RJI news
Afro-American’s archives reveal the fight for Black women’s right to vote — and the battles beyond
The Black women of Baltimore weren’t content to simply celebrate the ratification of the 19th Amendment, 100 years go this month. They intended to use its power. With only two months to prepare, suffrage leaders immediately began organizing to educate other Black women about how they could take advantage of this new right in the … Continued
Utilizing the WhatsApp audio feature for news
One of the most popular features of WhatsApp is the ability to leave a short audio message in lieu of a text message, video or photo. It’s a feature that’s widely used across the world, but less so in the United States. And Radio remains popular across Latin America, especially in areas with limited internet … Continued
Build a real-time dataviz bot (for free!)
When it’s not busy playing host to cryptocurrency scams, Twitter remains a widely adopted platform for the distribution of bite-sized information. For that reason alone, it’s well-suited to sharing real-time data—especially via charts and graphics.
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
Facing the pressure to unpublish
This project represents my commitment to helping the industry solve a problem that editors say is rising in importance: how to respond to requests by members of the public to “unpublish”—typically meaning deleting or significantly altering—online news content that identifies them in a way that they would rather forget. Often, but not always, the request … Continued
The Missouri Info Corps COVID-19 widget
What is the COVID-19 widget? And why should I want it on my news site? This widget is a free and easy way for your news organization to display Missouri Info Corps COVID-19 stories on your news site. If your news organization has taken a hit in resources and reporters over the past few months, this … Continued
Redefining local journalism: What is news?
Since the advent of the Internet, many people have increasingly wondered: What is “news” in a universe of infinite information? What is a journalist’s role when anyone can publish a story and report the “Truth”? David Caswell, Executive Product Manager of BBC News Labs, asks the most urgent question of all: “Does society still need news publishers … Continued
5 lessons from creating my first AMP story
Caroline Watkins is the RJI Student Innovation Fellow at the Chatham News + Record in North Carolina. This summer our student fellows will be sharing dispatches from their fellowships in newsrooms across the country as a part of Innovation in Focus. As part of my RJI Student Innovation Fellowship, I created my first-ever AMP story for The Chatham News + Record. I … Continued
RJI Fellowship to help newsrooms handle unpublishing requests ethically and practically
Fellow pursued doctorate in pledge to help news organizations, including one she once worked for, tackle issues related to unpublishing
Social enterprise leader urges local media to embrace the role of educator, anchor institution
Maurice Jones says running the Virginian-Pilot was one of the most fun jobs he’s ever had. That was years before the newspaper was sold to TRONC which was sold to Tribune Publishing which barely thwarted a takeover by the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, known for buying and pillaging local newspapers. Jones left the Pilot … Continued