We practise public-interest journalism.

Media concentration, layoffs, advertising so pervasive it becomes the content: the world of journalism is in crisis. Ricochet is an audacious response to a difficult context. Independent, dedicated to investigative journalism and incisive opinion, Ricochet seeks to illuminate the cultural and political diversity within Canada.

Ricochet is the product of collaboration between anglophones and francophones in a plurinational Canada, informed by an understanding of our colonial histories and supportive of contemporary Indigenous struggles. Bringing together English and French, Ricochet is composed of two distinct editions, run by independent editorial teams and structured as nonprofit organizations.

Crowdfunded and serving the public interest, Ricochet provides entirely free content, contrary to the current tendency to hide information behind paywalls. By supporting a new model of media, our readers are financing real independent journalism.

Editorial Team

• Andrea Houston, Managing Editor
• Erin Seatter, Senior Editor
• Derrick O’Keefe, Senior Editor
• Ethan Cox, Senior Editor
• Jahanzeb Hussain, Editor
• Willa Holt, Associate Editor and Translator (French to English)

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 refrain from publishing names when there are safety considerations.

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 and are not determined by funders, advertisers, 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 a team, editorial policy, and journalism that includes the 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 is focused on contextualized reporting on marginalized communities, produced by people from marginalized communities. We seek to provide 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.

Structure and Funding

Ricochet Media was established in 2014, with founding funds raised through a crowdfunder. The outlet continues to be primarily funded by readers. The English edition has also received funding for specific projects from the Local Journalism Initiative, Journalists for Human Rights, the Trottier Family Foundation, Greenpeace, Facebook, Google, and the Michener Awards Foundation.