relations outnumber journalists by a ratio of at least eight to one.

So why am I dropping this grim scenario on you today?

Because you, as a regular reader of The Tyee, can be part of the solution.

The Tyee, you see, isn’t owned by a tycoon, private equity or any political advocacy group.

We are an independent, award-winning newsroom of staff journalists paid fair wages for one simple reason. We are member supported.

Some 10,000 “Builders,” as we fondly call our members, contribute whatever is their comfortable amount at a frequency that works for them — either on a monthly, annual or occasional one-time basis. And I’m asking you today to join their ranks.

We’re kicking off our year-end member drive with a goal of recruiting 500 new recurring (that’s monthly or annual) Tyee Builders by Dec. 31. One-off contributions are of course welcome, but we’re putting a special focus on recurring contributions, as they provide a more predictable income by which we can plan ahead and add to our team.

By providing us resources, our Builders are standing up for the survival of public interest journalism. They are building more than The Tyee. They are investing in a model that other outlets can emulate to survive the war on journalists.

Some more facts about The Tyee that should offer hope:

We are non-profit. Every dollar is invested in creating more public interest journalism.

We have no paywall. We want everyone, whatever their income realities, to be able to read our work.

We are among Canada’s most prolific and top-read independent, digital-only news sites. We publish over 1,000 original pieces a year, including award-winning investigations, analyses and solutions-focused pieces on what works.

We are entering our 21st year of gradual, responsible growth. It’s a testament to our basic mission — one that can be drawn as a virtuous circle. We give our readers top-notch journalism, and they support us, and we use that support to provide more first-rate reporting.

With no impatient venture capitalists or hedge funds to please, the cycle continues and widens.

I consider myself blessed to work with the committed, talented, fearless team here at The Tyee. And to have the support of so many Builders.

Please join us. Please help prove wrong those who will be the end of fact-based, public interest reporting. Please demonstrate you want there to be more journalism done to high ethical standards.

Take some time, if you wish, to read our principles and further background on the Tyee experiment.

Because, yes, now more than at any time in our two decades of existence, The Tyee remains an experiment. Our hypothesis has always been that member-supported journalism can thrive. Proving this to be true has never been more crucial.

If we want to keep going on the good path we’re on, we need to increase our base of support. We’re looking to add 500 new recurring contributors to our Tyee Builder program by Dec. 31. Are you with us? Sign up now.

Meanwhile, we’ll be hard at work on preparing to cover the looming federal election. Reporting on promising solutions to climate resilience and myriad social challenges. Holding power to account and profiling courageous change-makers.

We know our success is not what Musk, Zuck and their side want to see. That just gives us more energy to do what we do. Please join us.