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The reality of applying AI in newsrooms, with Joe Amditis
The Media Copilot | March 15, 2024

In this week’s episode of The Media Copilot podcast, host Pete Pachal explores that question Joe Amditis, Associate Director of Operations at the Center for Cooperative Media. As part of his role, Joe researches how journalists can apply generative AI, both at the individual and organization levels, and has written guides on publicly available tools, including how to create custom GPTs for reporting use cases.

Five of this year’s Pulitzer finalists are AI-powered
Nieman Journalism Lab | March 11, 2024

Mark Hansen, who is also the director of the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation, wanted to provide the board with a broad base of AI usage in newsrooms from interrogating large datasets to writing code for web-scraping large language models. He and AI experts from The Marshall Project, Harvard Innovation Labs, and Center for Cooperative Media created informational videos about the basics of large language models and newsroom use cases.

The Sierra Nevada Ally once again receives national recognition for its reporting
Sierra Nevada Ally | March 4, 2024

Less than two months after publication, the Center for Cooperative Media named “Speaking Out” one of the year’s top 10 collaborations globally.

Press Forward: A Guide for Local Funders
Press Forward | Feb. 28, 2024

One of the first challenges of ecosystem mapping is identifying local news producers. This can be harder than it sounds because news can be produced in many different formats and targeted for different communities, which Sarah Stonbely found at the Center for Cooperative Media in its mapping of the New Jersey local news ecosystem.

Community leaders take a deep dive into issues influencing the Black vote
NJ.com | Feb. 27, 2024

The virtual panel discussion on President’s Day was sponsored by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University and Mosaic, a website covering issues about and for people of color, the disabled, the LGBTQ community and New Jersey’s diverse communities.

Election 2024: Amplifying the Black Voice in a Climate of Disenchantment
BNN Breaking | Feb. 26, 2024

On a crisp morning that marked President’s Day, a panel discussion convened, casting a spotlight on an often-overlooked facet of American democracy: the Black vote. This pivotal gathering, hosted by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University alongside Mosaic, not only served as a platform for vibrant discourse but also as a clarion call to address the burgeoning sense of disenchantment among Black voters as we edge closer to the 2024 elections.

Center for Cooperative Media welcomes new staff members
Editor & Publisher | Feb. 23, 2024

It’s an exciting time at the Center for Cooperative Media as we welcome new talents and celebrate the growth of our team! Allow me to introduce our newest part-time and full-time staff members and acknowledge a familiar face taking on a new full-time role.

Taking bilingual collaboration statewide: How a New Jersey program brings hundreds of local Spanish-language stories to audiences
OIGO | Feb. 16, 2024

As language barriers persist in 2024, New Jersey’s translation collaboration may inspire you. ✔️ Initiated as a pilot serving a few partners, the program now engages 12 outlets in bringing hundreds of locally resonant stories to Spanish-language readers in the state.

Commentary: A vote for local news, during National Literacy Week
Morristown Green | Jan. 26, 2024

The urgent national need to protect, preserve and enhance our free and independent press is acute in New Jersey, too. Fortunately, the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University is helping advance local news by facilitating connections and promoting collaboration.

Center for Cooperative Media’s Top 10 Journalism Collaborations of 2023
Global Investigative Journalism Network | Jan. 18, 2024

This post was originally published on Medium and is reprinted here with permission. It has been lightly edited for style.

Which rights do AI and journalists have in common?
Nieman Journalism Lab | Jan. 11, 2024

Rather than protecting the big, old newspaper chains — many of them now controlled by hedge funds, which will not invest or innovate in news — it is better to nurture new competition. Take, for example, the 450 members of the New Jersey News Commons, which I helped start a decade ago at Montclair State University; and the 475 members of the Local Independent Online News Publishers; the 425 members of the Institute for Nonprofit News; and the 4,000 members of the News Product Alliance, which I also helped start at CUNY. This is where innovation in news is occurring: bottom-up, grassroots efforts emergent from communities.

Jeff Jarvis mentions the NJ News Commons during Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
Senate Judiciary Committee | Jan. 10, 2024

While testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing on generative AI and journalism for the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, Jeff Jarvis mentioned the NJ News Commons — the Center for Cooperative Media’s flagship partner network of local journalists and news organization in New Jersey — as an example of “bottom-up” innovation in media.

