Innovation in Focus
Innovation in Focus is a series exploring new tech, tools and methods of storytelling for journalism. We interview experts, test ideas and provide our findings with templates, guidance and how-tos so you can implement the same innovations in your newsroom.
Sign up for the Innovation in Focus Newsletter to get a monthly delivery of each topic.
Whether you’re a one-man band or a large metro, this series will help you take the next step in innovative journalism.
Email the editor: lytle@rjionline.org
Automating story follow-up tracking — for free
Airtable, Zapier and Google Drive products make remembering when to circle back to a topic a breeze. We built a simple automation system to track and share ideas for follow-up stories.
Students should lead innovation in the journalism industry
Introducing the College Media Innovation Coalition, a resource for student-led newsrooms to collaborate and communicate.
Newsrooms’ service roles need to be grounded in community relationships
Building trust in a community requires listening and unlearning: a discussion with Bevin Christie.
Creating an affordable text system for your community centered newsroom
SMS systems are often expensive, pay per a text plans can make it affordable.
Honoring the vulnerability of people’s stories when designing projects
A conversation with Ilia Blinderman, Senior Journalist-Engineer at The Pudding.
Building a visual storytelling experience in Newspack
Newspack streamlines publisher content, but creative storytelling can be a challenge.
How Trusting News organizes their large library of internal resources
Keeping information easily accessible is an essential lesson for newsrooms.
Combining historical and current day journalism in an interactive experience
South Dakota Public Broadcasting used archival maps, audio stories, photos and other content to combine reporting on survivors’ stories
How to create and launch an evergreen pop-up newsletter
Sydney Lewis is a 2022 RJI Student Innovation Fellow partnered with NOLA.com in New Orleans. The RJI Student Fellows will be sharing their product work this summer through Innovation in Focus. NOLA.com | The Times Picayune decided to create an evergreen pop-up newsletter. It was my job to research, brainstorm, build, curate, write, promote, and … Continued
Expanding credit for journalists: looking beyond the byline
Changes to traditional workflows reflect the contributions of all folks in the newsroom.