Be Giant editor-in-chief Alison Uncles at the publication's office in Toronto on Wednesday.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
The billionaire Weston family’s first foray into media began Thursday, with the launch of an online publication called Be Giant.
The website works on a non-profit model, and is not selling advertising or subscriptions. It is being funded by the Westons’ holding company, Wittington Investments Ltd.
It will publish stories sometimes called “solutions journalism,” with a focus on researchers, businesses and other groups launching innovations or attempting to solve a range of problems facing the country.
The Globe and Mail first reported on the project last month.
Weston family funding launch of a national digital-media startup, sources say
The family, which controls the Loblaw Cos. Ltd. L-T grocery empire, first began discussions about a new media venture early last year, as annexation threats from U.S. President Donald Trump stoked urgent questions about Canada’s sovereignty and economic independence.
“Be Giant will shine a spotlight on people and companies that are helping build a more prosperous Canada for everyone,” Galen Weston, chairman of Loblaw and chairman and chief executive officer of parent company George Weston Ltd. WN-T, said in a statement to The Globe. “And in doing so, remind us that the capability and ambition to thrive already exist in Canada.”
Wittington did not disclose the level of investment it is directing to the startup. However, Wittington president Cornell Wright said in an interview that the organization would be well resourced, and that the Weston family has committed to supporting Be Giant over a number of years.
The Westons own billions of dollars’ worth of private assets through the holding company. Last May, at the George Weston annual meeting, Galen Weston announced the family would commit to more than $1-billion in “philanthropic funding, with the specific goal of strengthening Canada.” The Be Giant project is one part of that commitment, Mr. Wright said.
The organization has been given editorial independence, and will not be directed to cover companies or issues related to the Westons or their investments, he added. If Be Giant does publish stories that touch on ventures linked to the owners, that will be disclosed in the pieces.
Be Giant is being led by former Maclean’s magazine editor Alison Uncles, who joined the project two months ago. Ms. Uncles was a member of the team that helped to launch the National Post in the late 1990s, and also worked as an editor at the Toronto Star for more than a decade. Most recently, she worked at the Public Policy Forum think tank, where her team researched the collapse of funding for local news.
“I’m really alive to the problems that local media, in particular, face. And one of the answers is philanthropy,” Ms. Uncles said in an interview. “It doesn’t have to always be the only answer, but it is part of the answer for media organizations in general. So I’m really delighted to see this happen on this kind of scale.”
Part of the plan for Be Giant is to allow smaller local outlets to republish some of its stories – those that touch on regional issues relevant to those publications – for free, Ms. Uncles said. The team will also explore reporting collaborations with other outlets, she said.
The publication will employ 10 full-time staff editors and writers working on a freelance basis. Additional staff may be hired later, Ms. Uncles said. Eventually, Be Giant could also consider expanding in other ways, such as by hosting events, or producing audio content, documentaries, or a print product, she said.
“At the outset, really, it’s all about building audience and figuring out what audiences want from us, and where. And then we’ll grow,” Ms. Uncles said.
The website will publish both magazine-length feature stories and shorter written content, as well as short-form videos. Examples of the subjects it will cover at launch include whether artificial intelligence can and should be used to solve 911 call backlogs in Canada; Bombardier’s EcoJet research project, which is testing a blended wing-body design to cut emissions; and a University of Toronto researcher working on “organs-on-a-chip” technology, growing human tissue for drug testing and other health research.
The Weston family, along with other contributors, chose the name Be Giant for the project. Ms. Uncles said she was instantly won over by its mandate to write stories about Canadian ambition.
“I immediately fell in love with it, because it felt really of the moment,” Ms. Uncles said. “It felt urgent, and it felt like there was a need for that, in this moment where the world is ablaze, and we have so many uncertainties coming at us from every front.”