A collective of media makers in Vancouver is putting together the city’s first online, grassroots news co-operative, and Dawn Paley (Grad ‘10) is working hard to get things off the ground.

The Vancouver Media Co-op, which was launched this summer, is Vancouver’s only open newswire dedicated to serving social movements and independent journalists. Anyone can post content to the site, but the co-operative also plans to pay professional journalists to cover stories that readers think are important.

“The Vancouver Media Co-op is exciting because instead of debating the future of media, we’re helping to create it,” says Dawn Paley, who works as a contributing editor at The Dominion. The Vancouver local is the second in an emerging national network of Media Cooperatives.

Paley, who has reported from around the world for news outlets including the Vancouver Sun, the Georgia Straight, the Tyee, This Magazine and Briarpatch Magazine, thinks that the Media Co-op will open up important new possibilities for journalists across Canada.

“We’re building an alternative that doesn’t depend on advertising revenue,” she says. “Our model offers a way forward for journalists who are committed to investigating and writing about issues that affect people in their communities.