Reynolds Journalism Institute

09/09/2026

Poynter's Kristen Hare chatted with 2025-2026 RJI Fellow Cara Kuhlman about "A Tour Guide for Journalists," which was built as part of Kuhlman's RJI fellowship.

"We are accustomed to diving deep, wrapping our arms around a news event or trend, and then explaining what's happening," Kuhlman said. "It's the same process for being a tour guide. Local reporters are also physically present in their communities, and a tour is a chance to demonstrate that."

Learn more about how tours might be a good fit for your work and community: https://mailchi.mp/poynter/cx9kghijsw-5287816?e=98ee948903.

09/08/2026

RJI Fellow Nikita Roy, founder of Newsroom Robots Lab, is working with newsroom partners to build an audience intelligence system for small and midsize news organizations.

"The goal is for this tool to consolidate and connect the first-party data a newsroom already holds, often scattered across multiple systems, and turn that information into a coherent view of its audience that can inform strategic editorial decisions," writes Roy.

"Traffic can no longer serve as the stable foundation of a newsroom’s audience strategy. The more durable foundation is the direct relationship a newsroom cultivates with its readers."

How the direct relationships newsrooms already have become the strategic foundation for journalism in the AI era.

09/08/2026

Street Sense Media is a nonprofit street paper in Washington, D.C., dedicated to ending homelessness in the nation's capital. Managed by just two editors, the newsroom typically has around nine interns who cycle in and out in the fall, spring and summer.

Deputy Editor Donte Kirby wanted to find consistent funding to pay interns. He also wanted to widen the pool of intern applicants. Currently, Street Sense Media doesn't have dedicated funding for its internship program and most of its applicants hail from Georgetown University.

Innovation in Focus Editor Eden Dinneen conducted an experiment with Kirby to tackle two issues:

1. Find more funding opportunities for the Street Sense internship program.

2. Get Street Sense ready to pitch its program to more universities and organizations offering internship funding.

Here are the resources to replicate this experiment: https://rjionline.org/news/where-to-look-to-for-funding-for-your-newsroom-internship-program/.

We worked with Street Sense Media to find varied funding to make its internship program more sustainable.

09/04/2026

Erika Carlos, most recently editor-in-chief of El Tecolote, shares four key lessons for building a thriving WhatsApp community from scratch and what newsrooms should consider before trying it themselves.

What one community newsroom learned about growth, retention and trust on WhatsApp.

09/03/2026

The RJI Innovation Team is now accepting applications to collaborate on building programs, tools, and resources for journalists in Spring 2027.

Have an idea that tackles a current need, gap or challenge in journalism? Want to share, collaborate and be a part of building something together?

Apply today: bit.ly/RJIPartnership. Deadline is Oct. 3.

09/01/2026

The industry constantly asks: “How do we save journalism?” A better starting point is asking what people actually need from journalism. Get that right, and the rest follows. By Shirish Kulkarni.

What happens when you stop asking, “How do we save journalism?” and start asking what people actually need from it.

08/27/2026

While analytics show the scale of your audience, they cannot pinpoint why a strategy is failing or how to improve it. That's where direct conversation comes in.

By interviewing subscribers, you gain deep insight into their everyday realities. This qualitative research is vital — not just at launch, but as an ongoing diagnostic tool to identify friction points and growth opportunities.

You don't need a massive market research budget. Creators and newsrooms of any size can easily integrate regular audience interviews into their workflow.

Here's how: https://rjionline.org/news/how-audience-interviews-surface-opportunities-for-service-oriented-journalism/.

Talking to people gets you the answers that analytics don’t: the ‘How?’ and ‘Why?’ behind your audience’s motivations.

08/25/2026

RJI Fellows Margaux Maxwell and Arya Surowidjojo are building the Open Desk Network. This journalist-run cooperative uses free technology to create a shared, secure infrastructure. It empowers independent journalists by giving them total control over their data and workflows.

If you are an independent journalist, creator journalist or community reporter doing accountability or investigative reporting, they want to hear from you.

A collaborative approach to the technology, support and resources journalists need to hold power accountable.

08/20/2026

"Understanding whether Google Ads is worth the investment involves understanding how your audience likes to get their information," said Tyler Dedrick. "If readers — current or potential — tend to get their news and information through Google, then Google Ads is a powerful way to get in front of those readers more often and also to find new readers."

Innovation in Focus Editor Eden Dinneen speaks with Tyler Dedrick, deputy managing editor of Mountain State Spotlight, about his newsroom's approach to utilizing Google Ad Grants.

A conversation with Tyler Dedrick from Mountain State Spotlight…

08/19/2026

When a story runs about a utility rate increase, rezoning, or an industrial permit, a reader invariably asks, 'What can I do about this?'"

Planet Detroit has a tool that helps readers take action. Its Civic Action Toolbox connects local reporting to public meetings, comment periods, and the officials who make decisions.

For their RJI fellowship, Planet Detroit's Nina Ignaczak and Ashley Woods Branch are testing how to make this work for other newsrooms.

Learn more about the Civic Action Toolbox and how to pilot it in your newsroom: https://rjionline.org/resources/toolkits/journalism-tells-people-whats-happening-this-tool-helps-them-take-action/.