About the project: The Trawler was a 1.5 year experiment in better journalism: an Canadian independent media project, The Trawler was an opinion news curator site – contributors scanned the globe’s print media daily for the best opinion pieces (editorials, columns), based on stated Guiding Principles (listed below) in an effort to help individuals make sense of the complex world around them. The Trawler was designed to foster dialogue across political spectrum, emphasizing transparency and accountability while searching for the most important voices in written media across the G20. All contributions were added to a media database, allowing readers to get an at-a-glance view of what the editorialists of a particular country were discussing over the long term, as well as information about the editorialists themselves (profession, known political leanings) and their newspaper profiles (newspaper leaning, circulation numbers, owners, etc.). Contributors rated each article on a number of soft indicators (writing quality, originality, transparency, and column intent); readers were also encouraged to rate the same article, and in this way participate in a more thoughtful civic dialogue. At its peak, the Trawler had over 40 contributors from 12 countries on 4 continents (Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa), and a readership of about 500 people daily.
Period active: August 2011 – December 2012
My role: Founder and executive director
Skills gained: managing a large team (40+ volunteers) located on many time zones; political analysis skills (created article rating tool, media database); website management (wordpress).
