Free to Protest, Framed to Divide? The Representation of Canada’s ‘Freedom Convoy’ in Mainstream and Alternative Media

Abstract

In democratic societies, the media play a crucial role in framing political and social events, and the 2022 Canadian convoy protest, known as the Freedom Convoy, provides a recent example of how a single event can be represented differently across media outlets. Initially organized in opposition to the vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, the protest quickly evolved into a polarizing national controversy, with media coverage revealing sharp differences between mainstream and alternative media outlets and reflecting broader divisions within Canadian society. This thesis examines how the Canadian media constructed and contested interpretations of the Freedom Convoy. More specifically, it asks: How did Canadian mainstream and alternative media represent the Freedom Convoy movement? In what ways did their representations differ? Drawing on Entman’s (1993) framing theory, the study examines how each outlet defined problems, attributed causes, and made moral evaluations or proposed solutions for identified themes using a hybrid (inductive and deductive) coding method. The analysis compares coverage from the centrist Globe and Mail, the right-leaning National Post, and the far-right Rebel News between January and March 2022 (N=240 articles), tracing the evolution of media framing of the movement from its inception to the lifting of emergency measures by the federal government. Overall, the analysis revealed significant differences in source selection, framing, tone and the presence of solutions across the outlets. Firstly, Rebel News relied primarily on ideologically aligned (far-right) and self-referential sources, whereas The Globe and Mail and the National Post relied largely on institutional sources, such as political leaders and government institutions. Secondly, Rebel News frequently employed populist framing, whereas The Globe and Mail leaned towards a more elitist framing style, with the National Post not fitting neatly into either category. Thirdly, the outlets adopted distinct tones that shaped which actors and issues appeared sympathetic or problematic, reinforcing each outlet’s broader narratives about the protest. Finally, while mainstream news outlets regularly proposed solutions in their coverage, Rebel News emphasized blame and delegitimization of institutions, avoiding offering any recommendations. These findings have broader implications for understanding the role of the news media in exacerbating political polarization and contributing to the spread of populist sentiment in Canada.