At the outset, the program's stated format and mandate was to be a weekly hour of innovative and inquisitive personal journalism. As such, the program adapted the American style of segmenting individual stories, introduced and narrated, and from time to time produced, by one of the program's hosts. Dubbed a magazine-type show, The Fifth Estate typically runs three such segments per show. Although based on American forms of public-affairs programs, The Fifth Estate maintains a distinct link with Canada's tradition of documentary filmmaking. In particular, as a CBC­ produced program whose mandate is to foster Canadian national identity, The Fifth Estate's subject matters are drawn from all regions of the country. The program, therefore, also serves to educate Canadians about their own nation, its distinctive geography, cultures, languages, and social problems.

     The show is under the public-affairs section of CBC programming, and its stories are framed within the language of contemporary news journalism. Not unlike the evening news or beat reporter, The Fifth Estate sees its role as a watchdog of government and public policy. And not surprisingly the program's hosts are usually drawn from the ranks of Canada's metropolitan daily newspapers. Similarly, hosts such as Hana Gartner have used the program as a stepping-stone to prestigious anchor positions with the network's flagship newscast, The National.

     The journalistic experience on The Fifth Estate's staff has resulted in an aggressive and topical approach to public affairs in both Canada and abroad. From time to time this stance has raised the ire of individuals in question. In September 1993, for example, The Fifth Estate made front-page news when an entrepreneur successfully petitioned a Canadian court to place an injunction banning the broadcast of the prime-time program. At the international level, The Fifth Estate's documentary segment "To Sell a War," originally broadcast in December 1992, received widespread attention and acclaim for its detailing, in no uncertain terms, the Citizen's for a Free Kuwait misinformation campaign in the months leading up to the Gulf War. In 1993 "To Sell a War" was awarded the International Emmy for Best Documentary, one of the dozens of awards won by the show and its journalists. In the same decade, other notable stories on The Fifth Estate included two covering the life of Ty Conn, a criminal who was first profiled on the program in 1994, when his life served as a case study in a story about the consequences of child abuse. After that story aired, The Fifth Estate journalist Linden MacIntyre and producer Theresa Burke maintained a friendly relationship with Conn, and soon after he escaped from a maximum security prison in 1999, he called them. While on the telephone with Burke, 32-year-old Conn fatally shot himself. The events became the subject of another story on The Fifth Estate, and MacIntyre and Burke co­ authored a book about Conn's life and death.