Canadian News Media and Election Fatigue

The US election has finally come. In a choice between a genocidal President and an even more genocidal President, there has been endless talk and discussion about why this is the "most important election of our lives..." for the third election in a row.

Make no mistake, a second Trump presidency is likely to herald in a new dark age of US politics. You're likely aware of Trump's promise to enact mass deportations, his threats to deploy the military on "enemies within" and how he would be a dictator on "day one." But Harris and the rest of the Democrats will merely delay the descent. She has shifted to the right rhetorically on the border, and is part of the government currently funding Israel's genocide in Gaza. This is not to say that the choices are equal, but that the choice is between "continuing horrific policies" and "making them worse." Neither is actually a plan for improvement.

With that out of the way, however, the main focus here is not the US election. Rather, the stranglehold it has on Canadian news media.

Disproportionate Coverage

Qualifiers for this argument have to be made before moving forward. Firstly, this is not a plead for ignorance. Unfortunately, considering the position the USA holds in the world, every country needs to be informed about the leadership the US picks, Canada more than most. The vast majority of our economy and culture relies on the US, so knowledge about their elections is necessary.

But the problem is the clear out-sized priority that the US election takes in our news discussion. On morning of US election day, Global News had two of the three highlighted stories on their homepage, while CTV News fared far better with only three. National Post had nine stories focused on Canada and four about the US election.

Perhaps the most egregious examples were CBC News and the Toronto Star. The top section in the home pages of both sites were dedicated to it. In CBC News' case, only one headline even mentions Canada.

In Toronto Star's case, there are three that mention Canada, with two being in the Opinion section.

The obsession goes beyond general news coverage. Those who have a regular podcast diet (like myself) were similarly inundated this week with a wave of CBC Frontburner episodes on the subject. Every episode since Oct. 30 was centred on the US election.

There's a reason for why the US election is enveloping Canadian news coverage. Put simply, it gets attention, and therefore generates revenue. In the 2016 election, when Trump finally gained political office, cable news ratings soared while covering him. Coverage of the US election is then, primarily, one of economic interest. It's a generally accepted notion that most Canadians are more aware of US national politics than our own, so the same principle that applies to channels like CNN and Fox News applies to our own news ecosystem.

Since economics are the reason news coverage focuses on the US, it's also an explanation as to why most of this coverage doesn't critically examine the economic relationship that Canada has with the country. That's not to say there is no reporting. Returning to CBC News, they've published stories on what a possible Trump presidency and his tariff policy would mean for Canadian trade. However, this coverage accepts Canada's economic dependence on the US as something to be preserved and protected, rather than as a liability. If the US suffers economically, Canada will as well. This is important to report, but the possibility of pursuing other trade relationships to buttress this dynamic is an aspect that is not included in the coverage.

Worsening problems?

Canadian news should absolutely report on US politics, both as general information and how it relates to Canada, specifically. But the news media's focus on every detail of US elections and its consequences foster a feedback loop. Prioritizing US politics disconnects the population from understanding their more immediate political environment. Of course, Canadian politics are reported over US politics for most of the year, but this election cycle has seen far more coverage. How many people who read the news were even aware of the three provincial elections that took place in October? What about byelections in Toronto, which may only receive a headline or two?

If one were to argue that Canadians are simply not as interested in their own politics when they are reported, that reveals the depth of the issue. What little appetite for political reporting exists is simply taken up by the US election cycle, which feels longer every year.

Most of this is theoretical, as there isn't any concrete way to measure the direct effect this has, but voter turnout has been consistently low in recent years. Ontario's last provincial election in 2022 was the lowest ever recorded. Federally, the percentage fares better, but hasn't reached over 70 per cent since 1988. Conversely, according to the Reuters Institute, only 38 per cent of Canadians have trust in their news.

Arguing that disproportionate coverage of US politics in Canadian news is directly responsible for these outcomes, or even a primary factor, would be dubious at best– But it's one that deserves some consideration.

Perhaps this is simply my process of writing out personal fatigue in the US election with a Canadian news angle, but I do believe it's something we need to reflect on. Far less attention is paid to any other country's electoral processes, even when they do receive coverage. US Election day itself warrants more reporting, to be sure, but this takeover of our news outlets with another country's election process has ramifications for the news-consuming audience. It's time we re-evaluate the priorities Canadian news media pursues.