Wayne State in Detroit to Host National Journalism Summit in 2024
DBusiness | Dec. 27, 2023

A national journalism conference is coming to Detroit next year and will be hosted by Wayne State University and Detroit Public Television at the school’s main campus. The event, organized by Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media, will be conducted May 9-10, 2024 and will be attended by journalists from across the country.

Center for Cooperative Media named Rural News Network’s “Speaking Out” Series in Top 10 journalism collaborations of 2023
Sierra Nevada Ally | Dec. 26, 2023

Every December, the Center for Cooperative Media takes a few days to look over all the various collaborative journalism projects from the last year and reflects over some of their favorite impactful projects. This year, Sierra Nevada Ally made the list.

How does New Jersey support local journalism?
Energy Portal | Dec. 23, 2023

Collaborative journalism initiatives have gained traction in New Jersey, bringing together news organizations, journalists, and community members to tackle complex issues collectively. These collaborations foster information sharing, resource pooling, and in-depth reporting on topics of local importance.

Guía Esencial Para Un Periodismo De Calidad Y Productivo Con ChatGPT
Cremas Digital | Dec. 22, 2023

Montclair State University ha lanzado una guía esencial de uso de ChatGPT dirigida a editores y periodistas de noticias locales. Desarrollada por Joe Amditis, subdirector del Centro de Medios Cooperativos de la universidad, esta guía tiene como objetivo mejorar la productividad en las salas de redacción y permitir a los equipos enfocarse en un periodismo comunitario de calidad.

Montclair State University deja en acceso libre la guía de uso de GPT para editores locales
Laboratorio de Periodismo | Dec. 22, 2023

La guía fue desarrollada Joe Amditis, subdirector del Centro de Medios Cooperativos, con el objetivo de incrementar la productividad y eficiencia en las salas de redacción, permitiendo a los equipos enfocarse en lo que realmente importa: un periodismo comunitario impactante y de calidad.

Journalism grapples with the promise and pitfalls of AI-assisted reporting
Nieman Journalism Lab | Dec. 20, 2023

“It’s the tools plus the perspective, the paradigm, and yes, the power — dangling the carrot of higher productivity alongside a stick woven with issues of ethics and job security.”

Tiny News Collective announces new executive director
Editor & Publisher | Dec. 12, 2023

Heather Bryant is the deputy director of product for News Catalyst where TNC was developed. She published the Collaborative Journalism Workbook and worked with the Center for Cooperative Media to chronicle collaborations from around the world, as well as facilitate training and workshops on collaboration. Bryant researches and writes about the intersection of class, poverty, technology and journalism ethics.

Exploring AI in Newsrooms: Insights from Joe Amditis
AImpactful | Dec. 8, 2023

Welcome to the first episode of AImpactful, where we delve into the evolving world of journalism in the age of artificial intelligence. In this enlightening discussion, we are joined by Joe Amditis, an expert in integrating AI into journalistic practices. Joe shares his valuable insights on how journalists can effectively utilize AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance their work. He emphasizes the importance of experimenting with these tools, understanding their capabilities and limitations, and using them to streamline workflow and focus on impactful storytelling.

New Jersey’s diversity not fully reflected in legislature
Montclair Local News | Nov. 4, 2023

With the Nov. 7 election fast approaching and most news headlines focusing on the close partisan races that will determine whether Democrats or Republicans win the majority in the State Senate and the General Assembly, voters may be unaware of something missing from the debate: racial and gender representation, the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University says.

Need to Know: November 1, 2023
American Press Institute | Nov. 1, 2023

A group of New Jersey journalists and news outlets have built the state’s first collaborative voter guide, which focuses on the 120 state senate and assembly races. The collaborative — coordinated by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University and NJ Spotlight News — had a goal of obtaining questionnaire answers from all 246 candidates vying for state election. In the end, they had a 41% response rate. The final guide included stories and videos translated into Chinese, Turkish, Spanish, Urdu and Korean, and partner websites translated individual questionnaire answers into languages relevant to certain communities.

