The Sprawl is an independent online news outlet based in
Calgary, Alberta
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
, Canada. It was launched in 2017 by journalist Jeremy Klaszus as a temporary pop-up outlet covering the
2017 Calgary municipal election
The 2017 Calgary municipal election was held on October 16, 2017, to elect a mayor, councillors to the city council, trustees to the Calgary Board of Education, and trustees to the Calgary Catholic School District.
From 1968 to 2013, provinci ...
, but has since expanded to regularly cover Calgary news and politics.
Sprawlcast, a collaboration between The Sprawl and
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...
student radio station
CJSW 90.9 FM, is broadcast as both a podcast and radio show, with new episodes uploaded once or twice a month.
The Sprawl is a founding member of Press Forward, a Canadian association of independent media publications.
It's also a partner publisher in the Indiegraf news startup network.
History
The Sprawl launched on Facebook, Twitter, and digital publishing platform
Medium
Medium may refer to:
Science and technology
Aviation
*Medium bomber, a class of war plane
*Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data
* Medium of ...
on Sept. 18, 2017 as a "pop-up journalism" project covering the
2017 Calgary municipal election
The 2017 Calgary municipal election was held on October 16, 2017, to elect a mayor, councillors to the city council, trustees to the Calgary Board of Education, and trustees to the Calgary Catholic School District.
From 1968 to 2013, provinci ...
.
Founder Jeremy Klaszus wrote in an introductory article that he created The Sprawl not to publish in perpetuity, but to "be set up and taken down at specific times, tied to specific themes or events."
The Sprawl's first iteration concluded in October 2017, after which Klaszus decided to focus on building the publication and preparing for a second edition. On Nov. 21, 2017, The Sprawl announced its second edition would focus on the Calgary municipal budget debate.
In April 2018, The Sprawl was one of five media startups selected for the inaugural Digital News Innovation Challenge—a program run by
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
, the DMZ, and the
Ryerson University
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Tor ...
School of Journalism (now Toronto Metropolitan University).
Participating startups received $100,000, as well as $50,000 in Facebook marketing.
Klaszus used the funding to launch The Sprawl's website and to begin paying contributors for articles and illustrations.
In May 2019, The Sprawl was recognized for general excellence in digital publishing in the small division at the 2019 Digital Publishing Awards. Judges said the outlet was "refreshing" and its website provided a "satisfying mobile experience and smart audio."
The Sprawl continued to operate with Klaszus as its sole employee until September 2020, when the outlet hired assistant editor Ximena González. In November of the same year, membership editor Miranda Martini and municipal politics reporter Jeremy Appel were also hired.
The Sprawl also experienced a membership boom in 2020—In an interview with Press Progress, Klaszus said the outlet's membership base "nearly doubled" in the first ten months of the year, citing a renewed interest in local media during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
In July 2021, Klaszus told ''
This Magazine
''This Magazine'' is an independent alternative Canadian political magazine.
History and profile
The magazine was launched "by a gang of school activists" in April 1966 as ''This Magazine Is About Schools'', a journal covering political issues ...
'' that The Sprawl was continuing to grow in size and funding, and would be expanding to cover
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
politics as well. However, on Sept. 4, 2021, Klaszus announced monthly costs had surpassed membership revenue, and he "couldn’t see
he Sprawllasting another year, never mind four" without making "some painful decisions".
The Sprawl ceased its Edmonton coverage, and Klaszus laid off the outlet's two employees and did not renew two regular contributors' contracts.
The Sprawl was nominated for seven Alberta Magazine Awards in April 2022.
Funding
The Sprawl relies on crowdfunding as a regular source of income, using crowdfunding website
Patreon
Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a com ...
and integrated software Neon One for reader memberships. As of July 2022, The Sprawl earns $1,563 per month from its Patreon subscribers.
The online outlet has regularly received grant funding from the Meta Journalism Project — The Sprawl received $100,000 from the company in 2018
and reportedly received an additional $142,000 in 2020 and $39,000 in 2021.
The Sprawl also reported receiving $30,000 from the
Canada Periodical Fund in 2020.
References
{{reflist
Publications established in 2017
Online magazines published in Canada
Canadian news websites
Mass media in Calgary