My support for The Tyee – Please consider for yourself

I recently received a note from The Tyee, a BC independent media source I follow daily with both interest and appreciation. Here is what I received:

Thank you so much for your ongoing support of The Tyee, especially in this very uncertain time for media in Canada.

I have to tell you, it’s a very strange experience to be working at an independent journalism outlet in Canada right now. This month was a perfect example.

Our team was meeting and openly worrying about what the future might hold for The Tyee due to forces beyond our control.

But at the same time, we received one of the clearest signals in our 20-year history that we are contributing in important ways to Canadian journalism.

Let me explain. Since you’re on our email list, you may have read in our pages about Bill C-18, the Online News Act. If you’d like a quick primer, here goes. It’s a federal act that would force dominant tech platforms, starting with Google and Meta, to strike deals with journalism publishers for the news content that is listed and shared on their platforms.

Not surprisingly, the platforms are pushing back hard against this new law – so far, Meta has completely banned news content on its Facebook and Instagram platforms, and Google is threatening the same.

If these news bans are permanent, this is obviously bad for all news publications, but for smaller independent ones in particular. We can’t compete if we can’t reach new readers and digital platforms are key to making that happen.

We think you’ll agree that at a moment when so many more established newsrooms are closing and laying off staff, Canada needs independent media to thrive.

And by the way, even if the Online News Act does what it’s designed to do, smaller news media like ourselves are likely to benefit far less than big media players, who bring heft to the secret deals they will be allowed to cut with the digital giants. Sigh.

Like I said, we’ve been doing a fair bit of worrying here at The Tyee.

But then, two weeks ago, we received a reminder of why every day we show up, get at it, and refuse to give up.

Word came that that The Tyee had landed eight nominations for B.C.’s top journalism prizes – the Webster Awards.

That’s a record number for us.

And it’s more than any other news outlet, including some of Canada’s oldest, largest, and best-resourced newspapers and broadcasters.

Clearly our 20-year old, nonprofit newsroom with a team of just over 20 staff members is contending with the best of them. If you are wanting a signal that our journalism is truly valued for the positive change it makes in our community, consider this. Our team received Webster nods for exceptional climate reporting, legal journalism, diversity and inclusion, cultural coverage, labour reporting, and feature writing.

And it’s not just The Tyee that’s killing it – more and more, it’s the new digital upstarts that are winning major journalism prizes and breaking investigative stories.

So now you see why this feels to us such a strange time. How can we be pulling ahead like this, delivering true value to our readers, while at the same time facing the real possibly having our journalism wiped off digital platforms?

What can be done to insure we not only endure, but keep making a big impact?

This is our answer. The great thing about The Tyee – the secret to our survival in such a tough industry – is that we don’t have to wait for a big tech platform or government funding to tip the scales in our favour. We can go directly to people like you who read and value our journalism and ask for support. And because you’ve said yes to our call, we can continue to publish our work and make it free for all to read on our own site.

While the tech platforms, large news chains, and our government tussle, we’ll continue to do what we’ve been doing for two decades – building a home for the best journalism in our region, with the help you and thousands like you.

With thanks, Jeanette Ageson, publisher, The Tyee