The Conversation Canada, an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community, celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2022. This year, it will celebrate over 200 million article reads in English and French.
Most popular stories in 2022
Science and health stories make up the most popular stories read online. Publications that specialize in health and science reporting regularly republish the articles, which are available for free under Creative Commons. Here’s a look at the five most-read stories published by The Conversation Canada/La Conversation Canada in 2022:
2. Les Tchétchènes en Ukraine : l’arme psychologique de Poutine pourrait se retourner contre lui
3. Myocarditis: COVID-19 is a much bigger risk to the heart than vaccination
4. The hidden world of octopus cities and culture shows why it’s wrong to farm them
5. 6 ways Canadians can prepare for the upcoming recession
Audience growth and community engagement
Over the past five years, The Conversation Canada has seen growing readership support across different fields of research and journalism. A trusted source for science and health information for many, it reached a peak of 45 million reads in 2020, during a time when science and public health reporting was of the utmost importance.
Like many other media publications, this number has levelled off due to a number of factors such as news avoidance, as well as changes in Google’s algorithm for finding news. Given this, readership is still above pre-pandemic levels with 39 million reads in 2022.
Don’t Call Me Resilient
Another major contributing factor to The Conversation’s impact is its podcast Don’t Call Me Resilient (DCMR), hosted by Vinita Srivastava. Using a critical race theory lens, Srivastava talks with experts who study selected issues and people who have lived experiences with them. The end product is an informative, entertaining, and urgent conversation that analyses the most important current events society.
DCMR tackles issues by highlighting how systemic racism permeates our everyday lives in an accessible, and sometimes uncomfortable, way. Each 30-minute show strikes a balance between critiquing what is wrong, discovering new ways to move forward, and finding joy in every way we can.
Whether you’re looking for a voice that better represents you in the media, are in search of different points of view, or are looking for inspiration and knowledge to be a better ally or accomplice, DCMR is the podcast you should be listening to.
Newest additions to the team
None of The Conversation’s accomplishments would be possible without its incredible team. In 2022, it added some new faces such as Mélissa Khadra, who became their first Cheffe de section en science, santé et environment at Las Conversation.
Three recent grads from the UBC School of Journalism, Writing and Media joined the team: Ibrahim Daair as an editor on the Culture and Society desk. and two on a part-time basis: Eleni Vlahiotis (Assistant Editor, Business + Economy) and Freny Fernandes (Assistant Editor, Energy + Environment).
Fundraising campaign strategies and results
For the first time ever, The Conversation asked readers to support their work financially. In December of 2022, it launched a three-week donation campaign which raised just over CAD$30,000. It plans to launch another campaign this spring of 2023.