1. How did you first become acquainted with rabble.ca?
I first heard about rabble in journalism school, where it was described as a grassroots alternative to mainstream media. Then in grad school I joined babble, rabble’s online community (which was like an early version of reddit), when there were positions open for moderators.
2. What do you think is unique about rabble.ca as a publication?
It provides a space for perspectives and dialogue that are often missing from mainstream coverage. The analysis from rabble’s writers offers a deep dive on national issues that challenges the status quo. It provides a counterweight to corporate media.
At its core, rabble brings together the work of social movements and activists in a way that is hard to find elsewhere. rabble tells the stories of people fighting for a better world and through those stories, offers inspiration about how others can join them.
3. Tell us about one of your best rabble-related memories?
It was exciting to be at rabble during the Orange Wave, when Jack Layton’s NDP was elected as the Official Opposition in 2011. Seeing so many progressive faces in the halls of Parliament was inspiring – and rabble was uniquely positioned to provide meaningful coverage and analysis of that moment. The flip side, of course, was Stephen Harper’s Conservatives winning a majority and bringing in a punishing conservative era. rabble was equally there to report on the Harper government’s attacks on human rights, advocacy, and dissent, and to cover Jack Layton’s tragic, untimely death.
4. What do you think is the most important part of rabble’s coverage? Labour? Feminism? Indigenous issues? The environment?
It’s impossible to name just one part of rabble’s coverage as most important. Labour, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, feminism, Indigenous issues, the environment, human rights issues and more are all critical, intersecting, and connected. More broadly, I’d say what makes rabble special is its continued coverage of social movements across all of these areas. That coverage creates a vital space in the media landscape for grassroots work to reach a national audience and to create momentum for change.
5. Why is rabble’s contribution to this coverage important in your eyes?
rabble’s motto has been to report “news for the rest of us” but its contribution goes further than that. It empowers people to shape the news and the communities we live in. Rather than just reporting about activists or workers, rabble holds space for people within those communities to speak for themselves. This changes who gets heard and recognized in public discourse. By providing a platform for social movements, rabble centres voices that have been overlooked or ignored in the mainstream.
6. What should rabble focus on for the future?
We live in precarious times. As we face the climate crisis, the rise of fascism, the venal power of billionaires, and growing global instability, rabble can offer a place for meaning and hope. It can help us make sense of a world that often feels overwhelming and uncertain. By continuing to tell the stories of people organizing, resisting, and working together, rabble reminds us of the power (and the magic) of collective action and solidarity.
7. How would you describe rabble.ca’s legacy in one sentence?
Journalism that builds collective power for a better world.
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Nick Seebruch, editor
