Why CBC News follows the U.S. presidential election

Brodie Fenlon · CBC News

· Posted: Aug 19, 2024 8:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: 30 minutes ago

We use this editor’s blog to explain our journalism and what’s happening at CBC News. You can find more blogs here.

We are just over two months from the U.S. presidential election and the culmination of a contest that appeared to turn upside down in the space of a few weeks this summer.

First, there was the attempted assassination attempt on Donald Trump followed just a few days later by his triumphant nomination at the Republican National Convention. Within a week, Joe Biden had succumbed to pressure within his own party to drop out, setting up Kamala Harris for a quick acclamation as the Democratic nominee and renewed vigour to the Democratic presidential campaign. 

Our journalists in CBC’s Washington bureau have seen a lot over the last decade, and even their heads were spinning by the pace and scale of these developments! 

With the start of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the first debate between Trump and Harris scheduled for Sept. 10, I can say three things with certainty:

• There will be no shortage of news from the campaign and we will be there to report it, including robust election night coverage through to inauguration.

• A large number of Canadians care about the race and are tuning in, driving up ratings and pageviews for CBC, but also for the big American news outlets available in Canada.

• CBC News will get complaints from members of our audience who question why we give a U.S. election so much time and focus.

It’s that last bullet point I want to address.

It goes without saying that the overwhelming majority of our journalism each day remains dedicated to local and national news (as evidenced when you scroll through the 30-plus pages under CBCNews.ca, including our 20 regional news sites). 

At the same time, world coverage has been a hallmark of CBC News since the public broadcaster was founded, and we dedicate more resources to international reporting than any other media outlet in Canada.

Within our coverage of the world, the United States occupies a special place for some obvious reasons. From arts and culture, national security, the economy to the environment — our countries are inextricably linked. 

We share the longest international border in the world, with two-thirds of Canadians living within 100 kilometres of it. More than three quarters of our total exports travel over that border each year, along with $3 billion worth of trade and 400,000 people each day. 

There are more Canadian citizens living in the United States — about 800,000 — than in any other country in the world.  

We share continental and transatlantic defence obligations, intelligence strategy and environmental policy. American tech giants dominate the platforms and information ecosystems that Canadians use to make, share and consume content. (And by the way, we consume a lot of American culture, with U.S.-made movies, programs, video games and music commanding the lion’s share of our discretionary attention and dollars.) 

Simply put, the United States and the policies of its government have a direct and daily impact on the lives of most Canadians.  It can easily be argued that the U.S. presidential election matters more to Canadians than any other election beyond our own. 

And yet, it is not OUR election, which gives CBC News the unique ability to zoom out from the daily horse race, watch from a distance and provide you with an outsider’s perspective and the Canadian context you won’t find in U.S. media coverage. 

We are at our best when we cover this race through a Canadian lens and zero-in on what matters to us and our country. We pledge to do this while balancing the demands of the daily news cycle and coverage of the latest developments.