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.

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

Tony Marcano is a managing editor at KPCC and LAist. Marcano oversees the day-to-day operations of the newsrooms. Photo courtesy of Tony Marcano.

April 12, 2022

Reframing politics coverage to promote healthier democracy

Tony Marcano explains how LAist and KPCC are reframing coverage to better serve their community.

A quiz of issues that voters care about in the local school board election where the user has selected Post-graduate results, COVID learning loss, and Race and Equity.

April 4, 2022

Methods for innovative elections coverage

Interactivity, conscientiousness can change elections guides.

A preview of the publish/share feature, which shows a heatmap of Kansas, and is titled Final Fine Payments of Kansas Nursing Homes (in USD).

March 30, 2022

Utilizing no-code tools for snappy data visualizations

How Infogram, Chartblocks and ChartExpo stack up.

March 29, 2022

Building minigames for digital engagement

Wordles, Heardles and Absurdles.

A screenshot of an article on the Detroit Free Press website by opioid beat reporter Georgea Kovanis. The article is titled “Narcan 101: How to use it, why it works and how to get it”.

March 24, 2022

How to produce and measure impact on your journalism

It is about tracking a wide variety of aspects from story pitch to execution to promotion, to make sure your stories can affect the communities they’re created in service to.