Navigating the pitch

New questions, but plenty of promise Introductions in the time of COVID-19 can be a bit of a sticky wicket.  Faces are masked … or seen through Zoom boxes. Handshakes, if they weren’t already, are relics of the past. Thus, delivering and catching the subtleties and nuances of communication can get sunk or lost on … Continued

We’re building a better system for tracking source diversity

Chalkbeat and the Reynolds Journalism Institute want your help to develop the future of source auditingEvery news organization should be able to answer the question: “Does your journalism accurately reflect the communities you serve?” Historically, we know that disproportionately white newsrooms and the journalism they produce have not been inclusive of Black, Latino, Hispanic, Indigenous … Continued

Collaborative community ‘zine’ wins top news engagement idea at RJI Student Innovation Competition

A student team that partnered with L.A. Taco, a digital-only news source in Los Angeles, to create a collaborative community ‘zine’ (short for magazine) to help with engagement, won the 2020-21 RJI Student Innovation Competition. “Remains to be Zine,” which was made up of Caitlin Hernandez, Astrid Kayembe, Laura Gonzalez and Melody Waintal of the … Continued

RJI’s 2021–2022 fellows named

The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute has awarded eight fellowships for the 2021–22 academic year that address a range of topics, from building collaborations around new kinds of content to inventing newsroom tools to exploring innovative ways to think about ongoing challenges.  “These projects are a terrific mix of efforts to solve problems and explore … Continued

How should publishers change their messaging when paywalls aren’t one size fits all?

Optimizing content limits on a user-by-user basis Should publishers communicate content limits to their audiences? The question becomes more pressing as the products that manage paywalls become sophisticated enough to make predictions about who likely subscribers are. We decided to test this idea with the Reynolds Journalism Institute this year in a partnership project where … Continued

RJI names Kat Duncan its new director of innovation

RJI Senior Editor Kat Duncan has been named the new director of innovation at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism. Her appointment is effective immediately. Duncan, who joined RJI in 2017, will continue the duties she took over as the interim director including organizing and leading innovative projects in … Continued