It’s that time of year to bring back one of The Hub’s favourite traditions: giving our readers a head’s up on what they can expect in the year to come. As for how well our contributor’s crystal balls work, well, check out last year’s predictions and judge for yourself. Looking ahead, here are some can’t-miss predictions for 2025.
Get ready for a government-funded cashapalooza for Canada’s media
By Peter Menzies, a senior fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a former newspaper executive, and past vice chair of the CRTC
Tie on that feedbag! What an absolutely fabulous year it will be on the media funding and communications front—a cashapalooza will explode in the faces of the nation’s legacy media! The budget will enhance the Local Journalism Initiative, expand the Journalism Labour Tax Credit (for approved news organizations), increase CBC funding, add new branches to the Canada Periodical fund, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will demand Meta pays loot to media because people post frame grabs, and—anxious to regulate Andrew Coyne, Chris Selley, and Althia Raj—it will hold the Mother of All Hearings into how to come to the rescue of Bell, Rogers, Videotron, The Star, Postmedia, the Globe and Mail, and anything else that posts pictures of politicians and is willing to submit to its authority.
But it will keep them all in suspense regarding how much loot each of them will be able to pocket from fees applied to everything from internet service providers to foreign streamers until AFTER the election. Almost everyone will pretend this is normal behaviour in a modern liberal democracy.
Longform podcasts will shape media and political discourse in 2025
By Aaron Pete, a council member with Chawathil First Nation, the manager of strategic relationships with Metis Nation British Columbia, and the host of the Bigger Than Me Podcast
Independent creators and longform media are reshaping the media landscape, offering thoughtful alternatives to traditional outlets. Podcasting continues to grow rapidly—Edison Research highlights its steady rise since 2015—and Canadians are turning to independent platforms amidst declining trust in legacy media. Only 32.5 percent of Canadians trust traditional news outlets, according to the Privy Council Office, a stark reflection of this shift.
Recent trends highlight the power of longform formats. Joe Rogan’s interview with Donald Trump garnered 52 million views on YouTube and 25.7 million views on X, and podcast appearances have become a strategic tool in U.S. elections. In British Columbia, I hosted longform interviews with provincial party leaders, including Premier David Eby and Leader of the Opposition John Rustad, who also appeared on the Jordan Peterson podcast to more than 373,000 YouTube views.
This trend will only accelerate during Canada’s federal election, with politicians using platforms like YouTube and Substack to bypass traditional media. These formats invite in-depth, nuanced discussions, fostering better public understanding and more stable political discourse.
As we head into 2025, longform podcasts and independent media will continue to expand, offering a fresh path forward for journalism and public dialogue in a time of growing media skepticism.
