Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) is a left-of-center organization that advocates for and reports on freedom of expression and freedom of information in Canada. The organization lists its work in three categories: advocacy and policy work in Canada, international campaigns, and funding programs. ¹

The organization has been sponsored by the Google News Initiative, a journalism training and funding project of Google that has partnered with openly left-leaning news outlets such as Vox and the Guardian, as well as metropolitan-liberal news sources including the Washington Post and the New York Times. ^{2 3}

History

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression is a left-of-center nonprofit organization that advocates and reports on freedom of expression in the press, and the freedom to access information in Canada and around the world. CJFE consolidates its work into three categories: advocacy and policy work in Canada, international campaigns, and funding programs. ⁴

The organization was created in 1981 as a part of the Centre for Investigative Journalism. The organization, which was originally called the CIJ Latin American Committee, was created to report on and campaign against the “kidnapping, torture, and murder” of journalists and members of the media in Latin America, which was largely under the rule of authoritarian regimes at the time. ⁵

The CIJ Latin American Committee changed its name to the Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists (CCPJ) in 1984. The CCPJ was a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) which was created in 1992. ⁶

The organization changed its name to Canadian Journalists for Free Expression in 1998, the same year that it held its inaugural International Press Freedom Award. CJFE began its Journalists in Distress Fund in 1999, and its Journalists in Exile program in 2000 to help journalists who were forced to flee their homes. ⁷

CJFE launched its Scotiabank/CJFE Fellowship, a program that offers a “mid-career” journalist from a Latin American country the opportunity to spend an academic year studying at Massey College in the University of Toronto, in 2009 alongside its Free Expression Review, an annual report on the state of free expression in Canada. ⁸

CJFE has received the Canadian Library Association’s Award for the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada. ⁹

Sponsors

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression lists the sponsors of its 2019 Gala on its website. According to CJFE, the Google News Initiative was the evening sponsor for the event. The Google News Initiative is a journalism training and funding project of Google, the California-based multinational technology company and subsidiary of Alphabet, Inc. The project has partnered with openly left-leaning news outlets such as Vox and the Guardian, as well as metropolitan-liberal news sources including the Washington Post and the New York Times. ^{10 11}

Other sponsors of the event included the Canadian Press, Reuters, the Globe and Mail, News Media Canada, CTV News, and Canada’s oldest media union, CWA Canada. ¹²

1. “Our Work.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). October 9, 2022. Accessed October 10, 2022. www.cjfe.org/our-work.
2. “CJFE | Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). April 19, 2022. Accessed October 10, 2022. www.cjfe.org/sponsors.
3. “Partnerships.” Google News Initiative. Accessed October 10, 2022. newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/info/partnerships.
4. “Our Work.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). October 9, 2022. Accessed October 10, 2022. www.cjfe.org/our-work.
5. “Our history.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). Accessed October 10, 2022. www.cjfe.org/our_history
6. ^[1] “Our history.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). Accessed October 10, 2022. www.cjfe.org/our_history.
7. “Our history.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). Accessed October 10, 2022. www.cjfe.org/our_history.
8. “Our history.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). Accessed October 10, 2022. www.cjfe.org/our_history.
9. “Our history.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). Accessed October 10, 2022. www.cjfe.org/our_history.
10. “CJFE | Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). April 19, 2022. Accessed October 10, 2022. www.cjfe.org/sponsors.
11. “Partnerships.” Google News Initiative. Accessed October 10, 2022. newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/info/partnerships.
12. “CJFE | Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.” Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). April 19, 2022. Accessed October 10, 2022. www.cjfe.org/sponsors.