Local news: Filling in the future gaps

Paul Graham, the founder of tech accelerator Y Combinator, famously advises aspiring entrepreneurs to “Live in the future, then build what’s missing.” To him, the most successful founders don’t come up with startup ideas by solving the problems of today. They notice something that’s missing in the current landscape and they envision how their business … Continued

Lessons from a viral obituary

Once in a while, notice of someone’s death takes on a life all its own — the addict who was also a mother with a beautiful voice, the hard-living, sweet-souled uncle, the former beauty queen grandma who wrote her own obituary.   Three months into my RJI fellowship experimenting with obituaries, I’ve been thinking a lot about what … Continued

A case study: Photojournalism and its value to a community

While I spent time thinking about the numbers surrounding my project, looking through data and designing new ways to collect it, something more palpable happened that strikes right at the heart of my main question: What’s the value of strong photojournalism to a community? For more than 41 years, the people of Jasper, Indiana, picked … Continued

Journalists, business leaders consider roles in creating a more equitable, resilient local economy

As RJI continues to explore the links between rebuilding local economies and futureproofing local media, we want to better understand how to incentivize local conversations and experiments that help newsrooms build deep, reciprocal relationships that generate community-led solutions, revenue streams and business models to ensure their survival. The first of those experiments gets underway today … Continued

Can obituaries help save local news?

Years ago when asked what will save local news, Steven Waldman had two answers: national service and obituaries. You might know Waldman as the co-founder of Report for America, a Peace Corps-like model that pairs emerging journalists with local newsrooms to cover critical issues to those communities. After years of talking with journalists about what … Continued

Getting started as an independent journalist

Hannah Yoon, independent visual journalist, Mason Trinca, documentary and editorial photojournalist, Sarah Fritsche, independent food writer and editor, and Maddie McGarvey, independent photographer,  joined our discussion on how to succeed as an independent journalist. We talked about healthcare, building your client base, making time for personal projects, invoicing & contracts, how to prepare for slow months … Continued

Create a newsletter worth reading: Tips from the experts

Tatyana Monnay is the RJI Student Innovation Fellow at the Associated Press. This summer our student fellows will be sharing dispatches from their fellowships in newsrooms across the country for Innovation in Focus.  Newsletters can be a powerful product to add to your newsroom to inform your community and engage them in topics they care … Continued