We just got a game-changing amount of money 💰
The Green Line is now entering our growth phase thanks to the Journalism Futures Fund.
Hey y’all! Anita here very slowly emerging from maternity leave after nearly eight months with my sweet baby boy. The last time you heard from me was July 2025, when I was about to become a new mom.
I've been saying for some time that mission-focused startup media outlets need a reliable source of seed funding that is compatible with our values, that doesn't force companies to scale relentlessly without considering the impact on the communities we serve.
But in Canada — where we have smaller investment and foundation ecosystems — this wasn't a reality.
That is, until, the Journalism Futures Fund.
The Green Line is one of six winners of the inaugural fund, and we were recently awarded $420,000 across three years — predictable recurring income that enables us to hire more full-time staff, which is the main barrier preventing many startups from building a self-sustaining business model. This operational funding extends our runway to develop audience revenue streams, while positioning us to access long-term public funding. Most importantly, it signifies that JFF grantors trust our team to make the strategic decisions needed to better serve our communities.
I can't emphasize enough how game-changing this grant is for us. It's invaluable support not just for our team, but for our communities. It also helps usher The Green Line into an exciting new growth phase of our journey (in fact, I just hired our first-ever head of product and growth, Temitayo Akinyemi, using these funds).
The 2025-26 awardees will receive three-year grants ranging from $50,000 to $140,000 per year, along with capacity-strengthening support to help increase their operational and financial resilience. The Green Line was among 130 applicants across Canada.
Congratulations to our fellow recipients, Cabin Radio, La Converse, The Eastern Door, The Independent and IndigiNews.
Finally, huge thanks to Inspirit Foundation, McConnell Foundation, Euphrosine Foundation and The Sonor Foundation for dreaming up and following through with this innovative fund that will transform the landscape of Canadian journalism for the better. You're planting the seeds of a flourishing independent media ecosystem for our country during a critical time for Canadian democracy.
Onwards and upwards! 🌱🌳
Quick and Clean
I’ve scaled down my speaking engagements significantly since welcoming my new addition, but here are some highlights from the past eight months since TOW went on hiatus.
Read “Philanthropy can be a catalyst for local media but not the long-term answer to ongoing challenges,” which highlights some of the conversations out of Putting the Local Back in Local News Symposium 2.0. in Charlottetown, P.E.I., which I attended back in October.
I spoke on the World Press Freedom Canada symposium panel “Retooling for AI: Facing the Threats and Opportunities Head-On” on Parliament Hill in November, alongside Newsroom Robots host Nikita Roy, Toronto Star executive editor Grant Ellis and CBC News AI adviser Rignam Wangkhang.
The Center for Community-Engaged Media at Temple University profiled The Green Line’s model in “Community-Engaged Media Spotlight: Civic media + placemaking.”
How you can support The Other Wave
My professional mission has always been to support the global movement towards more thoughtful, impactful news coverage, and all the ways that manifests. If The Other Wave gets you to think even a little differently about journalism, especially in Canada, then I will have accomplished what I set out to do. And if TOW gets you to take action and support Canadian media outlets — especially ones that strive to be innovative and inclusive — I will have exceeded my expectations.
If my values and goals resonate with you, please consider supporting fiercely independent media analysis that fills in gaps in coverage of the Canadian journalism landscape. How? Feel free to provide feedback, pass along resources, donate money or simply share this newsletter with your friends.