As Canada’s foremost analyst of technology’s democratic impacts, Taylor Owen combines academic rigor with policy pragmatism. His work at McGill University’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy informs both legislation and public discourse.
Owen’s academic foundation at the University of Oxford, where he earned his doctorate, laid the groundwork for his hybrid approach combining scholarly rigor with journalistic accessibility. His tenure as Research Director at Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism (2013-2018) proved pivotal, producing groundbreaking work on virtual reality journalism and algorithmic accountability that’s cited in over 200 policy papers globally.
“The collapse of traditional media business models isn’t just about lost jobs – it’s about the erosion of our shared reality.” [6]
This op-ed co-authored with Helen Hayes sounds alarm bells about foreign digital interference, particularly from U.S. tech giants. Owen dissects Canada’s fragmented approach to platform regulation, contrasting it with the EU’s Digital Services Act. The article’s proposal for a Tech Accountability and Sovereignty Act demonstrates his ability to translate complex policy frameworks into actionable legislation, citing specific failures in Bill C-27’s AI governance provisions.
Published weeks before Canada’s federal election, this investigative piece reveals how platform content moderation teams operate without public oversight. Owen obtained leaked training materials from three major platforms showing inconsistent hate speech definitions across linguistic regions. His analysis of French-language misinformation patterns in Quebec remains foundational for Canada’s Election Integrity Act reforms.
In this podcast-turned-essay with NYU’s Jay Rosen, Owen traces the collapse of bipartisan political reporting frameworks. The work introduces his “asymmetric accountability” model, arguing that traditional “both sides” journalism fails when one party rejects democratic norms. His case study of Canadian broadcast regulations during the 2024 U.S. election offers a blueprint for public media reforms.
Owen prioritizes stories demonstrating how global tech trends impact Canadian regulatory frameworks. Successful pitches connect issues like AI bias to specific legislation like Ontario’s Algorithmic Accountability Act. His recent analysis of Toronto’s facial recognition pilot shows appetite for municipal case studies.
With 18 peer-reviewed publications on platform governance, Owen values access to unpublished datasets from credible institutions. The 2024 McGill-MIT disinformation tracking project, which he led, exemplifies his method of transforming academic findings into public-facing explainers.
Pitches should emphasize preservation of journalistic institutions rather than individual platform reforms. Owen’s work with the Canadian Association of Journalists on newsroom cybersecurity standards illustrates his belief in systemic over piecemeal solutions.
While deeply engaged with emerging tech, Owen dismisses stories framed around technological determinism. His critique of Web3 evangelism in the 2023 Massey Lectures demonstrates preference for socio-political analysis over gadget-focused futurism.
Successful pitches contrast Canadian policies with global counterparts. Owen’s BBC documentary series on Scandinavia’s public media partnerships shows particular interest in hybrid funding models and cross-border fact-checking alliances.
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