The Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism has been impact-oriented since opening its doors in 2008, but this year set a new standard for delivering practical resources to community newsrooms and the broader industry. Here is a look back at some of 2024’s highlights.

“From research on critical issues to collaborating on innovative resources for newsrooms, we delivered usable solutions that journalists are already using,” said Randy Picht, executive director of RJI. “It’s been a great year for driving positive change in community journalism.”

RJI expanded its team with several new staff members this year. Marie D. De Jesús arrived as director of both Pictures of the Year (POY) and College Photographer of the Year, officially bringing the latter program under the leadership of RJI. Matt MacVey and Sriya Reddy came aboard as impact producer and project manager, respectively.

But before these additions, RJI released a landmark report on burnout in journalism, having surveyed — in partnership with research firm SmithGeiger — 1,140 current and former news professionals to identify solutions to burnout in the industry. The report has so far been downloaded more than 4,000 times, and researchers are still combing through the data to reveal new insights.

In another research effort, associate professor Jared Schroeder and his team updated a legal guide designed to help newsrooms in all 50 states navigate frivolous defamation lawsuits known as SLAPP suits. Anti-SLAPP laws vary widely from state to state, and some states have no such laws at all, making the guide and its combination of breadth and detail a crucial resource.

From research on critical issues to collaborating on innovative resources for newsrooms, we delivered usable solutions that journalists are already using. It’s been a great year for driving positive change in community journalism.

Randy Picht, executive director of RJI

Speaking of resources, the 2023-2024 class of RJI Fellows created innovative tools and guides that were already in use by more than 150 newsrooms and 300 journalists six months after the fellowships concluded. To learn more about the impact of these resources — such as ARENA, which trains reporters to use ham radios to keep news and communication alive in the aftermath of natural disasters — read the RJI Fellows Impact Report.

The current class of RJI Fellows is not far behind. In the spring, they will conclude projects ranging from a data sonification toolkit to an “article-as-homepage” system of digital news design.

Innovation in Focus worked with 18 newsrooms and presented at conferences, panels and webinars around the country, such as a panel with Rewire News Group about covering reproductive health. Innovation in Focus Editor Emily Lytle also helped coordinate the community journalism track for the Radically Rural conference in Keene, New Hampshire. Sign up for the program’s newsletter to learn more.

Students were also an important source of innovation. A team from Northwestern University won the RJI Student Innovation Competition’s grand prize of $10,000 for the creation of software that tracks the impact of large-scale reporting projects over time.

As Innovation Fellows, more students dispersed to community newsrooms around the country to help them grow and further engage their audiences. In Missouri, Potter Digital Ambassadors spent a week at small outlets delivering training and other solutions to upscale their digital capabilities.

RJI also continued to push for stronger digital news preservation standards in the industry, naming former POY Director Lynden Steele its new director of photojournalism and news archiving and facilitating a pilot program with digital preservation service Portico. The program is already working with several local news organizations in Missouri to create regularly updated archives of their digital content.

In addition, the POY Archive project continued gain momentum in 2024. The archive now contains 40,000 images from past competitions — not only natively digital images but museum-quality scans of print submissions. Steele and his team are working with students to tackle the monumental task of scanning the many thousands of photographs yet to be added to the archive. 

This only scratches the surface of what happened at RJI in 2024. For a more thorough exploration of the year’s accomplishments, keep an eye out for the 2024 Impact Report coming in January. To keep up to date going forward, sign up for the RJI Weekend Newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and X.