Why are our journalists so deathly afraid of reporting facts on gender identity science?

The Rewrite

When the going gets tough, it seems our news organizations just run away

I am travelling this week to help my mother celebrate her 100th birthday but to ensure readers continue to be served, here’s a column I wrote for The Hub that stayed among its most read pieces for the better part of two weeks. Be assured we will be getting after the CBC/Sean Feucht debacle in due course.

There are some topics that Canada’s media are clearly very afraid to touch, leaving the public that funds them through federal subsidies not fully informed.

This, for reasons suspected but unexplained, is not good if we are to rely upon the Fourth Estate to ensure the nation’s population is equipped with the information citizens need to form perspectives and organize their lives. That, after all, is the alleged purpose of the government’s subsidization of the media in the first place.

Blind spots

Many news organizations, if not most, still haven’t come to terms with their 2021 reporting on suspected and unmarked graves at and adjacent to Indian Residential Schools, for instance. That poor performance led to headlines referencing “mass graves”—a term not used by Indigenous leaders at the time—across the country and the world. Flags were lowered, statues toppled, churches burned, demonstrations held, a new federal holiday instituted, yet no bodies have yet been discovered where it was alleged they were buried. But the old false headlines still linger (including on the New York Times), setting back—as journalist Terry Glavin and others have argued—the cause of reconciliation. Actions, or shall we say, inactions, have consequences.

I was at the abandoned cemetery at the former site of the Regina Indian Industrial School (1891-1910) when it was designated a provincial heritage site, and I am deeply conscious of the sad reality of this part of our history. All 38 graves there are now quite poignantly marked with metal feathers. The matter is a delicate one for the media, for sure. But it is one they must deal with.

As is the issue of how to treat minors struggling with gender dysphoria.

The most recent news on that front—the Supreme Court of the United States upholding a Tennessee law banning puberty blockers and hormone treatments for teens—triggered a lot of coverage across the U.S. and on foreign platforms such as the BBC.

But in Canada, all I could find on the first few pages of a Google search was an Associated Press story picked up by the CBC. CTV posted a shorter version of the same story. Both platforms went with the “stunning setback to transgender rights” theme provided by the wire service. Neither made any effort to add any Canadian context or reaction. The BBC, in contrast, assigned its own reporters to the story and included something the AP story did not: quotes from the Tennessee attorney general who called the decision a “big win for evidence-based medicine.”

The Canadian media’s timidness on this topic is not new. A similar pattern of behaviour was evident in the recent decision by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom that—at least when it comes to the 2010 Equality Act—the term “woman” relates to the biological sex assigned to a person when they are born, and not to an individual’s self-understood gender identity.

Much the same can be said regarding the U.K.’s Cass Review, initiated when medical professionals noticed an unexplained increase in the number of teen girls reporting gender identity issues. Its findings led to several countries slamming the brakes on surgeries and other therapies for gender dysphoric minors.

Yes, Robyn Urback of the Globe and Mailand Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Starwrote thoughtful columns in the wake of that report, and Sharon Kirkey of the National Post reported on it in depth. The deafening silence from Canadian journalists was covered in The Hub. But other than that, the approach was ever so much akin to “nothing to see here, folks, move along.”

It’s fair to conclude that our newsrooms struggle with complexity. And when terms such as “denialists” and “transphobic” are applied to those who simply ask questions that challenge the assumed verities of the day, it appears that some sort of moral panic is triggered. We are, after all, still emerging from the terrors of cancel culture and woke extremism that many newsrooms chose to embrace rather than fight. The Globe and Mail, for instance, recently posted a morning briefing that caught the eye of Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) senior fellow Mia Hughes, an expert in the field.¹

Hughes told me that she “objected to the article’s repetition of discredited claims—that puberty blockers are reversible, that they ‘buy time to think,’ and that denying access could lead to suicide—all assertions that have been thoroughly debunked in recent years.”

We will get into this at length in the future, but suffice to say, Hughes found the Globe’s response unsatisfactory. Near as I could discern from what Hughes shared with me, the Globe appears either unaware or unwilling to concede that these matters are contentious and that it might have been spreading what Hughes considers misinformation.

The gatekeepers are losing their grip

This forum isn’t the place to debate the issues described. But what is passing strange about much of Canada’s news industry is that it thinks it can still get away with this sort of gatekeeping and still maintain public trust.

With or without our media culture’s approval, the internet gives people access to this information. It comes not just via alternative, unsubsidized media, but from the Guardian and the New York Times. Little wonder, then, that according to the latest Reuters report, Canadians are enthusiastic subscribers to foreign news platforms.

It appears they have a need for truth that—thanks to those who fear it—isn’t being fulfilled at home.

