We develop emergent models for strengthening the flow of reliable news and information. We do this by activating community colleges and other civic institutions as critical parts of local news infrastructure, building collaborations with local newsrooms and enabling more people to produce, share and act on local news.
Local newsrooms across America face significant challenges in serving the whole of their communities, particularly those who have been historically marginalized. In particular, newsrooms fail to harness the abundant community resources that are already facilitating the flow of news and information in many places. J+D Lab mobilizes community colleges to anchor programs that create two-way channels between newsrooms and communities: journalism trainings, events, fellowships, and more. By nurturing grassroots networks for community news, we help local newsrooms collaborate and connect with their communities.
The formal infrastructure built to support news flow in the 20th-century has mostly collapsed. It's been replaced with channels owned by people with an intense antipathy to the concept of public good, and the forces creating these conditions are too strong to fight head-on. Our response is hyperlocal: In partnership with community colleges, local newsrooms and other civic institutions, we identify and nurture the informal ways people gather and share news and information. We co-design programs and pathways that equip local information leaders and trusted messengers to produce, share, and act on reliable news and information in accessible, relevant ways.
We co-design programs and pathways for community colleges, newsrooms and other trusted civic institutions to equip more people to produce, share and act on local news.
Target Issues
J+D Lab has developed resources designed for teaching journalism that meets community needs.
Target Issues