My latest post got likes from a bunch of bots... Anyone seen these accounts before?

Wild story.. I signed up for the website of the US Republican group 10XVotes on Monday to test how it works. What I found was a search tool packed exclusively with the names and addresses of Albertans. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/20/i...

Fresh Centurion scoop from @rorywh.bsky.social www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/20/i...

BREAKING: Alberta voter data has appeared on the website of a US company named repeatedly by separatist David Parker. After @rorywh.bsky.social discovered the breach, the website was taken down amid questions from Elections Alberta.

Carney announces environment to be eliminated as cost-cutting measure

Breaking: The Carney government is expected to significantly weaken the future industrial carbon price in Alberta as part of its climate and energy accord with the oil-rich province, the Star has confirmed. More from the Star's Alex Ballingall:

The Ubyssey broke the story before any other journalists. ubyssey.ca/news/canvas-...

The federal gov is taking a page from Doug Ford’s playbook, proposing legislation that would allow cabinet to create “federal economic zones”where major projects can be pre-approved and fast-tracked. by @natashabulowski.bsky.social for @nationalobserver.com www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/12/n...

NEW collab from me and @rorywh.bsky.social regarding Arundeep Sandhu

I got a Google Alert for my name yesterday, pointing to an article for an outlet I’d never spoken to, full of quotes I’ve never said. It’s now corrected…but the editor told me ‘I asked Google to find an expert but I think it used AI.’ Isn’t it your job to check..?

With the Alberta separatists in the news again, it's worth revisiting this batshit interview @arnokopecky.bsky.social did with their leader, Mitch Sylvestre.

Civic Searchlight, our tool for searching local government meeting transcripts across 670 Canadian municipalities, just got more powerful. And it's available for free, to you!

This is an incredible resource for social science research: a free searchable database of municipal government transcripts.

ICYMI: Civic Searchlight is now more intuitive and powerful than ever, with a built-in map, visual timeline and more. Go try it, it's free.

Share this one in the family group chat, because your cousin who likes car memes is being sold to unknown buyers of an unscrupulous political actor.

My latest investigation is out. A well-known Canadian digital strategy firm has begun openly selling "surrogate online communities" of social media users to undisclosed clients. The users come for the viral content and are pushed up an "activation ladder." www.nationalobserver.com/2026/04/30/i...

Independent Alberta journalists killing it this week on the Centurion Project story. Namely Jeremy Appel of @readtheorchard.org and Jen Gerson of @thelineca.bsky.social. Impressive work to say the least. 🙌 #ableg

This is an entire new way to use Civic Searchlight. Our new map view allows you to instantly see which local governments are talking about an issue. We have also added a timeline feature that lets you filter by month.

Civic Searchlight just got even more powerful, with a new map and timeline. You can join journalists, researchers and citizens across the country and try it right now — it's free.

This is the biggest improvement in Civic Searchlight since launch, and I'm so excited it's here.

SCOOP: I attended the launch of David Parker’s Centurion Project last night. I happened to step outside when an Elections Alberta investigator and the cops arrived. open.substack.com/pub/theorcha...

Congratulations to my friend and colleague @arnokopecky.bsky.social for his nomination for best personal essay at the Digital Publishing Awards. This story knocked me flat, it's worth a million reads.

Finalists/Finalistes : Data journalism / Journalisme de données ⭐️Julia-Simone Rutgers, Malak Abas - Narwhal / Winnipeg Free Press ⭐️Team - Radio-Canada ⭐️Team - Edmonton Journal / MacEwan University ⭐️Rory White, David McKie - CNO #CAJawards #prixACJ

Congratulations to CNO's @rorywh.bsky.social @davidmckie.bsky.social and @cloelogan.bsky.social for their @cajournalists.bsky.social award nominations today! Nominations are for data journalism and environment and climate change reporting, the core of our work.

