The Mark News is an independent news website, which publishes opinion pieces on Canadian and international current events. The site offers multimedia

Multimedia

Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...

 commentary by Canadian professionals on politics, business, science and technology, sports and the arts.

The Mark News was launched in May 2009 by CEO Jeff Anders and Ali Rahnema, who is now a Senior Executive at Torstar

Torstar

Torstar Corporation is an independently-owned Canadian broadly based media company that is named after its principal holding, the Toronto Star daily newspaper....

 and former Vice President of Strategy and Marketing at The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...

.

The current Editor is Jonathan Sas, former Politics editor at the Gargoyle, an alternative arts and culture magazine published by University College at University of Toronto.

Contributors

The Mark News has over 1800 contributors, from politicians and celebrities to business leaders and scientists who reflect all points of view. The Mark News recruits its contributors based on two criteria: professional credibility and a connection to Canada.

The Mark News is not anchored to one ideology, but encourages its contributors to express their political bias. Contributors to the site include Bob Rae

Bob Rae

Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....

, Paul Martin

Paul Martin

Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....

, Melissa Auf der Maur

Melissa Auf der Maur

Melissa Auf der Maur is a Canadian rock musician from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her career has included 5 years as bassist with the band Hole and she later toured with The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2000 tour. Her second solo album, Out of Our Minds, was released on March 30, 2010. She is also a...

, David Suzuki

David Suzuki

David Suzuki, CC, OBC is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department of the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001...

, Ken Lum

Ken Lum

Ken Lum is a Canadian artist of Chinese heritage who lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. Working in a number of media including painting, sculpture and photography, his art is conceptually oriented, and generally concerned with issues of identity in relation to the categories of...

, Laura Calder

Laura Calder

Laura Calder vthe host of the James Beard Award-winning series French Food at Home, airing on Food Network Canada, Cooking Channel U.S.A. and internationally. She is also a judge on Recipe to Riches, airing fall 2011 on Food Network Canada, and has been a guest judge on both Top Chef Canada and...

, Michael Geist

Michael Geist

Michael Allen Geist is a Canadian academic, and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. Geist was educated at the University of Western Ontario where he received his Bachelors of Laws before going on to get his Masters of Laws at both Osgoode Hall Law...

, Alan Broadbent

Alan Broadbent

Alan Broadbent, MNZM , is a jazz pianist, arranger and composer best known for his work with artists such as Woody Herman, Diane Schuur, Chet Baker, Irene Kral, Sheila Jordan, Charlie Haden, Warne Marsh, Bud Shank, and many others.Broadbent studied piano and music theory in his own country, but in...

, Arjun Basu, Adam Chapnick, Gabor Maté

Gábor Máté

Gábor Máté is a Hungarian discus thrower.His personal best throw is 66.54 metres, achieved in April 2000 in Walnut.-Achievements:-References:...

, Arlene Dickinson

Arlene Dickinson

Arlene Dickinson is a Canadian marketing professional and CEO of Venture Communications.Dickinson joined Venture Communications in 1988, taking sole ownership in 1998...

, Dominic Denny, Hadani Ditmars, Tarek Fahta, David Eaves, Avi Friedman, Jack Layton

Jack Layton

John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...

, James Hrynyshyn, Jim Flaherty

Jim Flaherty

James Michael "Jim" Flaherty, PC, MP is Canada's Minister of Finance and he has also served as Ontario's Minister of Finance. From 1995 until 2005, he was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby—Ajax, and a member of the Progressive Conservative Party caucus...

, Niels Veldhuis, Roger Mooking

Roger Mooking

Roger Mooking is a Canadian chef and star of the series Everyday Exotic on the Cooking Channel. He is also a musician and a third generation restaurateur. He also currently appears in Heat Seekers with Aaron Sanchez on Food Network.-External links:*...

, Charles Pachter

Charles Pachter

-Life:Pachter got a D-minus in visual art at Vaughan Road Collegiate Institute. However, that did not prevent him from pursuing a career in visual arts.Pachter is a painter, printmaker, sculptor, designer, historian, and lecturer...

, Garry Breitkreuz

Garry Breitkreuz

Garry W. Breitkreuz is a Canadian politician. He is currently the Conservative Party of Canada member of the Canadian House of Commons from Yorkton—Melville....

, Cadence Weapon

Cadence Weapon

Cadence Weapon is the stage name of Rollie Pemberton, a Canadian rapper.-Biography:Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, his father was Teddy Pemberton, a pioneering hip hop DJ on CJSR-FM, and his grandfather was Rollie Miles, a football player for the Edmonton Eskimos...

, Ken Lewenza

Ken Lewenza

Ken Lewenza may refer to:* Ken Lewenza, Sr., National President of the Canadian Auto Workers union* Ken Lewenza, Jr., city councillor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada...

, Eugene Lang

Eugene Lang

Eugene M. "Gene" Lang is an American philanthropist who founded REFAC Technology Development Corporation in 1951. He created the I Have A Dream Foundation in 1981, and Project Pericles in 2001. He has also made large donations to Swarthmore College, The New School's undergraduate liberal arts...

, Tara Hunt

Tara Hunt

Tara Hunt is an author, speaker and startup founder, known for her work in marketing and community-building, as well as for her book, The Whuffie Factor.-Biography:...

, Lisa Hrabluk, Yoni Freedhoff, Jordan Banks, Kevin Bartus, Chris Arsenault, Françoise Baylis, Daryl Copeland

Daryl Copeland

Daryl Copeland is a Canadian analyst, author, speaker and educator specializing in diplomacy, international policy, public management and global issues...

