[8][9] The Telegraph-Journal has been the focus of controversy several times, with allegations of media control, bias and advocacy journalism on behalf of business and political interests.

A report from the Canadian Senate in 2006 on media control in Canada singled out New Brunswick because of the Irving companies' ownership of all English-language daily newspapers in the province, including the Telegraph-Journal.

"[10] The report went further, stating, "the Irvings' corporate interests form an industrial-media complex that dominates the province" to a degree "unique in developed countries."

[15] Shortly after, in the "Wafergate" affair, Telegraph-Journal editors altered a news story about the funeral of Governor General Roméo LeBlanc to allege that the Prime Minister of Canada 'pocketed' a communion wafer while attending.

Embarrassingly, the Telegraph-Journal was later forced to retract the allegation and apologize for fabricating the story after its own reporters threatened a lawsuit over editorial manipulation.

An employee of Brunswick News, the newspaper's parent organization, had been a guest at the lodge and contrived to have his own name deleted from the lists prior to publication.

The employee was forced out, and despite its earlier fervour for transparency the Telegraph-Journal quietly dropped further efforts to publish Larry's Gulch guest lists.

[18] Court proceedings in 2019 suggested that greater Irving family control over the newspaper's editorial direction was a factor in how the organization handled this affair.