Rebel Media, Sun News, Western Standard: Canada's distrusted media

Canadian MAGA media's one-sided commentary and misinformation may be the top threat to Canada's sovereignty and economy.

Sun Newspapers, the Western Standard and Rebel Media are the most distrusted news sources among a list tested in a national survey by Pollara, enjoying the trust of less than half of those with enough knowledge to state an opinion.

Top scores go to Global News, CTV News, Globe and Mail, CBC News and The Canadian Press, which all enjoy trust among at least 75 per cent of respondents with enough knowledge to state an opinion.

Canada’s MAGA media caught spreading misinformation

The distrusted Sun newspapers and Western Standard have both been caught misinforming audiences.

Sun columnist Brian Lilley was found by the National NewsMedia Council to have spread misinformation about the participation of two Ontario NDP MPPs in a peace rally that Lilley characterized as a meeting to honour a terrorist. Lilley lives with Doug Ford’s communications director, Ivana Yelich.

The National NewsMedia Council also found Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy made a “serious breach of journalistic standards” by spreading misinformation claiming asylum claimants were slaughtering goats in a hotel washroom. Levy was an Ontario PC candidate in 2009.

The Western Standard last year inaccurately reported a pro-trans group, writing on Twitter, wanted the song “You Make be Feel Like (A Natural Woman)” to be removed from Spotify and Apple Music. The group didn’t actually exist and the Twitter account user says he was never contacted about the tweet, which he said was intended as a comment on “media stupidity.”

American-owned Postmedia dodges Canadian owner rules

The Sun Newspapers, along with the National Post and scores of city newspapers, are owned by Postmedia, which is 63 per cent owned by U.S. based Chatham Asset Management, according to the company’s 2024 annual report.

Canadian law requires that Canadian newspapers must be a least 75 per cent owned by Canadians or a “qualifying public corporation.” Chatham made Postmedia a qualifying public corporation by listing its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

A different Chatham subsidiary paid Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story about having sex with Donald Trump that the company then did not publish.

The ”catch and kill” scheme resulted in a $187,000 fine from the U.S. Federal Election Commission for making an undeclared contribution to Trump’s campaign.

Alberta separatist now Western Standard owner

Since 2019, former leader of the separatist Alberta Conservative Freedom Party Derek Fildebrandt has been owner and CEO of the Western Standard.

In 2020, the Conservative Freedom Party merged with the Wexit Party to create the Wildrose Independence Party.

Previously, Fildebrandt worked for the Canadian Taxpayers’ Association and the Alberta Taxpayers’ Association. He served as a Wildrose, UCP then independent MLA from 2015 until 2019.

Trusted television news is “aging out” as a news source

Television news dominates the top tier of trusted media. But it’s losing the battle for younger viewers. Only 23 per cent of Gen Z Canadians get news from television, 57 per cent get news from social media.

U.S. based social media platforms have become increasingly MAGA-aligned and drive news use non-transparent algorithms. Shortly after Trump’s win, X owner Elon Musk announced his platform’s algorithm was being altered to reduce negative commentary and increase positive comments.

Research from the Pew Center shows that among Americans, Facebook and YouTube are the biggest sources of news through social media. Only 12 per cent get news from X (formerly Twitter), less than TikTok, at 17 per cent.

Among it’s users, X is a source of news for the largest percentage of users. But TikTok is close behind. Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are less used as news sources by their users.

Since 2022, the percentage of X users who use it as a news source has not changed. Facebook’s use as a new source has fallen among its users.

But among TikTok users, the platform’s use as a news source has surged from 22 per cent to 52 per cent of its users. Instagram’s use as a new source has increased from 28 to 40 per cent among its users.

TikTok’s younger demographic and rapid increase as a new source may explain U.S. president Trump’s efforts to force it from its Chinese owners and into MAGA hands.