Our Vision
A society where power structures are dismantled and working-class and other marginalised communities are able to thrive.
Our Mission
To achieve this, we produce disruptive upfront journalism. We amplify marginalised communities that seek radical social justice.
Our Values
We work with courage, passion, and integrity. We have lived experience of marginalisation and always stand together with those facing systemic oppression.
What is the Canary Workers’ Co-op?
The Canary is a radical working-class media outlet that is run by the workers. We are a co-operative with a structure that is run democratically. We pass decisions in open meetings, where everyone gets a say and everyone’s voice counts – and we make decisions transparently and collectively..
We are completely independent of any advertisers, funders, companies, political organisations, or political parties.
We produce high-quality, well-researched and incisive journalism that aims to bring us closer to our vision – the dismantling of power structures and the empowerment of working class and marginalised communities – being a reality.
Today, a handful of powerful moguls control our mainstream media. As such, its coverage is largely conservative. But we are striving to be a truly radical and viable alternative. It’s one that isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo, to ask the hard questions, and to have an opinion. This has only been possible because of the support from you – our readers.
Who owns and runs the Canary?
See our full team here.
The Canary consists of two separate organisations, in line with the workers’ new horizontal operating structure.
Canary Media Limited is a private limited company, registered in England with registration number 09788095. You can view its public accounts and directors at Companies House. Canary Media Limited is owned and operated entirely by current and former members of the team, mostly its current workers. It manages the day-to-day finances of the Canary and is responsible for all financial and legal compliance relating to the website and associated areas.
Then, the Canary Workers’ Co-op consists of 15 part-time staff writers, editors and producers. The co-op produces and manages content for Canary Media Ltd, but with our own separate financial and legal structure. We also publish content from freelance contributors and guest writers.
How can I trust what I read in the Canary?
In April 2019, the Canary became one of the first UK media outlets to be awarded a green trust mark for news credibility and transparency from monitoring and rating site Newsguard. You can read their in-depth report on us by installing the Newsguard extension then navigating back to our site.
Media Bias / Fact Check has also reviewed our website. It states that, “we rate the Canary left-biased based on story selection that typically favors the left and High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact check record”.
Each article goes through a rigorous editorial process in which it is checked and amended by at least two editors (a section editor and a copy editor).
Unlike the mainstream press, which regulates itself, we are regulated by IMPRESS, the only independent press regulator in the UK. IMPRESS is the only regulator to be recognised by the UK government’s Press Recognition Panel.
We adhere to the high journalistic standards set out in the IMPRESS Standards Code and are held to account if we ever fail to do so. The code covers such areas as accuracy, attribution, children, discrimination, harassment, justice, privacy, sources, suicide and transparency.
We also have our own Code of Practice, which lays out the standards and ethical principles that guide our writers and editors whenever we make journalistic decisions.
The Canary strives to report the news accurately and responsibly. If we make a mistake, we rely on our readers to help us maintain our high standards.
If you spot an error in any of our articles or you think we may have broken the standards set out in the code please see our corrections and complaints policy for information about how to contact us, the complaints process and how we publish corrections.
We also support the National Union of Journalists (NUJ’s) Code of Conduct and actively encourage all of our journalists to join and be active in a union – we officially recognise the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union at our workplace.
For more information on our ethics and editorial standards, please read our Code of Practice.
Where does the money come from and where does it go?
In August 2019, the Canary became primarily a reader-supported media platform. The remainder of our income comes from online advertising.
We have a horizontal structure that prioritises equality across the board for our workers in terms of conditions and benefits. Everyone receives the same rate of pay at £12 per hour.
We don’t have fancy offices – in fact, we don’t have any offices. This ensures that the vast majority of our income goes directly to our team as wages. We also commission guest posts and video content from independent producers.
How To Support Us
Please become a supporter. By providing us with a small contribution each month, you are directly supporting strong independent disruptive journalism. In return, you’ll get an ad-free reading experience and a weekly newsletter, with more benefits coming soon.
Much of our growth comes from word of mouth and social sharing. By spreading the word about the Canary (including by liking, commenting and engaging in the community), you help make us sustainable.
