What is The North Star?
The North Star is a pan-Canadian bilingual media outlet launched in January 2022 by ordinary people with nothing but determination. Unlike the major media, which answer to financial and/or state interests, The North Star is completely independent and puts the interests of the working class and their loved ones first.
When we say “working class,” we mean workers, their families, and all the ordinary people who build Canada every day. They are the ones who build our roads and housing, teach our children, care for our health, and make and move the goods we use day to day.
These values guide all our work: the subjects we choose, our methods, and how we present information, as well as our commitment to journalistic rigour. For us, putting forward a working-class and popular perspective means showing the world as it really is for the majority, and giving a voice back to those whom the economic and political elite deliberately ignore.
Where did The North Star come from?
The North Star was conceived in 2021 by a group from diverse backgrounds who wanted to shake up the all-too-comfortable foundations of Canadian media. The idea came from a simple observation: too many people don’t see themselves in today’s media. Workers and their loved ones are sidelined by media elites, while the world is divided around endless culture-war debates, and no public, accessible, bilingual outlet truly carries a vision for deep change across Canada.
In early 2022, our volunteer journalists launched the first social media pages. They spent more than a year earning their place, experimenting, and learning the craft, before launching the website thenorthstar.media in March 2023.
Who writes for The North Star?
The journalists and editors at The North Star are mostly volunteers, and authors get involved more or less depending on the time they can give to their local committee. Also, drafting an article or creating multimedia content usually happens collectively with the participation of several journalists from a given region.
The North Star takes collective responsibility for the articles it publishes and usually identifies authors as regional committees, not individuals.
What is popular journalism?
Popular journalism holds that journalists shouldn’t just observe society; they should be active participants in the class struggle. Through investigations, networks, and writing, popular journalists take part in working-class struggles and reveal what those in power would rather keep hidden. Their perspective is that of the people who build and run our society day in, day out, which is why they write in an accessible style, favouring short, straightforward texts.
Instead of chasing the news cycle to grab attention at any cost, popular journalists step back. Their reporting doesn’t serve profit. They know their real job is to choose the right subjects, dig into the facts, and carry out investigations to show society as it is, with its problems, but also the paths to change it.
This approach pushes back against the supposed objectivity or neutrality of major media, whose journalists, willingly or not, serve the interests of economic and political power. Popular journalists do the opposite: they give a voice to people we never hear from and shine a light on the forces that shape our lives.
Popular journalists aim to:
- expose the conflicting interests of different social classes in Canada and around the world,
- provide the information needed to understand the current state of capitalist society,
- show the need for real, collective change,
- support that change in action, and those working to make it happen,
- accompany the political development of the working class,
- use their network to strengthen working-class organization,
- take part in the collective thinking needed for a better future.
To carry out their mission, popular journalists rely on fieldwork and direct engagement with working-class and popular organizations. They don’t just produce information, they also bring it back to the people. They explain it, talk about it, and make it alive. That happens through events, regular visits to the field with people in struggle, and long-term exchanges with those concerned. But practising this journalism also means, above all, stepping out of one’s comfort zone: popular journalism means going to the heart of the action, doing everything it takes to obtain essential information, then using it to confront elites directly, whatever the obstacles, risks, or conditions.
Becoming a popular journalist is a commitment, a fight. It’s the conviction that there is a constant struggle between social classes for control of society, and that the media space is one of its most important battlegrounds.
How can I support popular journalism?
- By writing articles, helping organize events, etc. Write to us here to get involved.
- By keeping up with The North Star content and events.
- By sharing this content on social media, with friends and coworkers.
- By helping fund The North Star with a donation.
- By subscribing.
How can I get involved with The North Star?
Anyone who wants to help write articles or produce multimedia content for The North Star can apply here. After you apply, journalists from your region will contact you to bring you into the work of The North Star.
How can I send a news tip to The North Star?
Please send any relevant information here. It will be forwarded to journalists in the relevant region and may serve as the basis for a new article or as a complement to an existing project.
If you are sending a full article for publication on The North Star, please note that we generally do not accept content already published elsewhere and reserve the right to edit the article to meet our needs and editorial line.
How is The North Star funded?
For now, The North Star relies almost entirely on volunteer journalists and on voluntary contributions from our readers. We recently launched a subscription service, wh
How is The North Star organized?
The North Star is structured as follows:
Journalist members: Volunteers who contribute regularly by writing articles, conducting investigations, doing interviews, and taking part in producing journalistic content. They are the backbone of The North Star.
