In an ever-more polarized world, trust in the media is on a downwards trend. This is with good reason. The TV networks and newspapers are owned and controlled by a small number of capitalists who decide what dominates the news cycle, and what editorial line is presented. In Canada, a single corporation—Postmedia Network—owns nearly 45 per cent of all newspapers in the country. This is the same Postmedia that reportedly comes down on its editors when they are not “conservative enough.”
Even social media outlets, until recently considered the wild west of news sources, are clamping down political speech. While they often do so in the name of curbing the far-right, more often they come down on left-wing activists. Last year, Facebook shut down numerous anti-fascist, anarchist, and anti-racist pages in the name of opposing “extremism”, and recently shut down the page of the British Socialist Workers’ Party without explanation. While those on the right often decry a “left-wing media bias”, control of the media is not a question of left versus right, but one of class. The capitalists have always used control of media to maintain their rule, and as class struggle sharpens, this will only become more evident.
The capitalists have their voice in the media. The working class must have its own. This is the role that Fightback and La Riposte socialiste seeks to fill: putting forward socialist perspectives on working-class struggles in accessible language. We are the Marxist voice of labour and youth.
There is a clear thirst for Marxist ideas. The experience of COVID-19 has proven to wide layers of workers and youth that the interests of the capitalists are directly opposed to their own, and they are looking for answers. Since the start of the pandemic, subscriptions to Fightback have doubled, as have hits to our website. However, our monthly publishing schedule is no longer sufficient to keep pace with events. With this in mind, we are excited to announce our plan to move towards a fortnightly publication! But this will only be possible if we expand our subscription base to 1000 subscribers.
In the traditions of the working class, we rely only on our members and supporters in the movement for funding. We are able to remain politically independent, since we do not look to state grants or large donations to pay our bills. We can speak for the working class because our support comes from the working class.
We need your help to continue to build the Marxist press. If you agree with our ideas, then get a subscription to Fightback or La Riposte socialiste! For $30 you will receive 10 copies of the paper by mail, or for $20 you can have a digital copy sent to your email. If you already have a subscription, you can upgrade to monthly contributions with a solidarity subscription. By contributing $10, $25, $40, $75 or $100 per month, not only will you be supporting the press and receiving a regular edition of the paper, you will also be supporting our efforts to organize on revolutionary, working-class lines.
The workers and youth need their own media, a revolutionary voice that speaks to their interests. Be part of making this a reality by getting a subscription today.
