Meet the Experts
The Future of (Digital) News in an Age of Misinformation | October 2, 2019
Ana Serrano
Ana has over 20 years’ experience building award-winning digital products and securing millions for innovation programs from both the public and private sectors. She hardly needs an introduction to anyone in her industry, being the founder and Chief Digital Officer of The Canadian Film Centre’s innovation space, MediaLab (CFC Media Lab), an internationally acclaimed digital media think tank and award-winning production facility. Ana is also Managing Director of IDEABOOST, Canada’s first digital entertainment accelerator that she launched in 2012. An initiative of the CFC Media Lab, in partnership with Corus Entertainment, IDEABOOST provides high-potential Canadian technology start-ups with seed investment, mentorship, and access to its network, including investors, customers, and partners across the world through the Global Accelerator Network.
Ana is part of a group of 30 Torontonians who In February 2019 launched Block Sidewalk
to reflect their deep care for the city and its future. The #BlockSidewalk is a campaign that was initiated to develop Toronto’s waterfront for the benefit of its residents, not corporate shareholders. At Block Sidewalk’s foundation is a belief that democracy is not for sale. The campaign was launched in response to a proposal by Google affiliate Sidewalk Labs to lead the re-development of a portion of Toronto's waterfront from the internet up. Block Sidewalk is calling on Waterfront Toronto to say NO to a business deal with Sidewalk/Google and re-set the planning for Toronto's eastern waterfront, this time with planning, procurement, and consultation remaining firmly in public hands. To date, dozens of organizations and well over 1000 Torontonians have joined the call to #BlockSidewalk, and community groups taking on Big Tech around the world have voiced their solidarity & support.
San Grewal
San Grewal is a journalist who has won numerous awards for his feature and investigative work over his 20-year career in journalism. He is the founder of The Pointer, a subscription-based digital-only media platform that does not feature advertising and provides locally-focussed news to the communities it serves. Evidence-based, meaningful journalism that includes top quality storytelling, investigations, features and data-driven content is The Pointer’s focus. The Pointer believes that serious accountability journalism is fundamental to democracy at the local level. It aims to protect taxpayers and other residents in their communities and to help them make key day-to-day decisions in their lives, while advocating for their interests: thepointer.com
Prior to founding The Pointer San worked for the Toronto Star, where much of his journalism was focussed on Peel Region and other parts of the Greater Toronto Area. Prior to that, he launched a national magazine, Diverge, which also received numerous awards during its publication run in the mid-to-late ’90’s.
Anita Li
Anita is a journalism expert specializing in media business models, innovation, ethics and diversity. With almost 10 years’ experience as a multi-platform journalist, Anita started her career as a reporter and editor at several Canadian publications, including The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and CBC. She then worked in strategic, management-level roles at American digital media start-ups, such as Fusion and Mashable. Through these diverse experiences across markets in Toronto, NYC and Ottawa, Anita has a proven track record of success at both legacy and emerging media outlets and as such her approach to journalism combines the best of both worlds.
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Excited by the possibilities that this era of disruption will herald for the media industry, Anita embraces new storytelling formats and approaches while maintaining a strong foundation in the basics of quality journalism: attentive listening and fact-based reporting. Her ability to thrive in innovative environments that break down silos and take calculated risks led to her most recent role as Director of Communities at The Discourse, a disruptive new player in the Canadian media scene. Based in Vancouver and founded by Erin Miller, The Discourse fills in gaps in news coverage for underserved communities. In this hybrid strategic management “bridge” role, which is becoming the norm in journalism, she produced and edited coverage in Scarborough, Ontario while overseeing subscription/membership growth for the platform.
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Given Anita’s unique background, she has quickly established herself as an industry leader and expert in journalism innovation, audience-pay models, newsroom diversity and media ethics and as such is regularly asked to speak on these topics in press interviews and at journalism conferences worldwide. Anita’s recent piece, Canadian Media Lacks Nuance, Depth on Racial Issues, has been making waves in the industry. Her most recent interview, ‘Missing Voices and Missing Perspectives’: Trudeau Blackface Scandal Renews Calls for Newsroom Diversity, can be found on CBC’s The Current.
