We practice public-interest journalism.

Founded in 2014, Ricochet Media is a national, non-profit media outlet with a mandate to serve the public interest. We publish rigorous, well-edited investigative journalism and incisive opinion with a focus on climate, Indigenous rights and corporate and government accountability. 

All of our content is freely available, without ads, and is made possible by small monthly recurring donations from our readers, alongside support from charitable foundations and government programs. 

In recent years, our work has won the Canadian Hillman Prize (2024), a Michener Investigative Fellowship from the Governor General (2021), top article honours at the Digital Publishing Awards (2022), a human rights reporting award from Amnesty International (2023) and various Canadian Association of Journalists Awards, including the President’s Award (2019, 2020, 2021). Our contributors have also won awards for their work with us, most recently the Ken Filkow Prize from PEN Canada for advancing freedom of expression in Canada (2023) and the Freedom to Read Award from the Writers Union of Canada (2024).

The media industry is in crisis. Sustainability is not enough for investors, who often shutter profitable outlets for failing to generate rapid growth and outsized profits. Even the biggest names in news have slashed their newsrooms and shut down their investigative units. 

In this context we believe, as we did at our founding, that independent, reader-supported outlets like ours are essential to forging the path forward for journalism in Canada. 

Journalism plays an essential role in our democracy, and should serve the public interest — not the interests of shareholders. 

At Ricochet we seek to serve the public interest — your interest — in all things. 

Policies and Standards

Conflict Policy

No editor may assign a story, and no journalist may cover one, in which they have a current personal or pecuniary interest. In the case of opinion writing, any current personal or pecuniary interest should be disclosed.

Ethics

Ricochet aims to provide high-quality public interest journalism. We adhere to a set of journalistic principles to ensure fairness, transparency and accuracy.

All articles are subjected to a rigorous editing and fact-checking process before publication.

Mistakes can happen, and we endeavour to make corrections as soon as possible, noting the date, time, and substance of the correction.

Unnamed sources are generally discouraged, but we will withhold the names of sources in cases of whistleblowers, or where there are clear safety and security concerns. 

Authors and editors are expected to disclose any potential conflict of interest related to an article. This includes business, financial, and personal interests. A minor conflict may be addressed through a published disclosure note. More significant conflicts on the part of an author or editor may preclude publication of a piece, or an editor may be required to recuse themselves from working on a particular piece.

Editorial decisions are made by the editors alone, and are not influenced by funders or outside organizations. 

Equity and Diversity

In Canada, historical and structural inequities based on factors such as ethnicity, race, language, gender expression and identity, religion, age, ability, class, and sexuality continue to impact our society. These inequities impact whose stories are told and heard.

Ricochet is committed to creating journalism that includes voices and contributions from a diversity of people. We are committed to dismantling colonialism and all manifestations of systemic racism, and to creating a workplace with equal opportunity for people of all races, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, gender identifications and abilities in our operations and work.

We strive to create an open and welcoming organizational culture encouraging flexibility and inclusion for all team members.

Ricochet works to provide contextualized reporting on marginalized communities, produced by people from marginalized communities. We seek to offer a flexible, inclusive, and supportive working environment for all contributors, including staff, freelancers, interns, and volunteers. We are committed to posting salaries as a means to advance equity. Disclosure of pay scales builds equity because people tend to negotiate wages based on previous earnings.

Ricochet also participates in the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Diversity Survey, which measures diversity of representation in newsrooms across the country.