Sahan Journal’s founder to step down; plus, news from Mendo County and New Jersey
Media Nation | Nov. 1, 2023

Joe Amditis of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey, tells us about a collaborative effort to put together ahead of next week’s legislative elections. The guide, NJ Decides 2023, was put together by the center; NJ Spotlight News, one of the media organizations that we profile in our book; and the NJ Civic Information Consortium, a publicly funded effort to bolster local news in New Jersey. A number of other news outlets assisted with reporting, and the guide is available not only in English but also in Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu and Korean.

WNYC, NJ Spotlight News, Chalkbeat Newark, and The Center for Cooperative Media host “The State of Segregation”
WNYC | Oct. 19, 2023

On Thursday, October 26, four journalistic organizations – WNYC, NJ Spotlight News, Chalkbeat Newark, and the Center for Cooperative Media – will host “The State of Segregation,” a community event and discussion focused on racial segregation in New Jersey schools. WNYC Morning Edition host Michael Hill will lead a conversation about the pervasive segregation in New Jersey’s schools with NJ Spotlight News’ Colleen O’Dea and special guest Dr. Charles Payne, the Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor of African American Studies and Director of the Joseph Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Research at Rutgers University. In addition, Jessie Gomez of Chalkbeat Newark will moderate a discussion with students and community advocates from Newark to talk about their experiences with diversity, race, and access to resources in schools.

State of Black Writers Symposium takes place at Essex County College
Global Patriot News | Oct. 16, 2023

The Symposium, which will have, among others, a variety of accomplished writers and critics in attendance, will have three major segments – Black Diaspora Authors Explore Writing in Diverse Spaces (from 10:00AM – 11.30AM), Black Press and its Role in Building the News Ecosystem (11.30AM – 1:00PM) and Young Writers in the Creative Process (1:00PM – 2.20PM). Among the key speakers are Margaret Stevens, John Gavin White, Akil Kokayi Khalfani (the Director of the Africana Institute of Essex County College, Newark), Anasa Maat and Nayaba Arinde. Others are Penda Howell, Cassandra Etienne, Brian Branch-Price and Josie Gonsalves.

A local news funder talks candidly about national and local funding
Second Rough Draft | Oct. 5, 2023

I was the program director of the Informed and Engaged Communities program at the [Geraldine R.] Dodge Foundation in New Jersey, funded with Dodge money, Knight Foundation, Democracy Fund and a few other collaborative grants. We were able to establish some core work that continues to grow and thrive to this day, primarily through the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, along with a lot of community organizing work that Free Press has done throughout New Jersey. That work was really focused on how you build a statewide, connected and collaborative and thriving local news ecosystem that includes lots of different kinds of news and information entities, getting people to be more informed and active in their own communities.

Local news innovator TAPinto celebrates 15th birthday
Editor & Publisher | Oct. 2, 2023

TAPinto’s award-winning journalists are consistently honored and recognized by the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists, the Center for Cooperative Media, the Garden State Journalism Association and the New York Press Association, among others.

Journalism awards to be presented at Oct. 11 Byrne Kean dinner
The Bernardsville News | Sept. 23, 2023

Honorees for the New Jersey Journalism Impact Awards were selected by a committee headed by Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. “There is nothing I enjoy more than lifting up reporters and editors in our state doing the kind of journalism these award-winners have done,” said Murray. “Every journalist strives to have an impact on the community they serve, which is what Jessie, Riley, John and Charlie have truly done. I’m so grateful for their work in New Jersey.”

On Democracy Day, preparing for difficult conversations that build trust
News Literacy Project | Sept. 15, 2023

The Center for Cooperative Media launched the effort last year to coincide with the International Day of Democracy, which is designated by the United Nations as an annual event to review the state of democracy in the world. Participating news outlets are publishing stories and op-eds today that cover election processes, voting rights, civic engagement and explanatory reporting on how newsrooms are covering elections and public policy issues. This Democracy Day, the News Literacy Project also is joining the effort, announcing two events intended to help everyone build understanding and trust in our democracy within their own networks of influence.

Democracy coverage is falling disastrously short
Press Watch | Sept. 15, 2023

Democracy Day, organized by Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media in New Jersey, is intended to be an occasion for news organizations across the country to focus attention the crisis facing democracy here.

