How has The Canary been described?

The Canary describes itself as “a truly independent and viable alternative” and “campaigning journalism”, or as “an independent non-profit news website”. It states its vision as being for, “[a] free and fair society where we nurture people and planet”, with an attendant mission to achieve this vision through “campaigning journalism that informs and empowers people to change their world”. Its stated values are, “progressive, open and rigorous. We work with respect, courage and generosity” (Source).

Kerry-Anne Mendoza, previously the outlet’s long serving editor-in-chief, has said, “readers of The Canary know they can count on us to champion progressive ideas and challenge those who undermine those values, whatever their position or party” (Source). She has also explained that the outlet purposefully cultivates “tabloid styling, tabloid-level language” and that, based on the Sun, “deliberately styled the Canary to have a reading age of eight” (Source).

The Canary has been heavily criticised by mainstream media outlets. The Mail Online described the outlet as a, “conspiracy theory-peddling website” and Mendoza as a “Corbynista editor” (Source). The Telegraph has described The Canary as “the maddest left-wing website in the world” (Source). The journalist Helen Lewis has accused The Canary of running a “sexist hate campaign” against Laura Kuenssberg because of false reports and personal attacks (Source). Paul Staines, The Guido Fawkes editor, has previously described The Canary as “the left wing competition” (Source).

What kind of content does The Canary publish?

The Canary provides news stories and commentary on a range of topics. However, most of the content is about British party politics, with a focus on negative stories about the Conservative Party. The Canary also produces a large amount of content that is critical of the mainstream media. It also covers science, the environment, and global developments.

Kerry-Anne Mendoza has described The Canary’s approach to news as, “absolutely biased […] biased in favour of social justice, equal rights – those are non-negotiable things […] we’re in this as an issue-driven organization” (Source). It is well-known for its left-wing stance and in particular its support of Jeremy Corbyn, although they have insisted there was never a formal connection between the outlet and Corbyn’s team (Source).

The Canary describes its own content as “high-quality, well-researched and incisive journalism that holds power to account”, with a focus on “news, ideas and key developments that impact democracy, equality, freedom and fairness” (Source). In 2020, it hired two investigative journalists (Source).

What is the history of the site?

According to Mendoza, the idea for the outlet emerged at a party in 2014, during a conversation about media bias (Source). The site was set up in late 2015, with just £500 (Source). The outlet is named after an excerpt from a speech by the US civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson, at the St Paul’s Occupy camp in London in December 2011, where Mendoza was present, in which he referred to the protest as “canaries in the coalmine” (Source).

The Canary enjoyed early success and growth throughout 2016, in which it was able to grow its readership and generate profits (Source; Source). Its growth coincides with the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader and the 2017 General Election, and many many commentators observed the outlet’s growing rise (Source; Source; Source). Corbyn himself claimed to read the site (Source).

By March 2019, The Canary had published its 10,000th article (Source). In August 2019, the outlet experienced economic difficulties, and was “running at a loss due to changes beyond our control”, most notably, changes in Facebook and Google’s algorithms and adverting boycotts (Source; Source). Mendoza (2020) announced in September 2020 that the outlet had survived, and moved to a subscription-based model.

Who owns the site and what’s its business model?

According to Companies House Records (Source), The Canary is run by Canary Media Limited, based in Bristol. It was incorporated on 22 September 2015. The original directors were a Mr Anthony Roger Buck and Mrs Kerry-Anne Mendoza. Buck left The Canary in June 2016. A Mr Andrew Rose was appointed as a director in August 2016, followed by Nancy Mendoza in November 2016, and a Rebecca Sumner in April 2019, according to Companies House information. Sumner’s appointment was terminated in September 2020.

Until recently, the outlet relied on advertising income and social media traffic, with profits “shared between remuneration for freelance writers and editors, with a small percentage going to directors, operational costs, marketing, and business development” (Source). Following financial pressure, the outlet is now 95% reader-funded (Source).

Is the outlet regulated?

The Canary is regulated by Impress and claims to follow its standards code and guidance. It joined Impress in August 2017. The Canary also has its own Code of Practice, which appears to have been published on 11 July 2019 and updated on 13 August 2019 and 6 December 2019. This code of practice states that all journalists writing for The Canary are required to adhere to the NUJ code of practice (Source).