The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities today released Re-Imagining Journalism: Local News for a Networked World. The white paper contains several mentions of J-Lab projects. Here are the highlights:
Information Needs of Communities — A Case Study:
For example, the Seattle Times is partnering with some 40 news websites. In addition to neighborhood sites, the partners include sites devoted to topic areas such as open government, local health, gardening, hiking, cycling, boating, Seattle history and even beer news. The project began with a grant from J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism, but grew well beyond the initial expectations and funding.
Learn more about the Networked Journalism project.
The potential for established media to partner with startups seems clear, but it is happening slowly so far. Jan Schaffer, executive director of J-Lab, says, “Legacy news outlets are not yet in the game.” In a report entitled “New Voices: What Works,” she said, “Projects that counted on partnerships with legacy news outlets ultimately found it best to go it alone as newsroom cutbacks left editors with no time to partner. Once launched, though, the New Voices projects found that partners came knocking.”
Learn more about the “New Voices: What Works” report.
Not-for-profit and non-traditional media must be important sources of local journalism:
The potential for new sources of local journalism is breathtaking. Consider this insight: In the past five years, J-Lab has funded 52 news startups with $900,000 in micro grants. During that time, J-Lab received 2,734 proposals for these grants.
The report notes that J-Lab has tracked $143 million in grants to news projects since 2005. That number has now increased to more than $185 million.
Learn more about the New Media Makers Grant Funding Database.
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