On Democracy Day, newsrooms unite for pro-democracy coverage
States Newsroom | Sept. 15, 2023

Without a healthy democracy, voters can’t make collective decisions that have legitimacy, no matter the issue. Nor can Americans count on having a free press to cover the debate. That’s why a drive is underway to help bolster the foundations of our system through “pro-democracy” coverage. On Friday, States Newsroom is joining 135 news organizations for Democracy Day 2023, a nationwide pro-democracy reporting collaborative, launched last year, that’s organized by Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media in New Jersey and the Institute for Nonprofit News.

NJCH and the Center for Cooperative Media launch new “South Jersey Community Reporters” initiative
NJ Council for the Humanities | Sept. 13, 2023

The New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH) and the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University announce the launch of “South Jersey Community Reporters,” a program which will develop and conduct training and workshops for aspiring community reporters from across South Jersey as part of the Center’s South Jersey Information Equity Project (SJIEP).

Jeff Jarvis announces he is leaving CUNY’s Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the end of this term
Whither News | Sept. 6, 2023

I’m also proud to have had a small role in helping at the start of Montclair State’s Center for Cooperative Media, which is doing amazing work in Engagement under Stefanie Murray and our alum, Joe Amditis. Those are activities I expected from our Center. What I had not imaged was that the Center would become an incubator for new degrees. That was made possible by funders. I also never thought that I’d be in the business of fundraising. But without funders’ support, none of these programs would have been born.

Sarah Stonbely named director of Medill’s State of Local News Project
Northwestern University | Aug. 28, 2023

Sarah Stonbely, the research director at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, has been named director of Medill’s State of Local News Project. In that role Stonbely will oversee Medill’s nationally cited research on the growing spread of local news deserts and the emergence of new models to address the crisis. She will work closely with Medill Visiting Professor Penny Abernathy, the pioneer of this local news research, and Tim Franklin, the director of the Medill Local News Initiative.

Generative AI and newsrooms: Tips and best practices for how publishers can use transformative tech
TaboolaBlog | Aug. 16, 2023

There’s a lot of good work globally being done to help education and support publishers large and small. The Center for Cooperative Media published an excellent guide on prompt usage and use cases for generative AI specifically aimed at publishers.

An intro guide to understanding AI
American Press Institute | Aug. 7, 2023

Look through use cases in Generative AI Newsroom and the Center for Cooperative Media’s Beginner ChatGPT Prompt Handbook to learn how newsrooms are using generative AI to summarize legal documents, generate social posts, copyedit work, create templates for internal documentation and create news quizzes, on top of the AI-enabled transcript tools you might already have been using, e.g. Otter.ai or Trint.

AI-powered local news site stirs new questions about tech’s role in journalism
NJ Spotlight News | Aug. 4, 2023

A new website called The LocalLens attempts to cover local governments across New Jersey relying entirely on artificial intelligence to scrub through recordings of meetings and public records and write articles. It’s an unprecedented model raising new questions about how artificial intelligence should fit into reporting work, if at all. Joe Amditis, assistant director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, analyzes the role of emerging tech in reporting. He says that with great opportunity should come even greater caution.

This N.J. family business should be dead. Inside a rural treasure’s fight to survive.
NJ.com | Aug. 1, 2023

More than 2,500 American newspapers have died since 2005. Rural areas have been hit especially hard by the mergers and closures, according to Murray, the Montclair State expert. The consequences of news deserts can include lower voter turnout, government corruption and a general decline in civic engagement, according to Murray./p>

A Practical Newsroom Guide to Artificial Intelligence
Online News Association | July 19, 2023

Meetup moderator Aimee Rinehart, Senior Product Manager AI Strategy at The Associated Press (AP), led a panel of experts through a discussion framing the state of AI in newsrooms. Participants then selected one of four breakout rooms* to continue the conversation: How to get started with AI, facilitated by Adriana Lacy, Adriana Lacy Consulting (2021 MJ Bear Fellow); Finding what to automate, facilitated by Hank Sims, Editor and Lead Developer, Lost Coast Outpost; How to supercharge ChatGPT, facilitated by Joe Amditis, Assistant Director of Products and Events, Center for Cooperative Media; Five in-depth examples of AI being used in newsrooms, facilitated by Ernest Kung, AI Product Manager, AP

