For incredibly boring reasons, Facebook and Instagram say they’re about to block access to Canadian news for anyone in Canada.
That means you won’t be able to find Cabin Radio on Facebook or Instagram, see posts we make, or even share Cabin Radio links on your own Facebook or Instagram accounts.
Yes, this is bonkers, but welcome to 2023.
It’s nothing to do with us – it’s a great big fight between large news corporations (most of which are in lots of debt), the federal government and Facebook owner Meta. Here’s what the government says and here’s what Meta says, if you’re interested.
None of those parties have asked for Cabin Radio’s opinion at any stage in the process. We’re pretty sure no Northwest Territories residents were asked either. Write to Mark Zuckerberg or Michael McLeod, I guess.
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We’re annoyed, because here we are in the middle of a severe wildfire season, with a bunch of evacuations, and your ability to access our reporting is about to be restricted. It makes no sense and, frankly, it’s dangerous.
And it’s not just us. The same will apply to reporting from the CBC, NNSL, and any other Canadian news organization you can name. Google, by the way, also says it’s about to do the same thing, so Canadian news (including us) will soon drop out of all your searches and Google News.
Great, isn’t it. A monument to human progress.
But on the flip side of this: screw ’em all. You don’t actually need Meta or Google to get accurate, timely reporting about the Northwest Territories.
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Three ways to keep getting our news
1. Bookmark cabinradio.ca
(I didn’t say these tips were going to be rocket science.) Bookmark our homepage on your phone or your desktop browser. You can probably even make it a shortcut on your phone’s home screen. Check in with us a few times each day.
2. Get the app
We’re currently developing a shiny new app that’s going to do a better job of letting you listen to Cabin Radio everywhere (including much easier access for listening in your car). It’ll make reading our news a nicer experience, too.
In the meantime, the existing app has all our news and more. Thousands of people use it and the bonus is that once you get this one, you’ll automatically get the new one when it’s ready.
Get the Cabin Radio app – which is free, of course – on Android or iPhone.
3. Sign up for emails
This is new! We’re going to be launching regular newsletters. Over the weekend you’ll see a survey on our homepage, asking what you’d like from us in an email newsletter, Substack or similar.
If getting email newsletters from us is a thing you’d like, sign up right now using this form. We will only ever use this to email you about Cabin Radio and NWT news. We don’t sell your details to anyone and we won’t spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
