Viral News

The Toronto Star has long stood apart for a written charter committing it to liberal, public-interest journalism — even as it struggled, like most newspapers, to stay afloat. That fragile position made it an unlikely target: two conservative entrepreneurs bought the paper, and much of the city's establishment assumed they'd sell it off in pieces.

Before the sale had even closed, the Star's reporters — like office workers everywhere — were sent home to cover the biggest health crisis in a generation from their kitchen tables.

What followed surprised everyone involved. As the pandemic wore on, both the paper's new owners and its journalists discovered a sense of purpose greater than anything they'd known before — raising the question of whether that would be enough to save a cornerstone of democratic life.

Shot during Toronto's extended Omicron lockdown, Viral News is directed by acclaimed Canadian documentarian Kevin McMahon, whose credits include The Falls, McLuhan's Wake and Borealis.