A personal letter from Seth Klein

It’s been two years since I joined the roster of columnists with Canada’s National Observer. But I’ve been a monthly subscriber since 2016, and a fan since the start. Indeed, I remember talking to CNO founder Linda Solomon Wood when the idea of the Observer was just a twinkle in her eye.

And look at it now!

No other news publication in Canada gets the climate emergency like the Observer. No other Canadian daily media outlet is treating this crisis like the existential threat that it is.

Like many of you, when I open my email inbox, the morning headlines from the Observer is one of the first things I turn to. Without fail, each weekday, it is jam-packed with the latest climate news, telling us all how this battle for our lives is unfolding at home and abroad, a solid mix of sobering updates and hopeful stories, from an outstanding stable of mission-driven reporters. And if you miss anything during your busy week, you can count on the weekend newsletters from Dana Filek-Gibson and Chris Hatch to pull it all together with first-rate insight and great writing.

This is what journalism at a time of emergency is supposed to look like, written by front-line reporters in this defining struggle of our time. It’s setting an example for the rest of the Canadian media landscape to emulate.

And, friends, that’s something worthy of our support. Those of us who understand the gravity of the crisis need to financially support those who are going further to meet the moment – those who are telling essential truths. Mobilizing for the climate emergency has many elements, and core among them – donating to those institutions that are sounding the alarm. I am a proud supporter of the National Observer.

Will you join me with a gift in support of the CNO’s current fundraising campaign?

When I give talks about the need for a wartime-level approach to the climate emergency, I frequently make the case that this includes a vital role for the media to inform and rally the public, just as occurred in the Second World War. Some push back on this notion, asking “don’t we want our media to be objective?” Some worry about journalism having a “whiff of advocacy.”

Here’s the thing. We want our media and reporting to be factual, guided by science, and evidence-based. But in the face of a civilizational threat, we also want the media to pick a damn side. And that’s just what the Observer has confidently and unabashedly done. That, folks, is well worth supporting.

Please support this vital work with a donation today.

Seth Klein

Columnist

Canada’s National Observer