Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
From Brian Zinchuk, editor and owner, Pipeline Online:
For Pipeline Online I sometimes “boost” posts on social media to get them out there, and seen by more people. This is specifically the business model most social media platforms follow. First they encourage you to create a page on their site, and to post there frequently. But as time goes on, they will show your posts to fewer and fewer of your followers, as few as 2 per cent, unless you specifically pay to have that post shown to your followers, or whatever audience you choose. This is why Facebook is worth so much.
For Pipeline Online, nearly all of my posts are news stories. Legitimate news stories. This morning I posted a story about Pierre Poilievre’s speech to the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show on June 1. The story was the verbatim transcript of the speech, and accompanying YouTube video of the complete speech I posted.
This is the story:
Poilievre speaks of the consequences of the relentless ideological drive to attack the energy sector
It was an important speech, and I took the time to give the reader the entire speech, so they can decide for themselves what they thought of it. It’s not often national leadership candidates and potential prime ministers make the effort to speak to the oil and gas sector in Saskatchewan.
Pierre Poilievre at the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show in Weyburn, June 1, 2022. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
When “boosting” a post, this is an ad. In my case, an ad to promote my news website. Well Meta now has a special ad category for political posts, with stringent criteria about who can say what, attribution, etc. That’s meant to restrict supposed manipulation of the population. But what it does in this case is restrict the freedom of the press in getting out legitimate news stories.
And Facebook has a “journalist registration” process, which is a vetting process to see if you are a journalist. If this sounds familiar, Germany enacted a similar process in the 1930s. I’m not saying that for hyperbole. I’m saying it because it’s true. You can understand why I am leery about such things, but I have little choice. The Meta journalist page says, “Any journalist or freelance contributor working in an editorial capacity for a news organization that is registered as a news Page on Facebook is encouraged to register as a journalist on Facebook using their personal Facebook account.
“Registered journalists will receive stronger security features that further protect their Facebook and Instagram accounts, and may be eligible for other benefits, such as Blue Badge verification.”
Similarly, you have to register your news page with Meta. It looks like if I don’t do that, my content will barely be seen.
So, when Pierre Poilievre speaks about gatekeepers, he’s not lying, nor making it up. This is very much the reality I, as a startup news site launched in October, must deal with on a daily basis.
This is the link to the story that Facebook would not allow me to boost. You might want to share it across all your social media.
– Brian Zinchuk,
Editor and owner,
Pipeline Online
- 0135 SASPO-2988_Self serve_2026_YouTube0135 SASPO-2988_Self serve_2026_YouTube
- 0121 Ministry of Energy and Resources April 20260121 Ministry of Energy and Resources April 2026
- 0134 SASPO-2956_ Safety 20260134 SASPO-2956_ Safety 2026
- 0133 LC Trucking hiring Class 1A Payden0133 LC Trucking hiring Class 1A Payden
- 0132 UMWA 20260132 UMWA 2026
- 0129 Turnbull drivers operators0129 Turnbull drivers operators
- 0128 OSY Rentals updated0128 OSY Rentals updated
- 0126 Steel_Reef_Promo_0126 Steel_Reef_Promo_
- 0118 IBEW 30 sec0118 IBEW 30 sec
- 0114 Prospera Bold Vision0114 Prospera Bold Vision
- 0113 Miller Epic Cinematic Hollywood trailer0113 Miller Epic Cinematic Hollywood trailer
- 0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
- 0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
- 0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001