Powering the journalism of the future

Welcome to an experiment.

This summer, I’m working with a team of reporters to develop new ways of telling stories online. The project, which is funded by the Carnegie and Knight Foundations, involves 12 journalism students and recent graduates based at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The news about the journalism industry is often dire. The rise of the Internet has contributed to a death spiral in traditional media as classified advertising and other revenue streams have evaporated. But the Internet also offers opportunities for experimenting in new and better ways of practicing journalism.

Since January, our team has been thinking about how we can best use the tools of the Internet for journalism. How can we involve our audience? How can we be more transparent? How can audio, video, 3-D graphics and Facebook applications expand the reach and power of our stories - or become the stories themselves?

We still don’t have all the answers. But as we carry out this experiment, we’ll be blogging about our experiences, including our successes and failures.

Meanwhile, we’d love to hear from you. What’s working for you? What could we do better? Let us know by commenting or sending an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We welcome you as a fellow experimenter in the journalism of the future.

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