…and its value to our members and Concordia students
Two articles came out last week that outlined how CUTV has supported The Breach over the last three years. The Breach is an award-winning national outlet specializing in investigative journalism and video that has its origins as a project of CUTV.
Half of CUTV’s mandate is to “support production of alternative programming for those underserved by the corporate media.” To fulfill that mandate, students and community members at CUTV initiated an effort to help launch The Breach, committing $360,000 and substantial in-kind support over five years to support the alternative media project’s growth.
Unfortunately, both published articles contained factual errors for which corrections are being requested. And the main thing missing from the coverage is that this effort has been a tremendous success and a huge value for students.
The decision came from a majority-student board, and CUTV has been transparent with members about this support from day one—every annual report and AGM has featured discussions of The Breach, and staff and board members are briefed at nearly every meeting about progress.
To elaborate on this issue and correct some misconceptions circulating after a contentious general meeting, here are some key points about The Breach’s relationship with CUTV.
About CUTV’s financing of The Breach
- Last year, The Breach raised over $5 on its own for every $1 it has received from CUTV, so three years after its launch, it is effectively quintupling the investment members made while using every penny to serve CUTV’s independent coverage mandate.
- Once the MOU is complete, The Breach will continue to provide value—both directly to students and grads, and through impact on student movement priorities—for decades.
So, what is the value for students and community members?
Collaborations, trainings, mentorship, local coverage:
- The Breach has employed (and does employ) several Concordia graduates, who have had the opportunity to work on impactful stories but also gain very valuable skills—in some cases from world-class experts through the international coaching programs the Breach has had access to
- The Breach has covered issues at Concordia that no one else has, like the intimidation of activists by far-right Hindutva groups.
- Many CUTV staff and members have had chances to write, collaborate, and work on video productions with journalists and editors who have decades of experience at outlets like The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Nation and La Jornada, as well as on the ground internationally.
- Several CUTV members and Concordia students and alumni—including CUTV’s journalist staff—have contributed articles and gained experience working with editors applying professional editorial standards and investigative techniques.
- The Breach has developed a mentorship program for journalists emerging from social movements, which several CUTV members and Concordia students have accessed.
- Through a number of workshops and media mixers, CUTV members have had the chance to connect to and learn from Breach staff and writers.
The Breach’s work has helped advance CUTV’s mission to provide alternative media programming for those under-served by the corporate media.
Impacts for social movements, in Montreal and beyond
- The Breach’s coverage is widely read — and influential among — social movements, journalists, politicians, academics and others across the country.
- The Breach has been at the forefront of exposing Canada’s complicity in the unfolding horrors in Gaza. Its criticism and investigations into the Canadian media’s coverage of Israel’s assault on the Palestinians have helped shape a national conversation, helping journalists working at mainstream media be able to cover stories they would not otherwise have been able to.
- The Breach’s investigations have driven stories in the National Post, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and national TV broadcasts on inequality, Palestine, Big Pharma, and the housing crisis.
- Breach investigations have resulted in government investigations into profiteering among corporate landlords, and parliamentary probes into Big Pharma keeping drug prices high.
- Collectively. Breach coverage has been viewed by millions of people, in addition to the Breach’s 40,000+ email subscribers.
All of the above directly support the priorities of either the student movement or working-class students in general—who, at Concordia, are the vast majority.
CUTV’s performance during The Breach’s incubation
In addition to the above, CUTV has performed above expectations on a number of fronts, adding the grassroots coverage fund, adding multiple journalists to the payroll, and maintaining the existing equipment lending service.
There have been some mistakes that should be acknowledged.
- Although our appointed third-party auditor by the membership from 2019 – 2023 was useful for many years, their inexperience with the media sector and the duties of fiscal sponsorship have begged the question of their ongoing appropriateness.
- Turnover in the finance administration role during this time period also led to different interpretations of how to record information and track spending— exacerbating this problem.
- Investment in equipment stalled in 2021 and 2022, but also significant capacity went into the digital transformation of our equipment lending system. Additionally, a major theft in 2023 set back our equipment lending program as we took stock and improved security measures. Thanks to grants and, more recently, our partnership with L’Organe, we have invested $33,353 in new equipment over the past 12 months while only receiving $2563 in equipment rental lending fees.
All in all, CUTV members can be incredibly proud of our collective contribution to The Breach. It compares very favourably to similar expenditures of student and community resources.
