About Us
Digital Journal is a global digital media network with 43,000+ content creators in 200 countries around the world. Reaching an audience of millions of monthly visitors, Digital Journal blends a new media approach with proprietary technology, data and social toolsets to deliver a unique and engaging experience. Digital Journal publishes to multiple platforms, from Web, to mobile apps and tablets, Facebook, Twitter and more.
And in 2012 we were declared one of the Top 20 most promising companies in Canada.
The Vision
Digital Journal is recognized as a pioneer and leader in social news, blending professional content with high-quality user-generated contributions to inform our audience about what’s happening around the world.
Digital Journal formed its roots in media as a glossy magazine distributed coast-to-coast in Canada and the United States. But with the rise of the Internet, mobile technologies and social media, we recognized the media industry was irreversibly changing and so Digital Journal evolved into a modern media organization that is a technology company at its core. We set out to build a media business from the ground-up to be Digital First and social in nature, with proprietary technology as the backbone. Our vision was to create:
- A media business where everyone can contribute and engage. We set out to build a media company where anyone can play an important role, so we can break news faster, tell stories better and take an alternative and fresh view on issues of the day. We recognize the audience offers incredible authority and expertise, and people have important stories to tell.
- A media company that can pivot from being a local resource while also being an international network. Too many local stories are never reported, and an international reach would allow stories to be told without geography being a limiting factor. We’ve been on the ground in wars, natural disasters, political rallies, festivals, crime scenes and more.
- A media company where technology is just as important as content. We are a group of passionate journalists and programmers who deeply understand the critical role technology plays in telling stories and engaging audiences.
The Innovation
Digital Journal’s vision is to completely re-imagine and build a totally new type of media organization. In order to reach scale and be more responsive to modern demands, our team recognized we needed to build a media company on 3 core pillars:
- Content: Digital Journal is a platform and a destination where everyone can contribute content and share their unique perspectives on the world and issues of the day. Our team is made up of professional reporters, videographers and photographers, as well as citizen journalists and bloggers. We generate content at scale, across dozens of content verticals and thousands of geographies. Digital Journal is a platform where everyone’s voice is equally important and everyone is given an opportunity to tell a story.
- Technology: Digital Journal has built its entire platform and all of its toolsets from the ground-up, with a focus on technology. We run on a proprietary content management system (CMS) that was built in-house to be highly permissioned, scalable and robust. We assign, manage and track content using a custom-built assignment platform, allowing us to create any content offering at scale. Digital Journal pages have multiple engagement points where people can submit content. Once submitted, we measure how each piece of content performs in real-time across the Digital Journal network and we automatically open up new content channels and pages based on what’s trending. Data is one of our most vital assets, and we put a tremendous focus on optimizing and growing based on analytics and what the data tells us about the needs of our audience. And our platform allows us to reach out to people in any city in the world, to within 1 km (1/2 mile) of any geographic location to assign content and engage audiences. These are just some of the things Digital Journal does as a technology media company to ensure we address the needs of readers, in real-time.
- Social: We’ve baked social technologies and toolsets into our platform to make our social media experience unique and engaging. Our Live Events technology publishes all activity in real-time, creating a live content feed that showcases what everyone is doing and how they interact with content. Our platform enables anyone to create Groups and blog networks on the fly around niche topics of interest, allowing our audience to congregate around specific topics and issues that matter to them. We also have a massive gamification platform that measures and reports the activity of every member and every action, and then rewards the most active individuals. Using our technology and data, and measuring how people interact with content, we can create very in-depth social profiles of our audience and can measure impact and influence in ways that have never before been possible.
The Digital Journal Experience
Digital Journal is an online media leader, having carved out and built a global media company read by millions. As we continue on our mission to develop what we believe is the future for a media company, we aim to provide more opportunity, more technology and more social benefits to everyone, from our audience to our advertisers.
More info, including press releases and TV appearances, can be found in our press/media section.
Management
Chris HoggChris is the CEO of Digital Journal Inc and a career entrepreneur who has worked in publishing, digital media, broadcasting, advertising, social media and marketing. Having been called the ”best-of-the-best of Canadian entrepreneurship,” Chris is regarded as a social news & new media expert. He has a proven track record of innovating new technologies and building disruptive, high-growth digital businesses.
With a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Ryerson University, Chris began his career in media with Digital Journal magazine when he joined as a freelance journalist. He quickly climbed the editorial ranks and at 21-years-old he was named Editor-in-Chief, making him the youngest in Canada to lead a national publication.
Dubbed a media wunderkind by journalism pundits, Chris grew Digital Journal magazine to international scale and distribution and he spearheaded the company’s full transition to digital.