, Deborah Coyne

Deborah Coyne

Deborah Margaret Ryland Coyne, is a Canadian constitutional lawyer, professor and author. Her education includes a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University and a Master of Philosophy from Oxford University in international relations.-Early career:She was a staffer in...

, David Crow, Stockwell Day

Stockwell Day

Stockwell Burt Day, Jr., PC, MP is a former Canadian politician, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is a former cabinet minister in Alberta, and a former leader of the Canadian Alliance. Day was MP for the riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla in British Columbia and the president of...

, Cam Di Prata, April Dunford, Mark Evans, Michael Geist

Michael Geist

Michael Allen Geist is a Canadian academic, and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. Geist was educated at the University of Western Ontario where he received his Bachelors of Laws before going on to get his Masters of Laws at both Osgoode Hall Law...

, Shaun Francis

Shaun Francis

Shaun Francis is a Jamaican footballer who currently plays for Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer.-College and Amateur:...

, Robert Gold, Kunal Gupta, David Herle

David Herle

David Herle is a Canadian political consultant and Principal Partner at leading polling and research firm, The Gandalf Group. He is also a regular CBC commentator and Policy Options contributor....

, Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel is a journalist and publicist. He is president of Twist Image, a Digital Marketing agency and president and founding partner of Distort Entertainment.-Journalism/Publicism:...

, Paul Kedrosky, Craig Kielburger

Craig Kielburger

Craig Kielburger, CM, MSM, OMC is a Canadian activist for the rights of children. He is the founder of Free The Children and co-founder of Me to We. On February 20, 2007, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:Kielburger was born in Thornhill,...

, Marc Kielburger

Marc Kielburger

Marc Kielburger, CM, OMC is a Canadian author, humanitarian and activist for children's rights. He is the co-founder of Free The Children, an international development and youth empowerment organization....

, Tony Lacavera

Tony Lacavera

Anthony "Tony" Lacavera is a Canadian entrepreneur and telecommunications executive. He is the chairman and CEO of Globalive Communications Corporation as well as Chairman of WIND Mobile....

, Eugene Lang

Eugene Lang

Eugene M. "Gene" Lang is an American philanthropist who founded REFAC Technology Development Corporation in 1951. He created the I Have A Dream Foundation in 1981, and Project Pericles in 2001. He has also made large donations to Swarthmore College, The New School's undergraduate liberal arts...

, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Errol Mendes, Sarah Prevette, Mark Skapinker

Mark Skapinker

Mark Skapinker is a Managing Partner at Brightspark, a software venture capital firm based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Born in South Africa, he immigrated to Canada where, along with Bert Amato, he co-founded Delrina, where they devised its first product, the electronic form software PerForm. He...

, John Stapleton

John Stapleton

John Martin Stapleton is an English journalist and presenter. He is currently working as a freelancer with various media outlets.-Television career:...

, Niels Veldhuis, Mia Wedgbury, and others.

A comprehensive list of contributors to The Mark News can be found in its alphabetical Contributor Index.

Advisory board

The Mark News advisory board is composed of David Ceolin, Managing Director of Investment Grade Capital and founder of Digital Cement; Jordan Banks, Managing Director of Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 Canada, former CEO of JumpTV

JumpTV

JumpTV Inc. is a Canadian company, the country's largest internet television carrier. JumpTV operates at the intersection of two growth sectors: Internet Protocol Television and ethnic media services...

 and former Managing Director of eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

 Canada; Arlene Dickinson

Arlene Dickinson

Arlene Dickinson is a Canadian marketing professional and CEO of Venture Communications.Dickinson joined Venture Communications in 1988, taking sole ownership in 1998...

, CEO of Venture Communications and co-host of CBC

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

’s The Dragon’s Den; Paul Bain, business and entertainment lawyer at Aylesworth LLP; and Brian Cooper, President and CEO of Sports and Entertainment and former President and COO of the Toronto Argonauts

Toronto Argonauts

The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...

.

Multimedia

The Mark News offers multimedia news coverage through written articles, video interviews, a radio show, podcasts, debates, live chats, polls, and live video conferences between readers and contributors.

Distribution

The Mark News distributes its proprietary content through www.themarknews.com as well as through partnerships with other media outlets including: Canada.com, Yahoo!

Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...

, MSN

MSN

MSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.The range of services offered by MSN has changed since its...

, Canwest News Service

Canwest News Service

Postmedia News is a national news agency with correspondents in Canada, Europe, and the United States and is part of the Canadian newspaper chain owned by Postmedia Network Inc.-History:...

  and Citytv

Citytv

Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...

.

Investment

In February, 2010, The Mark News announced the close of a round of funding. The round was led by David Ceolin, Managing Director of Investment Grade Capital and founder of Digital Cement. Investors include Jordan Banks, managing director of Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 Canada, former CEO of JumpTV

JumpTV

JumpTV Inc. is a Canadian company, the country's largest internet television carrier. JumpTV operates at the intersection of two growth sectors: Internet Protocol Television and ethnic media services...

 and former managing director of eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

 Canada; and Arlene Dickinson

Arlene Dickinson

Arlene Dickinson is a Canadian marketing professional and CEO of Venture Communications.Dickinson joined Venture Communications in 1988, taking sole ownership in 1998...

, CEO of Venture Communications and co-host of CBC’s The Dragon’s Den.