(Peter Menzies is a commentator and consultant on media, Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow, a past publisher of the Calgary Herald, a former vice chair of the CRTC and a National Newspaper Award winner.)

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Bari Weiss Reportedly Planning To Blow Up Legacy Media Giant

Published on November 22, 2025

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Nicole Silverio

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is reportedly planning to dramatically change the network’s coverage to eliminate left-wing bias and make the newsroom more efficient.

Weiss has been handed a mandate for change by Paramount SkyDance’s David Ellison, the CEO of CBS News’ parent company, which bought her company, The Free Press, for $150 million, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Ellison wants Weiss to bring “news that reflects reality” and journalism that “doesn’t seek to demonize, but seeks to understand.”

“I wanna blow things up,” Weiss has reportedly told her colleagues during meetings.

During the hiring process, Weiss has reached out to outside talent directly rather than speaking to their agents, which is considered the traditional method of communication, according to the WSJ. She has also reportedly been highly involved in booking guests in an attempt to fix the network’s ratings and make a lasting change.

Weiss is focused on trying to reshape “CBS Evening News,” which has consistently ranked third place in comparison to the evening programs on ABC News and NBC News. “CBS Evening News” typically averages around 4 million total viewers. On the week of November 3, the program garnered 4.2 million total viewers and 564,000 viewers in the 25 to 54 key demographic, while “NBC Nightly News” and “ABC World News Tonight” averaged 7.2 million and 6.6 million total viewers, as well as 929,000 and 883,000 in the 25-54 demo, according to AdWeek.

John Dickerson, who currently hosts “CBS Evening News,” announced on Oct. 27 that he will be departing the network in January. Weiss has reportedly considered poaching CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Fox News’ Bret Baier, though Baier said he will remain at Fox News in the short-term since his contract goes through the end of 2028, according to the WSJ.

A source close to Cooper told the WSJ that the CNN host is not interested in hosting “CBS Evening News.”

“CBS Mornings” host Gayle King’s contract is up in early 2026, prompting Weiss to reportedly consider finding a cheaper alternative to her $15 million salary, according to WSJ.

The median age of viewers who watch CBS News is 58 years old, according to a Pew Research survey.

When she stepped into her role, Weiss sent emails to staff asking them to outline their jobs and provide feedback on “how we can make CBS News the most trusted news organization in America and the world.” Weiss said she would have had to “throw in the towel a very, very long time ago” if she were concerned about the negative press her decisions will receive.

Approximately 100 staffers were laid off once Weiss took over in October, which were part of Paramount’s layoffs of about 1,000 employees. The CBS News Race and Culture Unit, founded in July 2020, was completely wiped out as part of the layoffs.

Media

Breaking News: the public actually expects journalists to determine the truth of statements they report

Published on November 16, 2025

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CBC’s David Cochrane explaining to viewers how the CBC is blameless for accurately reporting a statement later determined to be false

The Rewrite

Who knew? Plus! Online smartassery by reporters continues to curse the industry, Vancouver loves Harry Potter (shhhh!), layoffs continue and newspaper revenue now in uncontrolled descent

Journalists just love sensational political accusations and way too many of them are more than happy to spread them far and wide while shrugging aside their first obligation, the truth.

Why they put so much faith in the honesty of politicians, who have a history of being a bit, shall we say, truthy, is quite beyond me, but reporters often seem more interested in it being true something salacious was said than they are whether the scandalous thing that was said is true.

To help save journalism from bad journalism please subscribe to The Rewrite.

A fine example of this behaviour, which continues to undermine public trust in journalism, unfolded a week ago. That was when freshly-minted Liberal MP and Tory turncoat Chris d’Entremont told the CBC’s Catherine Cullen that, after publicly musing about crossing the floor, “Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer and party whip Chris Warkentin “barged” into his office, pushed open the door — almost knocking down his assistant — and yelled at him about “how much of a snake” he was.”

The Conservatives, in response, issued a statement accusing d’Entremont of telling barefaced lies and described a much calmer scenario. CBC then issued a correction after d’Entremont “clarified” an embellishment but some journalists were happy to ignore that and stick with repeating the original, more salacious version.

Stu Benson of The Hill Times enthusiastically Tweeted that ““[D’Entremont] says Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer and party whip Chris Warkentin ‘barged’ into his office, pushed his assistant aside and yelled at him about ‘how much of a snake’ he was.”

National Newswatch, despite CBC’s correction still had a Tweet up days later stating “Pushing, yelling from Conservative leadership ‘sealed the deal’ on defection: d’Entremont. MP says Conservatives felt like ‘part of a frat house rather than a serious political party.”

