Everything you need to run a photo workshop in your community

Let’s say you want to run a photo workshop for teenagers. It would let you pass along some valuable skills, give people from underserved areas a voice, work as a great community engagement tool for your news organization, and help you find hidden stories. Nice idea. But a lot of work. Just handing young people … Continued

Descript video: Tips and tricks

Innovation in Focus is a series exploring emerging technology and methods of storytelling for newsrooms worldwide. We interview experts, test tools and provide our findings on a different topic each month. This month I tested Descript’s new video editing software to create this video about a local maker and his business. Here are five tips … Continued

Journalists are creators now, and that’s a good thing

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Reynolds Journalism Institute or the University of Missouri. Journalism’s hostility is understandable, but our denial is not.In 2009, the former editor-in-chief at Thomson Reuters, David Schlesinger, described journalism as one of the great self-declared professions. He wrote, … Continued

Taking a look at the Boston Globe’s “Fresh Start” program

Here are some key elements to consider Last week, the Boston Globe announced a new program to help reduce the impact of personal information found online. The Fresh Start initiative invites people to request a review of information about them in the news site’s public-facing archive, similar to some other efforts we’ve seen launched in … Continued

Narrated articles: Q&A with Allyson Daniels

This month for Innovation in Focus, I interviewed Allyson Daniels to learn more about how we can increase accessibility in journalism. Daniels is a quality editor for the Bleacher Report.  Swanson: Could you give a brief summary of the work you do? Daniels: I’m a quality editor for digital sports media network Bleacher Report, meaning … Continued

Journalism outlets need new social media policies

What should they look like? The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Reynolds Journalism Institute or the University of Missouri. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette journalist Alexis Johnson was barred from protest coverage after joking about a Kenny Chesney concert on Twitter. She tweeted: “Horrifying … Continued