Watch: Charlottesville Inclusive Media tells media colleagues at a national conference why it’s so important to include more people in the news
Charlottesville Tomorrow | July 3, 2023

Charlottesville Inclusive Media was invited to the Collaborative Journalism Summit in June to speak about the evolution of their work to increase representation in local media, and its project, First Person Charlottesville, which encourages more people to tell their stories and participate in the local news ecosystem. The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University hosted the Summit in partnership with the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University in Washington D.C.

‘Dig in and start playing around’; Amditis offers more ways AI can help your publishing
Software & Information Industry Association | June 30, 2023

“We’re not very good at telling our own stories,” Joe Amditis, assistant director for products and events at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State (NJ) University, told me last week. That came up when we spoke about the importance of audience trust. “We need to be “illuminating the process behind [our] journalism, not just in the use of tools, but more generally like what goes on behind the scenes or behind the presses.” Here, Amditis shares more of his work using AI.

Newsroom 2.0: How AI is changing the game
News Product Alliance | June 20, 2023

In the session “Let AI do the boring stuff,” Joe Amditis, assistant director of products and events at the Center for Cooperative Media, and Simon Galperin, founder, and director of Community Information Cooperative, delved into the potential of AI for local news organizations. They discussed how AI can streamline workflows, enhance efficiency and provide reporters with more time to excel in their primary role: serving the community.

Notes from the (media) party
Everwas | June 19, 2023

A couple of weeks ago, I had the good fortune to attend the Media Party conference in Chicago. As with previous, early-stage “what is this technology?” conferences, I found the three days in Chicago a great way to connect with others who are also stumbling around and learning about Generative AI (genAI), Large Language Models (LLMs) and other AI-based technologies and techniques that are poised to forever change the way we work and communicate. The Beginner’s prompt handbook: ChatGPT for local news publishers by Joe Amditis is an excellent place to get started.

Where does New Jersey get its news? Increasingly, it’s from ethnic media outlets
NorthJersey.com | June 18, 2023

The media sources New Jerseyans turn to for news are shifting, reflecting the growing diversity of the state’s population, according to a report from Montclair State University. The number of ethnic and community media outlets serving the Garden State has increased by 15% since 2019, according to the “State of Ethnic and Community Media in New Jersey” report, released last month by the school’s Center for Cooperative Media.

Editorial: Who is a journalist?
Editor & Publisher | June 9, 2023

I don’t have all the answers, but I applaud those in our industry who are trying new things, opening the door for change and chasing what may feel like a dream of sustainable news. I love the attitude stated by Cassandra Etienne, the assistant director at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, in this month’s cover story. “The idea that you can be part of a community, that you identify with the community, and be less qualified to tell its story, I think, is harmful. … We need to rethink the dynamic between reporters who are trained in journalism schools and reporters who are not but still have valuable contributions to make,” Etienne said.

How MuckRock and DocumentCloud can make collaborative reporting more user-friendly
MuckRock | June 7, 2023

At the Collaborative Journalism Summit in Washington, D.C., MuckRock’s data journalist, Dillon Bergin, presented a workshop on how to use MuckRock and DocumentCloud in collaborative reporting — from “bulk” filing multiple open-records to different government agencies to collaboratively annotating documents across newsroom partners. The two-day conference, organized by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, brings together journalists and media professionals to discuss the latest tools, projects and best practices in collaborative journalism.

Citizen Journalism: With newsroom resources stretched thin, local news publishers consider whether and how to embrace community reporting
Editor & Publisher | June 6, 2023

Observing a Twitter spat — about who’s a journalist and what journalism is today — struck a chord with Cassandra Etienne, assistant director for membership and programming at the Center for Cooperative Media, founded in 2012 at Montclair State University. “We are working on how to support local newsrooms throughout the state,” Etienne explained. “We want to know how to engage readers and, hopefully, contribute to greater participation and an engaged, informed society. … We are working with the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists to help journalists of color in the region and really help to support the production of stories by and for communities of color.”

