Truth matters more than ever in the Age of Make-Believe

This marks the 14th edition of my tradition of writing a New Year’s message to our readers.

It’s always been a privilege to reflect on the year that was and to talk about what our newsroom has in store for you in the coming year.

But this note feels different, in large part because this year was so unlike those we’ve experienced in the past — as a newspaper, and as a country.

Nearly 12 months ago — although it somehow seems so much longer — the tech tycoons who increasingly shape what we see and don’t see were in the front row to bear witness to the swearing-in of an American president. Those billionaires paid mightily for that inaugural privilege, as currying favour from the White House was now part of their operating system.

Fact-checking was loudly and proudly sacrificed. Democracy dying in darkness was no worry to these digital power brokers, who would go on to pay more to POTUS, in legal settlements or donations to a presidential library, for an Easter Egg hunt or a new East Wing ballroom.

And amid the relentless background noise of all-caps social media posts and TikTok reels of AI slop, these platform executives embrace distrust, encourage discord and enable disinformation so that what’s fact and what’s fiction no longer seems to matter.

Is Canada flooding the United States with fentanyl? Truth be damned as we suddenly find ourselves in a trade war, scrambling to respond to a temper tantrum of tariffs and — to add insult to economic injury — threats to annex this country as the 51st state.

I don’t think Free Press subscribers ever thought sitting down to read our newspaper would constitute standing up for Canada. But surely that is what it has become, as a free and independent press here in Canada is an essential ingredient to the nation rebuilding now underway.

We can keep U.S. booze off our shelves, but is there no way to block what the U.S. cloudmasters send our way to steal our attention, to skew our views, to stoke the rage economy that betters their bottom lines?

Standing against what Silicon Valley enables has seen our newsroom and our readers here in the Red River Valley commit to a true north, strong and Free Press.

Trusting in Canada means ensuring Canadians have trusted places to turn for fact-checked information verified by real people.

Trusting in Canada demands that our decision-making be informed by independent journalism, produced by Canadians for Canadians.

Trusting in Canada requires our voices be heard and our stories shared.

My trust in Canada was a motivating factor in my decision to make a pilgrimage this past summer to Vimy Ridge, that famed First World War battleground in France long seen as a defining moment in our nation’s narrative.

Vimy was front-page news in the Free Press from the moment of the first shots until the celebratory headlines of April 12, 1917 announced Canadians had cleared the Germans from the seemingly impregnable ridge.

I couldn’t help but smile that my tour of Vimy and its trenches, wearing a bright-red Canada shirt, came as Americans were marking Independence Day.

In these increasingly incoherent times that breed increasing incohesion, there’s an elbows-up element to reading a newspaper like the Free Press.

In the attention economy, you are sending a message when you choose to spend your time with Canadian journalism. You are telling the big platforms that truth still matters. You are signalling to the algorithms that a media diet of facts trumps one of fiction. Your act of patriotism paves the way for more Canadian news, produced by Canadians, available to more Canadians.

In the lead-up to Manitoba Day last May, the Free Press unveiled a new slogan for these times: Canada Proud, Manitoba Strong.

As this year draws to a close, I thank our readers for keeping us proud and strong. And as we look ahead to 2026, may that strength and that pride help us keep calm and carry on.

Happy New Year!

paul.samyn@freepress.mb.ca