Energi Media is rated Left-Center with Mostly Factual factual reporting by Media Bias Fact Check.

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LEFT-CENTER BIAS

History

Energi Media is a Canadian energy and climate policy website founded in 2015 by journalist Markham Hislop. According to its About page, Energi Media focuses on the energy transition, climate policy, fossil fuel decarbonization, clean technology, and the future of Canada’s energy economy. The outlet publishes reporting, interviews, videos, podcasts, and opinion pieces, with frequent attention to Alberta’s oil and gas industry, climate regulation, net-zero policy, and clean-energy development.

Read our profile on Canada’s media and government.

Funded by / Ownership

Energi Media is independently operated by Markham Hislop. The outlet discloses that since its founding, revenue has primarily come from fee-for-service work, supplemented by reader subscriptions and occasional small sponsorships from companies and universities. Its support page accepts reader donations and monthly contributions processed through Stripe.

Energi Media also discloses conflicts of interest. In 2022, it received a grant from the Ivey Foundation, with part of the funding supporting journalism and 60% supporting communications services, primarily video production, for Ivey grantees. Energi Media acknowledges this creates a conflict of interest and states that conflicts are disclosed at the beginning of relevant interviews or columns. It also discloses past contracted work with the Alberta Federation of Labour on the report “Skate to Where the Puck is Going.”

Analysis / Bias

Energi Media is Left-Center biased based on its strong support for climate action, clean-energy development, decarbonization, energy-transition policy, and criticism of fossil fuel industry influence. Its coverage frequently challenges pro-oil and gas narratives, Alberta government energy policy, pipeline expansion, and fossil fuel subsidies. However, its focus is primarily on policy and evidence rather than partisan campaign advocacy, supporting a Left-Center rather than Left rating.

For example, A Pipeline to Nowhere: Carney’s Dangerous Political Game argues that a new Alberta-backed oil pipeline proposal is economically unrealistic, politically motivated, and harmful to climate policy and Indigenous rights. The article is clearly opinionated and critical of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, fossil fuel expansion, and pipeline boosterism. It is strongly framed from a climate-policy perspective, but it also discusses project economics, taxpayer risk, Indigenous land issues, carbon capture assumptions, and Canadian climate policy.

In Unethical oil: Alberta’s shameful secret, Markham Hislop investigates Alberta oil and gas liabilities, abandoned wells, oil sands tailings ponds, regulatory failures, and the “ethical oil” narrative. The article uses strong language such as “shameful secret” and “unethical oil,” but it also cites interviews with experts, Alberta Energy Regulator issues, liability estimates, International Energy Agency forecasts, and regulatory history. This is advocacy-driven investigative journalism, but it is reasonably sourced.

Similarly, Fossil Industry Distortions Make the Energy Transition Harder to Imagine was republished from The Energy Mix and argues that Canadians overestimate the economic importance of oil and gas while underestimating the clean economy. The article is clearly pro-clean economy and critical of fossil fuel messaging, but it cites Statistics Canada figures, clean-economy projections, abandoned well liabilities, and public policy arguments.

Overall, Energi Media is transparent about conflicts and funding, frequently uses expert interviews and data, and publishes content grounded in energy policy and climate research. However, much of the content is advocacy-oriented, opinion-labeled, and strongly critical of the fossil fuel industry, which lowers the factual rating from High to Mostly Factual.

Failed Fact Checks

• None found by IFCN-approved fact-checkers.

Overall, we rate Energi Media Left-Center biased based on its strong support for clean energy, climate action, fossil fuel decarbonization, and criticism of oil and gas industry narratives. We rate it Mostly Factual due to transparent conflict disclosures, reasonable sourcing, expert interviews, and data-based reporting, offset by advocacy framing, opinion-heavy content, and disclosed funding relationships with energy-transition organizations. (D. Van Zandt 07/08/2026)

Source: https://energi.media/

Last Updated on July 8, 2026 by Media Bias Fact Check

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