10 things to build community in your remote or hybrid news organization
Reynolds Journalism Institute | June 5, 2023

Be intentional about what subjects you’re introducing or questions you’re asking at the opening of a meeting or event. Not everyone wants to share about their weekend or personal details about their families. Instead, both The Appeal and the Center for Cooperative Media said they tend to stick to hypothetical or even silly questions like: What would you do if you opened your freezer and there was a penguin living inside of it?? Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media, said they also may play a quick collaborative game — like GeoGuessr — before diving into work.

Broke in Philly: Five Years of Collaborative Journalism
Resolve Philly | June 5, 2023

Broke in Philly’s success owed much to its careful attention to equity among newsroom partners. Stefanie Murray directs the Center for Cooperative Media, the go-to source in the journalism world for understanding how to make journalism collaboratives work. She said she’s seen many other collaboratives fail because they lacked a commitment to sharing power among the newsroom partners and let the biggest players — usually commercial media outlets with a large audience — run the show.

NJ reporters join one-day strike against Gannett over low pay, deep cuts
NJ Spotlight News | June 5, 2023

Hundreds of reporters across the country at Gannett newspapers, which owns the Asbury Park Press and The Record among other newspapers in New Jersey, staged a one-day strike Monday, coinciding with the company’s annual shareholder meeting in White Plains. They’re demanding new leadership at Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the country, and calling for shareholders to vote no-confidence in CEO Mike Reed. We spoke to Joe Amditis of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University about what the strike could mean for NJ residents.

‘Like milk’: How one magazine became a mainstay of New Jersey’s Chinese community
NPR | May 31, 2023

Ethnic media outlets can be a lifeline for new immigrants who lack a firm grasp of English. They introduce their readers to civic life in America and to each other. They can be especially helpful in places like New Jersey, where communities are spread out rather than concentrated in big cities. In this state, ethnic media is growing, according to a new report by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

‘Probe it, test it, try to stretch the limits’; An AI practitioner shares secret sauce
Software & Information Industry Association | May 25, 2023

Joe Amditis is assistant director for products and events at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey. He “recently released a free handbook detailing applications and considerations for AI use by local news publishers.” I was fortunate to get to talk to Amditis last Friday about what he’s doing. Interestingly, Zapier and Airtable came up often in his conversation as well. In fact at one point, he stopped and said, “Okay, well you need to drop everything you’re doing after this call and just learn Zapier.”

How A.I. might affect political news with Joe Amditis
Ballotpedia | May 25, 2023

Ballotpedia’s latest episode of On the Ballot, welcomes Joe Amditis as he shares his take on how A.I. might affect local news, misinformation, and our political media ecosystem.

What news readers want: NJ study examines underserved communities
Patch | May 24, 2023

Service journalism. Social media outreach. More “feel-good, solutions-oriented” local news. Content in different languages. These are some of the things that underserved news readers in New Jersey are craving, a report says. The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University recently released a pair of studies that take a look at news readership in the Garden State.

The transformative power of letting go
Molly de Aguiar | May 23, 2023

The Center for Cooperative Media is both the heart of local journalism in New Jersey, and a leading national research center and proponent of collaborative journalism. They serve as a critical backbone for the reinvention of journalism in New Jersey, providing resources, research, training and organizing for newsrooms of all sizes, and they have inspired similar efforts in other states.

‘Lean in. Test these things out.’ A lot is being written by and about AI; here’s some help
Software & Information Industry Association | May 19, 2023

In March CEO Nicholas Thompson wrote a note to his Atlantic business-side staff about AI. “The first point I want to make is that we should all be curious. Lean in. Test these things out. We will be getting some company subscriptions to GPT-4… Secondly, I want us to experiment.” Joe Amditis, who has written a publishers ChatGPT guide, said, “If we don’t pay attention to this… we’re going to get tricked ourselves, and we’re going to lose credibility with our audiences.” It’s a lot to navigate right now.