In 2008 Chris was promoted to CEO of Digital Journal Inc where he fully transitioned the company from a magazine publisher to become a diverse modern media company. He led the development of a proprietary digital media platform; he grew the company’s contributor base into a global network of tens of thousands of people in more than 200 countries; he launched an events division that has attracted media execs and journalists from across Canada, the US & UK; he scaled the publishing division to reach millions of people/month; he created a tech division to license Digital Journal’s platform as a SaaS product for media companies; and he co-founded a brand division called /newsrooms to provide content marketing and social media solutions for brands.
Chris has worked with several media companies including CBC News, Fifth Estate, CBC Sports, CTV News, City News, CP24, Global News, Business News Network, Daily Planet, Space, Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, Postmedia, and dozens of syndicated TV and radio networks.
Chris won international acclaim in 2012 when Digital Journal was proclaimed one of the Top 20 most promising companies in Canada by The C100, a non-profit, member-driven organization made up of top executives of companies such as Apple, Cisco, EA, eBay, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Oracle, and venture investors representing more than $8 billion in capital.
Chris is also a consultant to large brands and media companies, as well as a mentor/adviser to startups.
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter.
Alex ChumakAlex Chumak is the Chief Technical Officer for Digital Journal. He is responsible for all stages of product development and support including hardware infrastructure deployment which includes clustered webservers, to database management with replication to handle millions of monthly visitors.
Alex holds a degree in computer science, with Masters work done in artificial intelligence and robotics.
David SilverbergDavid Silverberg is editor-in-chief of Digital Journal Inc, responsible for content curation, social media outreach, recruiting, editorial management and much more. He helped pioneer Digital Journal's proprietary technology to leverage content from writers from across the world. He is the host of Digital Journal's annual Future of Media event.
David has been published in various publications, writing on everything from technology trends to celebrity profiles. He also makes regular appearances on Canadian TV as an expert on social media, Internet culture and technology news. He's appeared on CBC NN, Global News, Business News Network, City TV, Sun TV, and many others. His published work has been featured in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Canadian Business, Quill & Quire, NOW Toronto, the Canadian Jewish News, as well as dozens of syndicated radio networks.
With a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Ryerson University in Toronto, David has experience in television, radio, print and online media. He's also adept at social media curation and management.
As a hobby, David is also the Artistic Director and Founder of Toronto Poetry Slam, a twice-monthly spoken word competition. He is the editor of Mic Check: An Anthology of Spoken Word in Canada (Quattro Books).
Find David on the Web...
• Press Coverage & TV Appearances
• Follow Digital Journal on Twitter
• Watch David on YouTube
• Digital Journal Facebook Group
Janusz ÜberallJanusz Überall is the Publisher of DigitalJournal.com and Executive Producer of Digital Journal TV. Janusz has lived and worked in Toronto and New York City for the past 30 years.
In the early 1970s, Janusz worked for the first Minister of Multiculturalism in Canada as a photojournalist. Janusz has received many awards for his achievements in corporate communications, advertising and photographic art.
Janusz also produced and directed three one-hour dramas that aired on television in Canada. He was also an anchor and producer for a weekly televised multicultural news program.
In 1988, Janusz was appointed the Director of Advertising & Communications and Publisher for the first privately-owned international air terminal in Canada, Trillium Terminal 3 at Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto. Janusz developed the corporate identity and advertising campaigns for the $500-million Terminal and the Swissôtel.
In October of 1992, Janusz received the medal of The 125th Anniversary of Confederation of Canada from the Governor General in "recognition of significant contribution to compatriots, community and to Canada." In March of 1998, Janusz received the Award of Merit from the Dean of Canadian Parliament for outstanding service in the area of corporate communications.
In 2001, Janusz received an award from the Minster of Canadian Heritage, the Hon. Sheila Copps, for outstanding service and contribution as a volunteer.
Throughout his professional career, Janusz also covered state visits and official government functions throughout Canada, the U.S. and Europe, including travelling with and photographing Her Majesty, the Queen of England. Janusz also attended numerous international meetings including the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the United Nations in New York City where he met with John Paul II; he was accredited to cover the 1997 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Vancouver, B.C.; and the Millennial Celebrations at the Vatican.
In addition to a passion for communication, the Internet and new media, Janusz holds a keen interest in art, opera and a diverse range of music.
If you've got a question about the site, post it in the DigitalJournal.com Help Group, or join the Addicts Group for regular updates about what's happening on the site.
DigitalJournal.com on the Web...
• Press Coverage & TV Appearances
• Follow Digital Journal on Twitter
• Watch DigitalJournal.com on YouTube
• Digital Journal Facebook Group
Board of Advisers
Jack KapicaJack is an adviser to Digital Journal.
