The Pitch (En)

We want to present to you a revolution in journalism.

What if, instead of yet another media company, there was a new model of journalism that did things differently? We envision a model that isn’t just about the finished product but puts the focus on transparency, communication, and community. We dreamed up a new form of journalism that prioritizes long-term investigations over the daily grind, that doesn’t only highlight the outcome of issues but digs deep into their origins, and presents it in a way that anyone from any background can digest, listen to, and engage with.

Gabrielle Brassard-Lecours stands as a central figure in Quebec’s freelance journalism landscape. Known for her vision and follow-through, Gabrielle has helped launch and establish media like Ricochet and Pivot, and served as president of the Association des Journalistes Indépendants du Québec. Since then,Gabrielle saw drastic shifts in society and wants to get back into the action by doing grassroot journalism.

Isaac Peltz spent their early career working in music and they eventually crossed over into media. Working behind the scenes in Quebec’s journalism world, they honed skills in podcasting, interviewing, and editorial production while freelancing to keep afloat. Isaac grew frustrated with the current state of the media. Within them, a desire for a different kind of journalism grew.

We began collaborating on an investigation into the housing crisis and, in the process, shared a mutual frustration on how journalism is done.

The truth hurts: The media has become one of Canada’s least trusted institutions, with trust in it dropping 20 percentage points since 2018. Multi-billion-dollar conglomerates dominate the country’s media landscape, leaving people to question whether the truth is even a priority. Journalism, to many, has become the domain of an elite, disconnected from the realities faced by “normal” people, and separating themselves from the rest with their command of stats, knowledge, and political intrigue. The two of us are not excluded from this.

The final nail for us was the United States election. We saw how the media was culpable in the outcome of the election, and the misinterpretation of how the parties were faring in public opinion.

The truth as presented by legacy media is failing to reach people because fewer and fewer trust it. We believe that the reasons for that are obvious: there is a general misconception of how journalism is done, and no transparency around how resources (time, money, contacts etc…) are managed.

In response to this, there are bad actors from every corner taking advantage of people’s distrust of institutions. We were already seeing an exponential growth of disinformation, but with the advent of AI and technology, it has multiplied even further. We believe the greatest way to combat this is through an open process, showing and detailing every puzzle piece in journalism that creates a final product, including how we use our resources.

We reject the toxic cycle of negative, click-driven news and will instead focus on stories that will not be forgotten tomorrow. In our model, the public doesn’t just consume the news; they participate in it. We aim to share every phase of our investigations—from brainstorming to interviews—giving readers and listeners a voice to offer feedback, raise concerns, and help shape the story. We recognize that every journalist brings biases from their life experiences, and we aim to balance that with public input. Not only that, but by working as an inseparable team, we can counterbalance one another. Two different life experiences, two extremely different personalities and ways of thinking is another tool to balance our work and journalistic interviews with rigour and professionalism. 

So subscribe today, because we want to work in tandem with you. Subscribe because you want to see a change as well, and you’re interested in joining the fight for information, freedom and transparency.

How does money work, and why are you crowdfunding?

There are very good questions around how journalists like us make our money. Please allow us to expose how the industry works for your viewing pleasure.

Usually, in Quebec, media only pay for the final piece, with a lump sum or a fee per page (250 words or 1500 characters). Because there is no legal framework for independent journalists, media have all the freedom to pay whatever amount they want. Therefore, fees can vary from 50$ to 150$ per page. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Which means that for a 4-5 page story, a good fee would be around 750$ when the outlet pays well. This amount doesn’t include the hours of research, questions planning, transportation, field work, outreach to book interviews, etc. Writing an investigative piece can take around 40-80 hours of research and writing, plus however long for editing. So, at the end of publishing, if you spent a total of 45 hours between writing and research, you'd have made $6.66 an hour. When your investigation is 80 hours, it can be closer to $3.50 an hour.

So, most indie journalists will look for other avenues of payment. A lot of them have jobs outside journalism to make ends meet. Another way to have money is grants, but there aren’t that many, and it’s a one-time deal with a limited amount. Plus, grant money is highly competitive and some of them do not include living expenses but only expenses necessary to the specific story presented.

A lot of media don't buy freelance pitches, and will say that they are out of money. Freelance pieces are always the first ones to be cut down when a financial crisis happens in a newsroom. For example, for the current investigation on the housing crisis we’re working on, we won a 10,000 dollar grant from the Association des journalistes indépendants du Québec. By breaking down all the numbers, we can calculate that we’re earning about 12 dollars an hour (quite a bit less than the minimum wage), if we’re only working full time, which generally we don’t. 

So, it boils down to this: We want to change journalism and believe we have the capacity to do it. But also, we live under capitalism, and need to survive. In exchange for your support, we are going to show you as much behind the scenes as we can, with respect to sources and other confidential data, so you understand better how we work and how our stories are made, with your help. We are open to change and adapt, and we hope you’ll support us not just to receive something, but because you believe that journalism can be done differently.