An independent Ottawa newsroom committed to journalism without filters since March 2020.
Flatoutserver was founded on March 4, 2020 by Mathieu Tremblay-Ouellet on a principle that guides every piece of work we publish: public-interest journalism cannot exist without structural independence from government, advertisers and media conglomerates. In a media landscape shaped by consolidation and platform dependency, we chose a different model — small, specialist and funded entirely by the clients who commission our work.
We are a private company — 9357-2841 Ontario Inc. o/a Flatoutserver — incorporated in Ontario, with no government grants and no group ownership. That independence is not a marketing claim. It is enforced by our ownership structure and written into every service agreement we sign: editorial decisions belong to our journalists, not our clients.
Our newsroom at 218 Bank Street, Suite 205, Ottawa focuses on investigative reporting, data journalism, multimedia production and analysis and commentary. We work in both official languages and serve media organizations, non-profits, law firms, advocacy groups and public institutions across Canada.
The core commitment is simple: every fact we publish has been verified by at least two independent sources. Every source who asks for protection receives it. Every mandate is disclosed transparently. We call this journalism, unfiltered.
Four journalists with deep specialist expertise — the full team behind every investigation, dataset and broadcast piece we produce.
Director
Mathieu founded Flatoutserver in 2020 after ten years in daily print and broadcast newsrooms. He leads the editorial direction of the organization, negotiates mandates and oversees all investigative projects. His reporting has focused on political accountability, municipal governance and corporate transparency in the National Capital Region. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Carleton University.
Senior Investigative Journalist
Sarah joined Flatoutserver in 2021 with a background in long-form investigative journalism for national print outlets. She specializes in access-to-information strategies, financial document analysis and source development. Her investigations have covered public procurement irregularities, health-sector governance and environment policy compliance. Sarah is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and the Canadian Association of Journalists.
Data & Visual Journalist
Priya leads all data journalism and visualization projects at Flatoutserver. She combines a background in statistics with newsroom experience at regional and national levels, and is skilled in Python, R, D3.js and QGIS for geographic analysis. Priya's work has mapped infrastructure gaps in underserved communities, analyzed federal spending patterns and produced award-recognized interactive features for web publication.
Multimedia Editor
Thomas manages all audio and video production for Flatoutserver. He has more than eight years of experience in broadcast journalism, documentary production and podcast editing. Thomas handles filming, sound recording, post-production and accessibility — including closed captioning and transcripts for all multimedia deliverables. He also provides training in multimedia storytelling as part of our media consulting service.
No government grants, no group ownership, no advertising model. Our revenue comes from journalism services, which means our only incentive is quality work. Editorial independence is a structural guarantee, not a promise.
Every fact we publish is independently verified. We do not publish allegations without corroboration. We give all parties a right of reply before publication. We correct errors promptly and transparently.
We disclose all client relationships in published work. We publish our editorial standards. We explain our methods in data journalism. We are reachable and accountable to the public and to our clients.
We never reveal the identity of a confidential source without their consent. We use secure communication channels, end-to-end encrypted tools and strict data hygiene practices to protect everyone who speaks to us.
Tell us about your editorial need. We respond within one business day with a no-commitment initial assessment.