Having listened to former Canadaland employees who took time I didn't deserve to tell me things I admittedly should have already known (because none of this is new news), I've decided to pull my support for Canadaland.

(thread) https://twitter.com/joshuahind/status/1336475342886858756

2/ For years I've justified supporting Canadaland, despite my reservations about its owner, because it was producing shows I found valuable. You take value from Commons or Thunder Bay, you should give some value in return.

3/ I'd stopped listening to the "Monday show" because I didn't know what it was trying to be. Sometimes news, sometimes soapbox with a host trying to be every kind of host at once. I wrote about it in 2017 and I don't see much has changed. https://medium.com/@joshuahind/canadalands-big-problem-686f819d2d

4/ So I was paying for Commons and Thunder Bay, but also paying for the Monday show and Short Cuts. Is supporting one worth funding the other when no matter how I rationalize it the whole $334,428/year from Patreon goes to the owner?

5/ If you listen to Canadaland's former employees, the business was built on the backs of eager, talented people without regard for their well-being or security. I don't have to prove that's true to decide how to spend my money, I just have to believe it. And I do.

6/ Funding models like Patreon are, I think, ideally suited to allowing bad behaviour to go unchecked. I fund(ed) Canadaland, but only $7/month worth, so it's not like I'm a majority shareholder and my money carries any influence.

7/ But if you multiply that thought by 5000 people or so, you have a lot of money without having to manage a bunch of opinionated financiers who are in a position to hold you accountable in a real sense, outside of the occasional Twitter interaction.

8/ Organizations need to be held accountable, especially those that promote themselves as truthtellers. And the only tool I have to do that is my $7/month, meagre as it may be. So I'm using it.

9/ I apologize to the employees who were mistreated by an organization I funded. I apologize to the people whose amazing work I'll no longer fund.

10/ As for the $7/month...it's burning a hole in my pocket and I'm eager to put it to good use. Suggestions?

-end-