This is the portfolio site of

Johnny Bassett,
PhD

I make and use digital tools that help journalists and historians dig deeper on important issues.

I recently made a
300,00-page digital newspaper archive
in the southern Philippines.

That project made it possible for researchers to read in unprecedented detail about the history of Davao City, the hometown of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

I used that database to write my doctoral dissertation about Davao City's economic revival in the 1990s.

That story is the first academic retelling of Davao City's history in the late 20th century, revealing a wealth of new information about the economic, political, and security-related events that defined Duterte's early career.


In the last decade, I've worked on small, scrappy teams to make documentary films, write investigative news articles, and develop practical news apps, among other things.

The common thread tying together all my experiences has been my ability to quickly analyze complex information, think across disciplines, and clearly communicate with a wide array of audiences.

Get in touch

I'd love to hear your feedback or questions about my work. Shoot me a message if you have an opportunity or an idea for collaboration.

You can reach me at [email protected] (NB: As of July 3, 2024, johnny at jmbassett dot com is temporarily offline)
or on Signal at johnnybassett.02