NewsLab

NewsLab is an online resource and training center for journalists in all media that has one simple goal: to help journalists do better work by building their skills and broadening their thinking. In today's multimedia world, journalists need more than the basics. They need new ways of finding and telling stories that will engage and inform the communities they serve, while staying true to the fundamental principles of accurate, fair and independent journalism. To that end, we offer training for professional journalists, plus a wide array of useful resources online here at NewsLab.org. Launched in 1998, NewsLab began as an initiative funded by the Park Foundation, a private foundation based in Ithaca, New York. Until 2003, we were associated with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and affiliated with the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Our original mission was to serve local television stations by helping them find better ways of telling important stories that are often difficult to convey on TV. Thanks to the Park Foundation's generosity, NewsLab was able to provide training to thousands of working journalists and journalism educators; encourage innovation by developing and sharing new story forms; and generate new, useful research for television newsrooms. But Park, like many other foundations, suffered economic losses and was unable to renew our grant. Since 2003, NewsLab has operated independently. Founder and executive director Deborah Potter offers workshops for newsrooms and journalism groups around the world. We are supported by donations, advertising and income from training activities. If you would like to make a donation, we'd be happy to accept. NewsLab also welcomes submissions from contributors. Feel free to contact us at potter [at] newslab [dot] org if you have resources or strategies to share.