Ignoring the correction and “clarification,” CBC’s Power & Politics used the clip of d’Entremont’s self-confessed embellishment and repeated what both he and the CBC knew not to be true. To be fair, the segment that can be found here fully details the Conservatives’ response but, according to one of the CBC’s most diligent critics, no on air correction has been made. Instead, host David Cochrane went out of his way to point out that while his editors had used the term “correction,” the CBC was blameless for reporting d’Entremont’s admittedly false representation of the event.

The pattern of behaviour indicates to the public that news organizations do not take their obligation to the truth seriously. The public actually expects journalists to seek to establish the truth of statements they are reporting before they report them.

Edmonton City News reporter Sean Amato meanwhile managed to take foolish online smartassery to a new level when, repeating the Liberals’ Trump = Tories theme, he posted:

“Quite the press conference from (Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre in Calgary today. Basically…the Liberals suck, the media sucks and a lot of other stuff in Canada sucks. Hey, it worked for Trump.”

Tens of thousands of views and (at time of writing) more than 500 comments later, he replied with renewed smug smartassery:

“Never thought a tweet that says “the Liberals suck, the media sucks” would anger so many Conservatives. But here we are .”

Here we are, indeed. Amato appears to have set a new personal best for comments in response to one of his Tweets while simultaneously embedding the impression that not only he but all journalists are biased against Conservatives. And, I ask, for what? And why?

Maybe think before you Tweet or, better yet, just shut up. Many good journalists find that works just fine.

Amato, though, seems determined to prioritize personal commentary over journalism. When he recently got some pushback on lack of objectivity, his response was unrepentant.

“Bonnie…mute me, follow people you like, no hard feelings. But let me be free too. Cheers!”

Liberation awaits.

The “controversial” Harry Potter Forbidden Forest experience opened 10 days ago in Vancouver, weeks after the parks board, cowed by trans activists, vowed such an event would never happen again.

The distress of the “Qmunity” over the connection to J.K. Rowling and her vocal insistence on a traditional definition of women was well documented in the weeks leading up to the event. But there was nary a peep from CTV, CBC or Global News when organizers announced on media day that the pre-sales were the largest they had experienced anywhere in the world.

I found coverage in The Daily Hive and in Black Press papers in British Columbia. But it wasn’t until Remembrance Day that one of the city’s legacy media, the Vancouver Sun, delivered a review of any kind. CBC, CTV and Global News appear to be boycotting.

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Operating revenue for Canada’s publishers continues to plummet – an indication the nation’s newspapers are increasingly unable to deliver the readers needed to provide results to advertisers.

Statscan reported a decline of a whopping 17.9 per cent since 2022, which compares with a drop of 7.3 percent from 2020-2022.

News Media Canada lobbyist Paul Deegan, meanwhile, confessed to a House of Commons committee that operators “cannot make a buck as a digital-only publisher,” have failed to transition their business models and still need revenue from print.

Profit margins, according to Statscan, are down to 3.2 per cent.

Postmedia, meanwhile, is later than usual in posting its annual report but has a little under another two weeks to do so.

Last week, The Rewrite noted how an extra $150 million from the government for the CBC would be bad news for everyone else in the business. This week, Groupe TVA announced it was eliminating 87 positions and laid the blame squarely at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s door.

“Repeated appeals to government authorities to support the private television industry, at a time when it faces fierce competition from the web giants and CBC/Radio-Canada, have been ignored,” a company statement explained.

Poilievre, who has been the focus lately of much of the press inclined to favour the Liberals, tried to shame media into paying some attention to dissent from the likes of Beaches-East York MP Nate Erskine-Smith within Liberal ranks.

It was left to the Toronto Star’s Althia Raj to gently explain to his Deputy Leader, Melissa Lantsman, why dissent within Liberal ranks is not a story because, unlike dissent with Conservative ranks, it’s in the best interests of the country.

“Nate has normalized independent thought so it isn’t new/s,” she wrote. “IMO it would be nice to see this from other MPs. Those outside of cabinet, their job is to hold the govt to account. More independent thought means better reports, better debate, better policy. Better social cohesion too.”

Take that, you silly Tories! The narrative is entrenched.

Some of you will remember how last fall, CTV News terminated two employees following the doctoring of Poilievre’s quotes in a fashion not too dissimilar to that used by the producers of a Panorama documentary at the BBC. Two of the BBC’s senior executives walked the plank there when it was revealed its team had intentionally misrepresented a speech by US President Donald Trump, who then threatened to sue the organization for $1 billion.

Well, one of those fired CTV employees, Derek Thacker, is back on the list of approved Parliamentary Press Gallery members as an employee of Global News.

Don’t forget to check out this week’s Full Press podcast and, if you haven’t done so yet, click at least one of the Subscribe, Share or Donate buttons provided.

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