The North State (Scott Martin)

It's been a dark year for Canadian news media. Legacy news has failed to show the full story, hold politicians to account or, in some cases, even cover important stories. Certain podcasts purporting to criticize the state of journalism have abdicated any and all responsibility. Join independent journalist and the writer behind The Catch, Scott Martin, as he cuts through the news noise.

Head to readthecatch.ca and sign up for a subscription to support The North State.

The North State is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network. Visit Harbinger for more progressive Canadian podcasts.

Artwork: Zo, Studio Bonjourhi

Music:

"Concentration" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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It’s been one full year since Oct. 7 and the world will never be the same. In the first part of this three part series, Scott details how Western news media, and the Canadian news media specifically, has distorted coverage of Israel’s crimes in Gaza. Interviewing journalists Emma Paling and Samira Mohyeddin, The North State shows how their reporting and experiences reveal the deep anti-Palestinian bias at the heart of the news industry.

Sources and Further Reading Available at

https://readthecatch.ca/one-year-of-october-the-press-the-north-state-podcast

Music:

"Stay the Course" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Bittersweet" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Mesmerize" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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In the second part of this three part series, Scott discusses how Canada aligns with Israel in both its foundational structures and how our Liberal government materially supports their genocide. Journalists Alex Cosh and Justin Brake have both, in their unique ways, confronted the Canadian government about their support for Israel. Alex has been reporting on arms exports for the better part of this past year for The Maple. Justin, Editor-in-Chief for Newfoundland's The Independent, mainly focuses on provincial issues. But when he had a chance to confront Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about his government's support of Israel's genocide, he took it. Two different approaches but very similar results.

Sources and Further Reading Available at

https://readthecatch.ca/one-year-of-october-the-parliament-the-north-state-podcast

Follow Scott on Socials:

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/youcaughtscott.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youcaughtscott/

Twitter: https://x.com/YouCaughtScott

Music:

"Blue Sizzle" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Long Note Three" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So far in this series, we’ve discussed the function of journalism and the government in Canada. It’s important to bring the conversation down to a personal level and examine how the current climate has affected Palestinian-Canadians and their connections to Palestine.It's additionally crucial to know the perspective of Jewish people, whom Israel proclaims to speak in the name of. Today, Scott speaks with Maryam Afana, a Canadian born in Gaza who now lives in Toronto; Fatima Saleh, a Canadian born Palestinian activist based in Alberta, and Gur Tsabar, spokesperson for the Jews Say No to Genocide coalition based in Toronto.

Sources and Further Reading Available at:

https://readthecatch.ca/one-year-of-october-the-people-the-north-state-podcast

"Apprehension" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

British Columbia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan all had provincial elections within two weeks of each other. On the ballot was the incumbent government's track record and the ideology of the electoral options. But according to news coverage, two were referendums on progressive ideals. According to news coverage, no matter the result, the conservative view held firm... even when the Conservatives lost. By examining the coverage of these elections, we can learn what to expect for election coverage in the future.

Follow Scott on Socials:

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/youcaughtscott.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youcaughtscott/

Twitter: https://x.com/YouCaughtScott

Sources and Further Reading Available at:

https://readthecatch.ca/decisions-2024-election-fever-mania-the-north-state-podcast

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Trump won. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. It's been impossible to escape. So it's unsurprising that Canadian news media has been committed to publishing analyses of Trump's sweeping electoral victory. But what's worthy of publishing? What purpose do these proposals serve? Unsurprisingly, shifting right is the main solution. Writer, researcher and co-host of the podcast Expats and Allies Chuka Ejeckam joins Scott to discuss the analyses published by The Globe and Mail, National Post and Toronto Star. They also discuss how even left-wing analyses of Trump's win omits important lessons for the people.

Clarification: Ritchie Torres was not one of the Democrats who spoke out against trans athletes.

Check out Expats and Allies.

Follow Scott on Socials:

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youcaughtscott/

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Sources and further reading available at:

https://readthecatch.ca/opinion-sections-misdiagnose-trump-win-ft-chuka-ejeckam-the-north-state-podcast

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Introducing: The North State’s Breakdown! Scott takes on multiple stories about the news media industry with the help of a guest. Publisher and Editorial Director for Toronto's The Grind Dave Gray-Donald joins Scott to talk about three big stories. Layoffs at Rogers and TVO hit the industry in two different ways. Then, Doug Ford got his way on bike lane legislation… what is the news missing? Finally, La Presse reveals that a convicted killer placed a $100,000 bounty on one of their reporters who covered his murder trial. What does this say in context of the wider threat to journalists?

Dave Gray-Donald Twitter: https://twitter.com/dgrdon

Check out The Grind

Follow Scott on Socials:

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/youcaughtscott.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youcaughtscott/ 

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Sources and further reading available at:

https://readthecatch.ca/breakdown-layoff-season-war-on-bikes-bounty-on-journalist-ft-dave-gray-donald-the-north-state-podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recently, Australia passed a law requiring social media to ban people under sixteen from their services. In order to implement this law, the two avenues of age verification broadly encompass either facial recognition software or government ID verification. Both have disastrous privacy implications at the best of times. So why does Canada have a similar bill in the House of Commons, currently under way to become law? What has the news media missed? Most importantly, who does it affect the most? Scott talks with Kate Sinclaire, a law student and activist with SWAC, and Jelena Vermillion, sex worker and activist with SWAP Hamilton about the formulation and impacts of Bill S-210, as well as the news industry's poor coverage of sex work in general.

This is the last episode of The North State for 2024. We're taking a break until the new year. Happy holidays!

Sources and Further Reading at:

https://readthecatch.ca/digital-id-verification-is-coming-are-we-ready-the-north-state-podcast/

Follow Scott on Socials:

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/youcaughtscott.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youcaughtscott/ 

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Music:

"Devonshire Waltz Andante" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Concentration" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of The North State, independent award-winning journalist Rachel Gilmore joins Scott to have a Breakdown. Justin Trudeau resigns as Liberal Party leader, and consequently Prime Minister of Canada. How has the media covered these tumultuous weeks? Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg announced that everything can always get worse at Meta– what does this mean for Canadians? Finally, it’s time we had a proper retrospective of Canadian news media’s state in 2024. We talk about legacy layoffs and what happens when beloved indie outlets stop actually shit-talking the news.

Check out Bubble Pop with Rachel Gilmore.

Follow Rachel on Bluesky.

Follow Scott on Socials:

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/youcaughtscott.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youcaughtscott/ 

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Sources and further reading available at:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.