Thanks for reading The Tyee today. If you’ll allow me, let me tell you a bit about what it’s like to run a journalism organization these days.

Sustaining and growing an independent newsroom in 2023 means fighting back against a wave of pressures in our industry. The advertising model that has traditionally supported journalism has been disrupted by social media and search platforms. And now, Canadian news is completely blocked on Facebook and Instagram in response to the Online News Act.

Decades of consolidation of ownership of newspapers means that many communities in Canada only have one news source, if that, and those newsrooms keep on getting gutted or shut down by their corporate owners.

What’s left to fill that vacuum is fluffy entertainment or dubious misinformation put out by shadowy figures. So the online world is more noisy than ever, but less and less of it is informed by fact-based reporting being put out by professional, credible journalists.

That’s the tide The Tyee has been swimming against for the past 20 years. Our non-profit newsroom only exists because thousands of readers support our work through our Tyee Builders program – a voluntary support program that funds our editorial budget and makes sure that we can pay experienced journalists to do reporting in the public interest and distribute it for free to anyone who wants to read it.

Together with our Tyee Builders, we’re fighting back against the forces that are conspiring against journalism

We’re aiming to bring on 500 new recurring supporters by Dec. 31 so we can sustain and grow our operations in 2024. Please join us today and sign up for a monthly or annual contribution at a level that works for you.

— Jeanette Ageson, Publisher

Thanks for reading The Tyee today. If you’ll allow me, let me tell you a bit about what it’s like to run a journalism organization these days.

Sustaining and growing an independent newsroom in 2023 means fighting back against a wave of pressures in our industry. The advertising model that has traditionally supported journalism has been disrupted by social media and search platforms. And now, Canadian news is completely blocked on Facebook and Instagram in response to the Online News Act.

Decades of consolidation of ownership of newspapers means that many communities in Canada only have one news source, if that, and those newsrooms keep on getting gutted or shut down by their corporate owners.

What’s left to fill that vacuum is fluffy entertainment or dubious misinformation put out by shadowy figures. So the online world is more noisy than ever, but less and less of it is informed by fact-based reporting being put out by professional, credible journalists.

That’s the tide The Tyee has been swimming against for the past 20 years. Our non-profit newsroom only exists because thousands of readers support our work through our Tyee Builders program – a voluntary support program that funds our editorial budget and makes sure that we can pay experienced journalists to do reporting in the public interest and distribute it for free to anyone who wants to read it.

Together with our Tyee Builders, we’re fighting back against the forces that are conspiring against journalism

We’re aiming to bring on 500 new recurring supporters by Dec. 31 so we can sustain and grow our operations in 2024. Please join us today and sign up for a monthly or annual contribution at a level that works for you.

— Jeanette Ageson, Publisher