Jack was previously a staff writer and editor for The Gazette in Montreal before moving to The Globe and Mail in 1975, where he edited a section of the paper devoted to popular culture. Jack also contributed to Digital Journal magazine between 2001 and 2007.
Over his years at the Globe, Jack contributed to virtually every beat from literary criticism to religion, news and technology. He has been Books Editor, editor of the Letters to the Editor page, and World Editor for the week-in-review Focus section. In 1985, he published a collection of the best letters printed by the Globe, in a book called Shocked and Appalled: A Century of Letters to The Globe and Mail.
He helped train Globe reporters when the newspaper became computerized in 1977, and purchased his first computer in 1981. From 1996 to 1999, Jack wrote many high-tech features as well as a weekly column called Cyberia for the print paper. He also regularly reviewed new products and software. In 2001, he became the lead technology columnist and reporter for the technology section of the paper's website, globeandmail.com.
Jack left the Globe in 2008.
Kerry MunroOver the past two decades Kerry Munro has led and advised organizations on how to experience hyper growth by leveraging consumer behaviour and demystifying technology as a means to connect with consumers, build a digital brand, and increase revenues and shareholder value.
Munro is currently the Group President of Canada Post's Digital Delivery Network. Prior to that he was Chief Operating Officer of Syncapse Corp, a global leader in social technology.
Prior to joining Syncapse, Munro was the head of Yahoo! Canada, where it became the fastest-growing and best-performing business unit in Yahoo! worldwide, achieving annual double-to-triple-digit growth over four years and creating connections with more than 19 million Canadians monthly.
Kerry has been recognized as one of Canada’s top influential marketers. He advises executives, boards, growth companies and charitable organizations, and is sought after contributor to national news organizations.
Jen EvansJen Evans is the founder and chief strategist at Sequentia Environics, a customer communications agency ranked as Canada's 24th (2005) and 27th (2004) fastest-growing emerging company by PROFIT magazine. She joined the board of ITAC in 2009 and has been the co-chair of the White Ribbon Campaign since 2005, and also sits on RedFlagDeals' advisory board.
Jen writes a column on business and technology for PCworld.ca and was a contributor to The Globe and Mail's online tech edition for seven years. Jen has been talking tech on BNN (formerly Report on Business Television) since 1999, and appears in the Technology in the Workplace segment on Workopolis.tv.
Jen and Sequentia Environics are pioneers in the world of community and social media, developing revenue-focused social content programs as far back as 1999. They developed their first community program for Intel in 2004, and current social media and community clients include Yahoo!, TD Canada Trust, Palm, Coca-Cola Canada, Autodesk, and Bell Enterprise. Sequentia Environics' groundbreaking social measurement methodology, based on customer ethnography, analytics and primary research, has helped more than 40 enterprises establish their social and community strategy and measure success.
Michael GeistDr. Michael Geist is a professor of law at the University of Ottawa, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law.
Michael is an internationally syndicated columnist on technology law issues with his regular column appearing in the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and the BBC. He also sits on Digital Journal's Board of Advisers.
Michael serves on the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s Expert Advisory Board, on the Canadian Digital Information Strategy’s Review Panel, the Electronic Frontier Foundation Advisory Board, and on the Information Program Sub-Board of the Open Society Institute.
Michael has received numerous awards for his work including the Les Fowlie Award for Intellectual Freedom from the Ontario Library Association in 2009; the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 2008; Canarie’s IWAY Public Leadership Award for his contribution to the development of the Internet in Canada; and he was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2003.
Andrew WaitmanAndrew Waitman is Chief Executive Officer of Pythian and Managing Partner of Blackswan Ventures, an angel technology investment firm.
From 1996 to 2008, Andrew was the Managing Partner of Celtic House Venture Partners, the largest and most successful IT venture fund in Canada, with more than $500-million under management. He has been involved with more than 75 start-ups and a board member of more than 25 technology start-ups. His current boards include Fidus Systems and Pythian.
Andrew has previously served on the boards of DNA13, Third Brigade, ModaSolutions, Diablo Technologies, Overlay.TV, TrialStat, Memsic (IPO on Nasdaq), Sandvine (IPO on TSE), OctigaBay (acquired by Cray), FastLane Technologies (acquired by Quest Software), Pixstream (acquired by Cisco), Abatis (acquired by Redback), OLAP@Work (acquired by Business Objects), BlueArc, Avesta Technologies (acquired by Visual Networks), Orchestream (IPO on LSE) and Ubiquity Software (acquired by Avaya). He sits on the advisory Board of Genesys Capital and the volunteer Board of SHAD Valley. Prior to Celtic House Andrew held senior positions at Eagle & Partners (now Dundee Securities), Citibank and Nortel.
Andrew holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA with distinction from the Richard Ivey School of Business. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario.
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