Independent investigative journalism

Media Bezirgan

Independent investigative journalism. Funded by readers. Answerable to the record.

Media Bezirgan is an independent investigative newsroom based in Calgary. It has no corporate owner, no government grant and no party behind it.

I’m Abdusselam “Mocha” Bezirgan, founder and editor-in-chief of Media Bezirgan. I was born in Istanbul, raised in Toronto and now live in Calgary. I studied broadcasting and worked in video production and reporting at Canadian media organizations. By the end of 2022 I’d concluded most outlets had become partisan, so I founded my own. My reporting is not driven by politics. It is driven by the public interest, and I follow the evidence wherever it leads, whether that is uncomfortable for Liberals, Conservatives or anyone else.

The method is simple to describe and hard to do. I read the file, go to the source, ask the question on the record and publish what can be shown. Bail orders, regulator decisions, council minutes and court rulings are where the story usually is, so that’s where I look.

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The work so far

Sent Home to Die

I went to Pretoria and Cape Town to trace how a doctor suspended in South Africa came to be licensed in Alberta. That reporting became the documentary Sent Home to Die.

Watch the trailer →

Medical regulators

I showed how Alberta’s and Saskatchewan’s medical regulators let doctors with misconduct findings keep practising. I also disclosed an RCMP probe into a forensic pathologist’s allegedly falsified CV, in a case where Alberta prosecutors had relied on his evidence.

Medical Licensing series →

Court records

I obtained and published court records in cases of public concern, from bail for a man accused of trafficking children to a Federal Court order staying a deportation.

Bail & Sentencing Watch →

The Coutts trial

I covered the Coutts trial in Lethbridge, often as the only accredited journalist in the courtroom.

Convoy & mandates coverage →

Empress, Alberta

I exposed a gravel pit in Empress, Alberta, operating outside its approved boundary, along with the public revenue that went missing.

The Empress reports →

Khalistani extremism

I’ve spent years reporting on Khalistani extremism and its ties to Canadian politics.

Khalistan series →

Our best work: the ten stories we are proudest of →

Some of this reporting has brought legal demands, a hospital ban and threats. The reports are still published. Reporting Under Pressure →

Standards

I’ve covered Liberals, Conservatives, New Democrats and the UCP with the same scrutiny, because the evidence decides and party doesn’t. A premier and a private citizen get the same standard: claims are checked against records, and the people I report on get a chance to respond. If I get something wrong, I correct it in public.

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