Feedback to Canadaland

I know there’s a listener survey going around asking what people want from Canadaland — and why some of us who stopped paying haven’t come back. Honestly, a quick scroll through this subreddit probably answers a lot of that. Still, I'd rather share my thoughts directly for discussion, and to see how other people feel.

These aren’t meant to be snarky, just honest observations from someone who used to be a loyal listener and supporter. That said, be snarky if you want. I’m not here to shut down free speech.

  1. Make media criticism the core focus again, not just an occasional topic. Lately, Canadaland mostly feels like it’s commenting on whatever the big political story of the week is, with a kind of random guest. Looking back, especially to when Justin Ling was still contributing, there was still a clear focus on journalism itself: who was getting sued, internal CBC drama, union disputes, media ethics, journalists behaving badly. It was original, specific, and you couldn’t get that coverage anywhere else. That’s all but gone now.
  2. Rebuild a strong, diverse roster of experienced guests. Canadaland used to land the most interesting journalists and news bosses, and had a lot of diversity between legacy and start-up, left and right, all talking about the state of the industry and its secrets and failures. That made Canadaland a unique aggregator of insidery news. It felt "truthy" and told the story behind the story it was telling. I haven't heard an episode like that since Justin Ling and Emilie left.
  3. And IF Canadaland must lose its focus as media criticism — which seems to be the direction — and now become another Big Story or Sandy and Nora type podcast, they should try to make it a panel, not a one-on-one interview, like Backbench used to do.
  4. Invest in original journalism — reporting, not just reacting. There used to be at least one episode a week where Canadaland broke a story or added something new. Commons was delivering original documentary work. Even Wag the Doug, while mostly commentary, had scoops. That kind of reporting was part of what made the subscription worth it.
  5. Rebuild a strong, diverse roster of experienced contributors. It’s great that Jesse is giving space to new talent, and probably smart to bring in someone young like Sam. But Sam’s delivery — the jokes, the sound effects — feels like it’s aimed at a much younger audience, maybe Gen Alpha. That’s fine, but it doesn’t serve everyone. We still need some editorial heavy hitters to replace the crew that helped build Canadaland’s credibility and depth.
  6. Kill The Worst Podcast and never do anything like that again. I saw that The Field Guide to Gay Animals won some awards and I was surprised. I guess it was technically executed well, but it had none of that vibe I'd expect from Canadaland — which is hard to describe. Canadaland used to tell me something new, be genuinely funny, occasionally mean — but not a bully. Outside shows don't have that vibe. You could totally tell they were produced by someone else, and they were less interesting.
  7. Try to resolve things with the original team. Let’s be real: when you see Arshy, Emilie, Cherise, Karyn, Jordan, Mattea, Justin, and Goldsbie all involved with The Hatchet, it’s clear there was a split. And that’s a huge loss. Those people were Canadaland for many of us. Sam, Noor, and Jesse should consider reaching out and trying to mend fences. Rebuilding trust internally and with the audience would go a long way. In fact, with all the speculation about what happened out in the universe, having a show that came clean and explained it all (which is different from excusing it all) and apologizing to former supporters for breaking our trust would go a long way.
  8. Bring back the Canadaland vibe. (See 1–8.)
  9. Jesse needs to chill on social media. More than 1,000 people have him blocked on Bluesky already, and he is blocking about 100 people rather than engaging with them. A large number appear to be journalists. The ragebait stuff isn’t a growth strategy — if it ever was. At this point, it’s just driving people away. That kind of tone might have worked in 2015. It’s not where things are now.

Finally, it has less to do with the podcast, but hire a professional to redo your website and social media marketing. It looks outdated, juvenile, and the covers on your YouTube do not look like professional journalism. I was going to compare CL to The Rebel, because their site always looked like junk, but I was surprised to see it cleaned up and looking very well designed.

I will continue to snark in the future, as I don't believe for a minute Jesse and his crew will do any of these things, but I thought I'd take this as a serious stab.

P.S.: Someone noticed I have no #6 — I had it in, then took it out because I worried it might sound mean (though that wasn’t the intent), and then forgot to renumber.

Anyway, here’s #6 back in. I rewrote it to say this in the nicest way possible.

  1. Jesse, Noor, and Sam, you should not be hosting political coverage. If you are determined to walk away from media criticism and be a political show, have politicians on more than twice a year. Then get an experienced political journalist to host: Jen Gerson, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Jonathan Goldsbie, Justin Ling, Karyn Pugliese, or Paul Wells. (I enjoy Jan Wong, but even she hasn’t worked politics in years and is mostly telling stories from a decade ago.) You’re not asking the right questions, the politicians walk right past your questions, and you publish a lot of errors. Iddo Moed spun Jesse, and Jagmeet Singh did the same to Noor. Also, the shows are obviously pre-recorded and outdated by the time they air. And a quick note: Sam needs to tone down the snark. I'm sure he is a nice guy, but it doesn't come off as clever or funny. It's a bit cringe, like he's trying to be Jesse but isn't.