This is an incumbent candidate for the 2018-19 ONA Board of Directors election
Vision
Digital transformation is in our blood. It’s what defined the ONA for a generation of digital journalists (including me). However, the entire world is now being transformed by digital technologies and so what role can the ONA play in guiding that transformation?
How should we address the growing influence of the big-tech companies? What are the moral and ethical challenges we face as journalists and as citizens as we embrace new digital technologies like machine learning and automation? How is our society and our culture changing as a result of the technologies that we helped usher in?
As a journalism organization I believe we have a vital role to play in shaping the future of the fourth industrial revolution — its opportunities and its challenges.
Bio
David has over 15 years of progressively senior digital experience in North America’s leading news organizations. Most recently, he was the associate editor and head of editorial strategy at The Toronto Star, Canada’s largest-circulating newspaper. He was also the managing editor and vice-president of digital for The Boston Globe, where he led the digital transformation efforts of the organization across the editorial, product, and business units. Under his leadership at the Globe, BostonGlobe.com’s digital subscriptions grew by 40 percent, and its page views and digital revenue both tripled.
Previously, David was the co-creator and director of digital for Global News, where he launched and built GlobalNews.ca, a national network of 11 local news and information websites. Under his leadership, GlobalNews.ca became one of the fastest-growing digital properties in Canada and is now one of the leading news sites in the country.
David was the 2012 Martin Wise Goodman Fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, the first digital journalist in Canada selected for this honor. He was a finalist for the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s Newsperson of the Year.
Industry Involvement
I am a strategist, technologist, journalist, editor and leading thinker on digital transformation in media. I have been on the board of the ONA for the past two years and am currently serving on the organization’s strategic review committee. I speak regularly with students and executives about the future of journalism.
I have written for the Nieman Lab, and was the co-author of “Breaking News: Mastering the Art of Disruptive Innovation in Journalism,” a framework developed with world-renowned innovation expert and Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen.
Nomination
Not required for incumbents.