The 19th, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to women and politics, has launched with a diverse and overwhelmingly female newsroom and publishing partners to bring its “politics and policy coverage through a gender lens” to a wider audience.
Cofounded by Emily Ramshaw and Amanda Zamora, The 19th takes its name from the 19th Amendment, which, when ratified 100 years ago this month, granted women the right to vote. Their logo is marked with an asterisk to reflect that barriers to the ballot remained — and remain — for many nonwhite women.
Early on, Ramshaw and Zamora (previously the editor-in-chief and chief audience officer of The Texas Tribune, respectively) knew they wanted a newsroom that “reflects the racial, ideological, socioeconomic and gender diversity of American voters.” As New York Magazine’s The Cut noted, 2020 might be the perfect year to build that diverse newsroom from the ground up:
While legacy media grapples with the fact that most employees are overwhelmingly white (77%) and male (61%) — and facing pandemic-fueled hiring freezes that make those statistics hard to change — the 19th* staff of 22 people is 99% female (the only man on staff is the CFO) and 75% nonwhite.
(OK, one out of 22 is closer to 95%, but the point stands.)
The 19th also sought geographic diversity while hiring and counts residents of Philadelphia, Orlando, Des Moines, and New Orleans among its staff. Editor-at-large Errin Hainestold The Cut that The 19th will cover women as “issues voters, as rural voters, as educated voters, as blue-collar workers, as Southerners, and as Midwesterners” — and not treat them as a monolith or single special-interest group.
Despite the pandemic throwing a wrench in just about every launch plan imaginable, Ramshaw and Zamora are starting out with a full staff and $8.5 million in donations — up from “nearly $5 million” in January . That includes $1 million from Kathryn Murdoch (who told The Cut that “her beliefs differ from her media-mogul family members”) and $500,000 from Craig Newmark (who gave after Ramshaw reached out with a cold email).
The 19th has adopted a nonprofit business model and will rely on donations, sponsorships for live events, digital advertising, and paid memberships starting at $19/year. At launch, The 19th counted 611 members giving between $5 and $999 and another 174 giving $1,000 or more.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
