Corporate Lobbyists Regularly Appear On Canadian TV Without Proper Disclosure, Investigation Reveals

From Ricochet and Jacobin: A new six-week investigation by Ricochet and Jacobin magazine published Thursday has found that lobbyists for banks, fossil fuel companies and other corporate interests regularly appear on Canadian TV news-analysis shows without any disclosure of their ties.

• Jon Horler, the author of the investigation, wrote: “In the wake of the federal election, there was plenty of commentary about how media coverage of the party leaders and campaigns has shaped the views of the electorate. What this framing ignores is that even between elections, our media moulds our politics.”

The investigation reviewed more than 860 Canadian television news and analysis appearances from March 29 to May 9, 2021. It found more than one in 10 guests worked for lobbying firms, but were commonly described by networks as “strategists.”

• Across CBC, CTV and Global, one in five guests brought on air to discuss climate change, one in five guests analyzing the federal budget and one in three guests analyzing federal politics were active in the public relations industry.

Read the full investigation here.