Did you catch our attempt at covering Chrystia Freeland’s official campaign launch for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada?

It took place at a small Toronto community centre last week. Spoiler alert: Rebel News and other independent media people were deemed persona non grata and frog-marched out to the frigid sidewalk. Meanwhile, pro-Hamas hooligans were allowed in, and SHOCKERS! – repeatedly disrupted the event.

How perversely ironic! Chrystia’s slogan is FREE LAND, two words, block capitals no less. But “free”? Really? What happened to freedom of the press? And to think Fraulein Freeland used to be a journalist herself!

Chrystia Freeland denies independent press at campaign launch, faces heckling pro-Hamas protesters

Freeland’s campaign logo is “FREE LAND” (get it?) Too bad this former journalist’s alleged love of freedom does not extend to freedom of the press…https://t.co/Wz2H5sbMlp

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) January 21, 2025

But an eagle-eyed viewer tipped us off regarding one of the censorious thugs on Team Freeland who was telling Rebel News to bugger off. And it turns out that effeminate man in the red sweater was none other than Adam Austen. Who’s that, you ask? Well Adam Austen is Bell Media's Senior Manager of Communications & Public Affairs.

So, yes, on one hand, Adam Austen is receiving corporate welfare from the federal Liberals. And on the other hand, he’s directly working for a senior Liberal (we do not know if that’s paid gig or if he’s volunteering.) And the bailiwick of this Bell Media head honcho is… to shut down independent media voices?

Are you kidding me?

Rebel News did reach out to Bell Media’s media relations department. We sought an interview with Adam Austen. Yet, given that he was so camera-shy last week – he wouldn’t even identify himself – we can’t imagine that he’s going to emerge as chatty Cathy anytime soon.

So, as Plan B, we informed the flacks at Bell Media that we’d settle for a written response to three pertinent questions. Namely:

1. As an employee of a media company, why did Mr. Austen not want independent media to cover the Freeland event?

2. Given that Bell Media is heavily subsidized by the current Liberal government, is Mr. Austen not in a conflict-of-interest position in terms of campaigning for Ms. Freeland?

3. As well, in the big picture, how can a media company such as Bell Media accept funding from the federal government yet still cover the federal government objectively? Is this not only another conflict of interest as well as an ethics breach?

And the response: resounding silence.

By the way, Bell Media receives $40 million of YOUR money in regulatory relief and is expected to receive perhaps millions more due to the Liberals’ Online News Act.

But does that seem right to you? Bell Media’s parent company, Bell Canda Enterprises Inc., is a multibillion-dollar conglomerate. BCE’s annual gross profit for 2023 was more than $7.7 billion. And in the department of the rich getting richer, last September, Bell sold its minority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for $4.7 billion.

Question: does such a company, flush with billions of dollars in the bank, seem like a likely candidate for taxpayer-funded corporate welfare?

And now that Rebel News has outed Adam Austen seemingly working for Freeland, we now have an updated answer vis-à-vis how low can the mainstream media go—which is to say, it’s THIS low: not only are these propagandists sucking from the teat of Justin Trudeau, but these trained seals are actively doing everything they can to keep their Liberal sugar daddies in power.

And that would include working on the campaigns of wannabe Liberal leaders. And that’s because if the Pierre Poilievre Conservatives go on to form the next government, this gravy train is likely going to go off the rails.

In the meantime, forget about such journalistic cliches as the “public has the right to know” or that a journalist’s mission statement is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

Now it’s all about playing nice with the federal government while denying mainstream media outlets the opportunity to practice real journalism. It’s quid pro quo; you scratch my back, I scratch yours. And screw ethics and doing what’s right, because it’s just business, baby.

Yet, given that the former media watchdogs have fully devolved into government lapdogs, the question arises: how do the likes of Adam Austen live with themselves?

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