Reporting next to the “elephant:” How Canadian media cover U.S. midterms

In the shadow of the U.S. midterms, Canadian national media outlets are focusing on the impact locally while avoiding viewer burnout from a flood of US political news.

Nathan VanderKlippe, a reporter for nearly 20 years at Canada’s national daily newspaper, The Globe and Mail, said that this midterm is different for Canadians and that the results matter more than ever before.

He said Canadians’ personal lives and businesses are intertwined with how the U.S. election plays out, noting that as the midterms approach, Canadian interest increases.

Some Canadian journalists say that the line between reporting on American politics and the relevance to Canadians can be blurry, pointing to possible US government shifts and how they may affect Canada’s next steps.

Columnist Edward Keenan, the former Washington Bureau chief at the Toronto Star, referenced the famous phrase made by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau in 1969:

“Living next to [the US] is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast is…one is affected by every twitch and grunt,” Trudeau was quoted as saying.

Keenan said the most important issue in Canada is its relationship with the United States, and Canadian journalism has historically treated the midterms as a barometer for the health of Canada-U.S. relations.

“When a US seat is open during the midterms, so is the window for the president to influence orders that may affect Canada, forcing the prime minister to plan how the country will pivot,” Keenan said.

Finding the Canadian angle

Keenan and other Canadian journalists covering Washington always try to keep the public in mind by going back to one question: What’s the Canadian angle and why should citizens care?

VanderKlippe, who has been covering Canadian relations with the U.S. for five years, said that a lot of the work he completes is not directly tailored towards the Canadian audience because the public will consume the America-centric stories regardless.

But deciding which stories to prioritize remains a challenge for Canadian journalists covering a country that produces an overwhelming amount of news.

Keenan recalled another Washington-based correspondent comparing the abundance of U.S. news to having 15 fire hydrants to choose from, compared with just one when covering Canada.

While covering changes in U.S. news, Keenan said he never got “too far into the weeds” in topics like healthcare, education, and policing, as Canadians struggle to see themselves in the reporting.

At the same time, Keenan and other reporters have learned to use a brief explainer approach in stories that gives the lay of the land before explaining how the news affects the public.

The midterms and Canadian trade

According to Countability, a Canadian-focused research and data-analysis website, about 71% of Canada’s yearly exports go to the United States, an economic reliance trend that has been a reality for over 40 years and accounts for around a quarter of its annual GDP.

As of October 23, Trump imposed additional duties of 50% on Canadian products like carpets, air conditioners, and shampoo under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

According to the Advancing American Freedom Foundation, a US non-profit education and public policy organization, North Dakota, Montana, Maine, and Vermont are the four states where Canadian trade accounts for more than half of their total global goods trade, impacting them the most.

A different political system

Canada is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy where the executive power is held by the Prime Minister, while the United States is a constitutional republic with a presidential system where the elected president is the head of government and state, but there are three equal branches of government.

Despite the difference, Keenan said most Canadians grow up reading and watching U.S. publications, often enticed by the flashy rhetoric and attention-grabbing headlines, making them familiar with U.S. government dynamics and eliminating the need to go in-depth with explainers.

Hayden Godfrey, a former staff reporter at the Toronto Star who is now a law student, said part of covering the U.S. midterm election is explaining what that is in Canadian media and ensuring that the main story is followed by a secondary story of how Canadian representation reacts to the news. (Godfrey, an AU graduate, also wrote for The Wash).

Avoiding sensationalist reporting

When asked about past strategy, Godfrey said all Canadian media could do was speculate and continue to tell the truth and cater to the audience without being alarmist.

Compared to American journalists, Canadian reporters have also said that they benefit since they aren’t immediately labeled as untrustworthy like in the US.

Angela Murphy, foreign news editor at The Globe and Mail, said Canadian reporters strive to be truth tellers and always fact check wilder claims.

Murphy said that Canadian journalists are truthful and not neutral, referencing Christiane Amanpour, the Chief International Anchor at CNN.