🚨JOB ALERT: @NationalObserver is seeking a Growth Manager Own the execution of our business strategy and help us reach the readers who need our climate reporting most #JournalismJobs #MediaJobs #Hiring #Journalism

You are correct! But I use a browser extension that extracts it fast—Video DownloadHelper. I used to have to play and record in realtime. Also @nationalobserver.com recently launched CivicSearchlight which has transcripts + vid of #yyccc meetings. A godsend! civicsearchlight.nationalobserver.com

TORONTO, April 8, 2026 /CNW/ - The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) is proud to announce its shortlist for the inaugural CJF Hinton Award for Excellence in AI Safety Reporting. Read more: www.newswire.ca/news-release... #CJFAwards

It’s been such a great experience working on Civic Searchlight with @rorywh.bsky.social + @jameswsthomson.com, and getting to see how it’s being used by journalists, researchers, and advocacy groups. It’s an honour for the @nationalobserver.com to be nominated for it.

i recalled the city manager making this commitment but couldn't remember the specifics of the exchange. civic searchlight was a huge help, what a great tool - ty!! @jameswsthomson.com @rorywh.bsky.social @nationalobserver.com

As competition for water peaks during hot summers, @policyalternatives.ca researcher @hadrianmk.bsky.social called for developers to disclose their water use “not on an annual basis, which is misleading, but on a peak basis.” www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/23/i...

We analyzed the locations of 38 data centre campuses proposed in Alberta. Three quarters of them are in regions under high or extremely high water stress. Only three have been planned in low water stress regions, which comprise the majority of Alberta’s land mass.

"National Observer analyzed the locations of 38 data centre campuses proposed in the province, and found that three quarters of them are in regions under high or extremely high water stress." www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/23/i...

Three quarters of data centre sites planned in Alberta are in high water stress areas www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/23/i...

@natashabulowski.bsky.social and I analyzed the locations of 38 proposed data centre sites in Alberta for this investigation. The results aren’t pretty. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/23/i...

Nominations are out for one of Canada’s premier journalism awards. The National Newspaper Awards issued its preliminary decisions on Friday, and Canada’s National Observer is on the list. Twice!

Parts of my latest conversation with Zoe from Climate Caucus. Ironically I just finished another long interview with Arjun Singh and Brian Frenkel on the state and future of municipal democracy. www.linkedin.com/posts/climat...

Local electeds are sounding the alarm: rising disinformation and polarization are reshaping local democracy. We spoke with Mayor Blackwell about this growing crisis, whose concerns echo what we’ve been hearing. youtu.be/hOoGqgUWy3c #disinformation #cdnpoli #localgovernance #polarization #municipal

New article from me. Bill C-4 is now law, granting federal political parties immunity from privacy laws retroactively to the year 2000. The exemptions were "buried" at the end of the Making Life More Affordable for Canadians Act.

Civic Searchlight is a tool that is constantly transcribing municipal meetings across the country. It makes them searchable so if you’re interested in, say, bike lanes, you can search for any discussions happening about bike lanes in any Canadian city and most of its towns.

Kudos for @nationalobserver.com for building this valuable tool and making it free to use. #journalism cc @tcitiesdispatch.bsky.social @freshetnews.bsky.social

Juno News can get a reply from an IRCC spokesperson (www.junonews.com/p/immigratio...), but Jeremy can't. Huh!

And so I did. I asked how long this policy has been in place and whether it applies across government. Here’s what they said.

CivicSearchlight is now available for free for everyone, built by the amazing @rorywh.bsky.social for @nationalobserver.com. It allows you to search municipal meetings across the country with keywords, and is really helpful for understanding how a topic has moved through time and jurisdictions. ❗☺️❗

"Local reporting matters, and Civic Searchlight offers newsrooms a chance to tap into compelling local stories in real time to bring Canadians the news they need" -

Civic Searchlight is being used by hundreds of journalists, researchers and staff at big and small institutions alike. They’ve been given early access while we work out the bugs and start our first round of major additions, which are coming soon. And now it's free — for everyone.

This is awesome! Next up we need a tool that tracks every city's Lobbyist registry!

My life has just gotten SO MUCH BETTER thanks to the National Observer's Civic Searchlight! Love this tool for democratic action. civicsearchlight.nationalobserver.com @rwhite12345.bsky.social

As of today, you can sign up to access the 59,000+ hours of municipal transcripts from across Canada. For free.

Civic Searchlight is now free to use www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/09/n...

Delighted to share that our tool Civic Searchlight is now freely available to everyone. Over 30k council meetings from 670 municipalities across Canada now searchable. And it updates every day. Check it out now! civicsearchlight.nationalobserver.com