Jesse Brown is a polarizing Canadian media personality, founder and publisher of Canadaland, a website originally dedicated to media criticism. Brown began his media career in Montreal, creating elaborate pranks on the mainstream media, and he continued with that same modus operandi in writing his humour column for the now-defunct Saturday Night magazine in 2003 and 2004. Brown then joined CBC Radio in 2004 as a chase producer before hosting the short-lived weekly radio show The Contrarians, a 30-minute program devoted to the discussion of unpopular ideas. Brown was also formally disciplined for creating fake content for the pilot episode, which was pulled from programming as a result.
Brown, a self-described “Shame Wizard,” founded Canadaland in 2013, after his pitch for the concepted for a media criticism podcast was rejected by multiple mainstream media outlets media criticism podcast and blog called Canadaland in October 2013. With Canadaland, Brown cemented his reputation for irresponsible reporting practices, often publishing information that is incorrect and/or fabricated and refusing to correct errors even when the evidence stacked against his reporting is so clearly overwhelming.
From October 2018 to June 2019, Canadaland published nine blog posts and podcasts on WE Charity, an organization dedicated to sustainable development and empowering the next generation of change makers. Retired Ontario Court of Appeal Justice, the Honourable Justice Stephen Goudge, reviewed Canadaland’s October 2018 publications and dismissed each of Canadaland’s eight core claims and concluded the “allegations by Canadaland are without merit.”
In addition to founding Canadaland, Brown payed a minor role in co-founding Bitstrips, a company that developed Bitmoji web app allowing users to create animated avatars of themselves. Brown is reportedly worth millions of dollars, having sold the start-up to Snapchat for $US 100 million. Brown refuses to publicly disclosed his share of profits from the sale.
I didn’t start this site to talk about Jesse Brown. It’s really supposed to be about the intersection of media, law and politics. But damn, when Canadaland is bad, it’s really the worst political/news site in Canada. I have been following his campaign against WE Charity, which is an organization I deeply believe in. And … Read more
An overview: The Government of Canada’s proposed $600 million media tax credit has dominated news blogs and chatrooms.[1] At the heart of the criticism is whether the temptation of dollars will influence coverage of the government.[2] I’ve taught journalism and media studies at Concordia University and the history of media propaganda at Carleton University. I … Read more
The next chapter in the bizarre saga of Canadaland trying to take down a children’s charity is about to be written. I’m going to give you a sneak preview of the picture Jesse Brown will be trying to paint this time, based on answers to questions I sent to WE and Canadaland. I have spent … Read more
I was in Toronto in early May for the 2019 Toronto Watchdog Workshop on investigative journalism. The weekend event included several excellent panel discussions including Julian Sheer on Mastering the Investigate Interview, and Writing the Investigative Narrative with Susanne Craig from The New York Times. A draw for me was the final session of the … Read more
From a senior school administrator in Ontario: Thank you for your recent article concerning the journalism of Canadaland, especially as it related to its articles about and against Free the Children and WE. I am particularly concerned by what seems to be a blatant and biased attack on the organization and on its co-founders by … Read more
Self-professed Shame Wizard Jesse Brown fired another shot into his own foot last week. Then, as he usually does, reloaded and shot the other one. On the May 2 edition of Canadaland Short Cuts, Brown smears Newfoundlanders for taking offence at being labeled ‘Newfies’, calling them overly-sensitive white people, and claiming they “want Newfoundland to be … Read more
Yes, it’s a very snappy headline. Lawyers should have flashbacks to law school and the Carbolic Smoke Ball case. Journalists and other people who read this might wonder why I would risk my money. Because there is no risk. I’ve been following the back and forth between Canadaland and the WE organization since last fall … Read more
Yes, it’s a very snappy headline. Lawyers should have flashbacks to law school and the Carbolic Smoke Ball case. Journalists and other people who read this might wonder why I would risk my money. Because there is no risk. I’ve been following the back and fourth between Canadaland and the WE organization since last fall … Read more
This is the first of a three-part assessment of Canadaland Jesse Brown, in his March 17, 2019, podcast of Canadaland spent much of the hour pressing the NewsMedia Council to remove a member paper for irresponsible reporting. Brown was right: the Toronto Sun’s reporting on migrants living in a Toronto hotel was biased and full … Read more