Barrett Golding, a Web developer and leader of the project Hearing Voices from NPR, will create and test a suite of open-source WordPress plugins designed to make journalists’ everyday tasks faster and easier. These tasks could range from fact-checking and finding free images to creating immersive multimedia presentations and previewing mobile versions of their articles. The project will put “big-media tools” into the hands of media professionals and freelancers who don’t have access to large programming teams, says Golding.

Before building the suite of tools, Golding will survey news organizations to learn more about their digital workflow and identify areas most in need of improvement, then focus on making open-source plugins that serve those needs.

The next phase will test the plugins to optimize the user-experience. Collaborators will include partners from the University of Missouri, RJI and several national journalism organizations. The testing will allow Golding and his team to refine the tools suite and prepare it for free public distribution.