Canadian readers of the New York Times may have noticed an increase in stories about Canada, and it is no coincidence as the Times has announced it is beefing up its Canadian footprint. Canada is well represented in this weekend’s Sunday Times. There is a full-page spread leading the Sports section that explores the reasons why no Canadian NHL team has won the Stanley Cup in 33 years. The story says many NHL players put Canadian teams at the top of their no-trade list, quoting a coach as saying the players want to avoid the added attention that comes from media and fans. Sadly, the story also lumps the Toronto Maple Leafs in a category of “older teams on the decline.”
The new York Times gave coverage to the Canadian Screen awards. Photo. Canadian Screen Awards – George Pimentel @GeorgePimentel1
Canada also rates a full page of news in the first section of the Sunday Times with a feature on the Canadian Screen Awards, suggesting that the Canadian film and TV industry has reasserted itself due to Trump’s attacks and is moving towards a more unabashed Canadian look, instead of the generic North American settings and scripts that have been a mainstay in the Canuck industry for decades. They cite as an example the wildly successful “Heated Rivalry” series on HBO. The story also discusses the Netflix series “North of North set in the Canadian Arctic and almost entirely produced by indigenous creators and actors. It has been renewed for a second season and is finding a solid audience globally. A second story discusses plans by Ottawa to institute a social media ban for kids under the age of 16. The teens would have to be able to prove they are 16 before being allowed to access sites like Facebook TikTok and Instagram. The story went on to note that Canada has pulled back on a requirement of foreign streamers to invest in Canadian production—a move widely seen as an attempt to appease the Trump administration as free trade talks are set to hit a serious stage.
Investigative Reporter Jane Bradley. NYT photo
In May the New York Times announced that Jane Bradley—an investigative reporter who has been based in the UK for the past six years, is coming to Canada to report for the Times. In response to questions from the Bay Observer, NYT International editor Philip Pan, notes the move “signals our commitment to aggressive, fair and deeply reported coverage of Canada.” He added, “Jane is a uniquely talented reporter, and her move signals our ongoing commitment to invest in storytelling and investigations that matter to Canadians and our global readership, as our first investigative reporter based in Canada. She exposed the UK government’s disastrous early response to the Covid pandemic – including its awarding of billions of dollars to politically-connected companies. She documented a permissive culture of sexual misconduct in the British media, unmasked a cadre of Russian deep cover operatives in Brazil, and revealed the secret ties between Britain’s populist right and the American anti-abortion movement.” Bradley will be based in Toronto. The Times also advertised for a journalist to cover Western Canada. In answer to our question about whether the increased presence in Canada has anything to do with the Trump tariffs and 51st State threats, a Times spokesperson insists, “These hires have nothing to do with U.S. government policies. Our staff in Canada includes dozens of employees who work for The New York Times and Wirecutter, plus a significant team representing The Athletic.”
Continuing, Pan said, “Canadians are our largest group of subscribers outside the United States and represent our largest international audience. We know Canadians turn to and trust The New York Times for independent, richly reported journalism that spans domestic politics and culture, U.S-Canada relations, and for perspectives and reporting on the world in ways that complement the important work of local news outlets. We have had reporters filing from Canada since our first year of publication, and have been covering the country for the past 175 years. “
There is another historical connection between the New York Times and Canada. A 2017 story in the Times recalled that the town of Kapuskasing in Northern Ontario was founded almost entirely on the strength of a joint venture by the Times and paper manufacturer Kimberley-Clark in the 1920’s to supply newsprint for the Times. They formed a joint venture establishing the Spruce Falls Paper Mill, which operates to this day under new ownership. The mill provided newsprint to the Times for eight decades.