Anita Li

Scarborough, Toronto

Articles

The Green Line’s latest impact report…and a new full-time job opportunity

3 days ago | theotherwave.substack.com | Anita Li

Hey everyone, Anita here. You might’ve noticed that I skipped last month’s newsletter. These past couple of months have been busy with travel, and then I experienced a significant family loss that has meant I’ve stepped away from work and spent more time with loved ones. Was this forwarded to you? The Other Wave is a 🇨🇦 newsletter that delivers journalism innovation insights and resources to industry leaders each month. It’s free to subscribe.
The Green Line connects Toronto’s GenZ to news - Editor and Publisher

1 month ago | editorandpublisher.com | Anita Li |Diane Sylvester

Posted Tuesday, March 25, 2025 12:00 am It has been important for me to prove that a for-profit model could work while doing community-focused journalism. I won’t feel it’s really sustainable until I can support salaries for 10 full-time staffers, at fair wages.” In April 2022, veteran journalist Anita Li launched The Green Line, a Toronto-based newsroom focused on engaging younger audiences — particularly Millennials and Gen Z. The Green Line addresses local concerns through a...
If Poilievre wins, who fills the CBC’s void?

2 months ago | theotherwave.substack.com | Anita Li

Hey y’all! Anita here. This year is flying by, and in a month’s time I’ll be travelling to Nashville for API’s Local News Summit: Local Identity, History and Sustainability and then Perugia for the International Journalism Festival. As always, hit me up if you’ll be there, too. 📞Was this forwarded to you? The Other Wave is a 🇨🇦 newsletter that delivers journalism innovation insightsand resources to industry leaders each month. It’s free to subscribe.
I’m co-hosting a conference on engaged journalism in Canada. You’re invited.

Feb 2, 2025 | theotherwave.substack.com | Anita Li

Hey y’all! Anita here. I just got back from New Orleans, one of my perennial fave cities, where I was attending the 2025 Local News Summit hosted by the Lenfest Institute and the Aspen Institute. ⚜️Was this forwarded to you? The Other Wave is a 🇨🇦 newsletter that delivers journalism innovation insightsand resources to industry leaders each month. It’s free to subscribe.
To survive, journalism outlets must pivot to promoting action - not just news - in 2025

Jan 5, 2025 | theotherwave.substack.com | Anita Li

Happy New Year y’all! Anita here. I’ve had a much-needed period of R&R after an intense second half of 2024, but now I’m ready to roll into what’s already shaping up to be an exciting year both personally and professionally for me. 🌟Was this forwarded to you? The Other Wave is a 🇨🇦 newsletter that delivers journalism innovation insightsand resources to industry leaders each month. It’s free to subscribe.
“Come as you are”: Chicago’s oldest Latino theater company spotlights Spanish-language theater

Dec 13, 2024 | wbez.org | Anita Li

Chicago has a large theater scene, but Aguijón Theater in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood is one of the city’s only establishments producing work in Spanish. For 35 years, the company has offered Spanish speakers opportunities to perform and see theater in their native language. This winter, it’s presenting Adverses, a Latin-Caribbean retelling of the Greek tragedy Electra. The piece mixes Caribbean rhythms and Latin hits with a story about a mother and daughter competing for power and love.
Outlets pivot to promoting action, not just news

Dec 9, 2024 | niemanlab.org | Anita Li

From the early 2010s until now, our industry saw the rise of what I’ll call Community Engagement 1.0 — that is, consulting communities about their information needs and genuinely serving our audiences by delivering journalism that fills in those gaps. The earliest explanation of this that I’ve seen is from a 2011 blog post titled “What does ‘community engagement’ mean?” by the late Steve Buttry, former director of student media at Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication.
How to create local news for people turning away from ‘big-J journalism'

Dec 1, 2024 | theotherwave.substack.com | Anita Li

Hey y’all! Anita here. As I wind down for the holidays and look ahead to next year, I plan to do far less travelling and far more hunkering down to both relax with loved ones and also really focus on executing The Green Line’s exciting new strategy in 2025.
What happens if you are behind on rent?

Nov 15, 2024 | thegreenline.to | Anita Li

We want to acknowledge that the land on which The Green Line operates is the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. Today, it is home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and MÃ©tis peoples from across Turtle Island. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit. Our team is grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.
We finally figured out how to define success at The Green Line

Nov 10, 2024 | theotherwave.substack.com | Anita Li

Hey y’all! As I write this newsletter, I’m on a plane back home after my trip to Chiang Mai (and briefly Seoul), which included speaking and soaking up the ✨ warm vibes ✨ at Splice Beta 2024. Kudos to Rishad and Alan, as well as their team of smiley volunteers, for pulling off a genuinely community-oriented summit featuring awe-inspiring journalism innovation from across Asia that’s often overlooked by the the west. This summit definitely won’t be my last.