Local committees: Present in several major Canadian cities, they coordinate journalists for regional coverage, the organization of events, and to support political development. This is The North Star’s base community. They meet at least once a month, and their secretary takes part in the quarterly meeting of all committees to discuss the outlet and its direction.
Editorial committee: Based in Montreal, it plays a central role in coordinating the outlet’s activities. It is responsible for editorial direction, overseeing content quality, and overall management. It ensures that journalistic and ethical standards are upheld.
What does the future of The North Star look like?
The North Star is constantly working to improve the quality of its reporting and to diversify its formats. We plan to keep producing longer video content, distribute our articles as printed newsletters, release podcasts, and continue organizing events, online and offline, to discuss and deepen the work of The North Star.
The North Star aims to become a daily source of information for Canadian workers—able to stand in for elite political and economic media—by covering, day in and day out, the issues that matter to the public and by exposing how Canadian society works through ongoing dossiers.
Is The North Star objective?
Total objectivity, in the sense of being truly impartial or neutral, is impossible. But it is possible to follow strict ethical standards and report truthful information.
Every news organization has a bias or a tendency toward bias. Everyone has heard that “a given outlet backs such-and-such political party,” or “another skews left or right,” and so on. The North Star openly states its convictions, unlike major media owned by billionaires or controlled by governments, which hide their interests behind claims of “journalistic neutrality.” We report facts as faithfully as possible so Canada’s working class can understand the world around it and act in its own interest.
Accordingly, The North Star reports true information. We believe the basis of journalism is to report facts and events as informatively as possible so people can form their own view of the world. We commit to actively following the Guide de déontologie des journalistes du Québec, while questioning the provisions on neutrality.
What are The North Star’s journalistic standards?
In pursuit of information that is honest, truthful, and serves Canada’s working class, The North Star commits to strong ethical standards and responsible journalistic practices.
Our standards are guided by the following principles:
The public interest
The North Star adheres to the journalistic principle of the public interest, which we define as the interest of the vast majority as opposed to that of the ruling class. More precisely, by “public” we mean the people, or the masses, as opposed to the individuals and groups who hold political and/or economic power over society.
We maintain that this public has the right to understand the mechanisms that govern its life, to know the facts that shape the world, and to gauge their effects. Within our means, we choose our subjects and angles based on what Canada’s working class and broader population need to know to participate fully in society and defend their interests.
Accessibility
We are firmly committed to making our content accessible to as many people as possible. We refuse to privilege a conversation reserved for intellectuals or elites, and we do our best to explain both our reporting and our analysis so a broad public can understand.
Independence
We refuse to be bound by the strings of governments, corporations, and oligarchs. The North Star is independent financially and organizationally. The content of our reporting is determined by our publicly available standards, the principles of popular journalism, and the work of our journalists and volunteers.
Gathering information
Our journalists generally identify themselves as such and gather information through methods like interviews, research, consulting contacts or files, and so on. We consider clandestine methods (false identities, hidden mics and cameras, vague statements of intent, tailing, infiltration, etc.) justified when the information sought is in the public interest, cannot reasonably be obtained otherwise, and when the benefits to the public outweigh the harms to those concerned. Finally, journalists inform sources unfamiliar with the press that their remarks may be published, and refrain from putting undue pressure on people who have experienced tragedy.
Fairness
Journalists at The North Star strive to present all sides in a dispute in a fair and honest way, while subjecting them to critical analysis. Fairness means each point of view is rigorously checked for accuracy, and its strength and relevance determine how it is treated, weighted, and highlighted.
Truthfulness
The North Star’s journalism is not neutral or supposedly objective, but it rests on verifiable facts and follows strict, publicly accessible ethical standards. We recognize that every media organization carries inherent biases tied to its financial, state, political, or personal interests.
To maintain this standard of truthfulness, our journalists devote the time needed to study each topic sufficiently. Before publication, they verify information and make sure it is grounded in established facts. They also work to situate facts in their context, and to ensure that an article’s headline faithfully reflects its content without misleading readers.
Our journalists also make a clear distinction between facts, analysis, and their personal opinions. When opinions (individual or editorial) are expressed, this is stated explicitly. And if information is attributed to an anonymous source, it means we have independently verified it.
Accountability
We recognize the responsibility that falls on journalists, including volunteers, to provide accurate and truthful information. Our editors ensure our information is checked, and we do not shy away from correcting an error if one is found after publication. To report a factual error, please write to contact@etoiledunord.media or reach us here.