We probably don’t have to tell you: the past year has been a pretty wild one for the news industry in Canada. 

Last summer, when the Canadian government passed the Online News Act, Meta and Google both threatened to block all news content for users in our country. Instead of panicking, we saw an opportunity to start building more direct relationships with our audience.

Those efforts turned out to be pretty successful: thousands of you signed up for our newsletter and hundreds became members of The Narwhal.

Now, we’ve earned an INNovator Award nomination from the Institute for Nonprofit News, a network of more than 450 independent news organizations, including only a handful of Canadian members. 

The award, which we’re nominated for alongside Documented NY, recognizes work that has a positive financial impact on a newsroom and will help serve its community or audience into the future.

It’s a thrill to be nominated — an acknowledgement of how we can find ways to not only survive, but thrive, as a sustainable news organization in turbulent times.

And with social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram now permanently blocking news in Canada, and the growing concerns around Google search traffic in the wake of its AI push, the lessons we’ve learned about strengthening connections with readers and members are proving invaluable (stay tuned for more engagement efforts on that front!).

Thank you, Narwhals, for reading and supporting our independent journalism.

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