Can AI help local newsrooms streamline their newsletters? ARLnow tests the waters
Nieman Lab | May 8, 2023

That’s a view Joe Amditis shares. Amditis, an assistant director for products and events at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, recently released a free handbook detailing applications and considerations for AI use by local news publishers. The handbook guides prospective users through detailed, color-coded tips for crafting the most effective prompts; describes some of the technology’s strengths and limitations; and includes guidance for executing specific uses, from cleaning transcripts to creating outlines to critiquing story ideas.

Joe Amditis: Harnessing the Power of ChatGPT for Local Newsrooms
Newsroom Robots | April 19, 2023

How can ChatGPT benefit local newsrooms? In this episode, Joe Amditis discusses how to skillfully use ChatGPT to revolutionize operations and reporting processes in local journalism. Tune in now for insights into the potential future of media content production.

Here come the machines: AI for local news
Local Media Innovation Alliance | April 14, 2023

I asked a sampling of thoughtful industry leaders [including Joe Amditis at the Center for Cooperative Media] where they see the early opportunity to apply AI chat bots like ChatGPT-4, Bing’s AI integration, and Google Bard. Here is a “first draft” of how chatbots and the latest wave of AI advances could shape the future of news.

Looking to explore the intersection of AI and journalism?
Newsroom Robots | April 11, 2023

Influential thought leaders in the industry join data scientist and media entrepreneur, Nikita Roy, each week to explore what’s next with AI and its implications for the media landscape. In each episode, industry experts discuss how automated newsrooms have the potential to change journalism and uncover opportunities to optimize workflows and increase efficiency without compromising journalistic integrity.

What AI chatbots (might) mean for local news
Local Media Association | April 11, 2023

The potential use cases for these small-efficiency wins are vast. Joe Amditis at the Center for Cooperative Media has published a free e-handbook, ChatGPT for Local News Publishers, which features more than 50 potential use cases just for newsrooms. The list includes everything from transcribing audio/video to generating story headline options and draft social media posts, developing FAQs, summarizing long articles, and creating meeting agenda, project timelines and budgets.

What Makes for Robust Local News Provision? Structural Correlates of Local News Coverage for an Entire U.S. State, and Mapping Local News Using a New Method
MDPI: Journalism and Media | April 10, 2023

When local news outlets rely on advertising, as many still do (e.g., Stonbely and George 2018), fewer local outlets can survive where fewer advertising dollars are available.

AI can help journalists but not replace them, experts say
Humber News | April 7, 2023

“It denied that there is a war in Ukraine,” he said. But White said AI can help journalists to add content value and reduce routine reporting. Joe Amditis, assistant director for products and events at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey, agreed. “I do not recommend that journalists use it to write stories, but it’s very good at helping to edit them,” he said.

ChatGPT prompts: A real, non-AI generated handbook for journalists
WAN-IFRA | March 29, 2023

After being duped into paying $2 for a prompt handbook that was clearly generated using ChatGPT, Joe Amditis created his own comprehensive resource to help local journalists and newsrooms leverage the power of generative AI and automation – and enhance their news production.

Hey, local news publishers: Give the people a calendar
Nieman Lab | March 21, 2023

Blairstown, Paterson, and Trenton are three very different communities in New Jersey, but when Sarah Stonbely, the research director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, surveyed residents about what they need from their local news outlets, she found they had a number of needs in common.

Local journalism: Innovative business approaches and targeted policies may help local news media adapt to digital transformation
U.S. Government Accountability Office Report | Jan. 5, 2023

Local news organizations have collaborated with many different types of
entities, including other news organizations, nonprofits (such as civic and
media groups), and universities. The collaborating news organizations
have included newspapers and other publications, television and radio
stations, and digital-only media outlets. (Stonbely, Sept. 2017)

Nieman Lab’s predictions for 2023: Our top picks
Twipe | Jan. 5, 2023

Not surprisingly many of 2023’s predictions centre around ChatGPT and generative AI. The clear theme is that generative AI will unavoidably come to newsrooms and to readers. The good news is that some publishers see this more as a saviour than a threat, especially in local news. Joe Amditis highlights the benefits of AI for automation of menial tasks like summaries of events or public meetings. This allows journalists to focus on truly engaging with local communities.

Defined focus can help newsrooms automate
Reynolds Journalism Institute | Dec. 27, 2022

I spoke with Joe Amditis, the Center’s assistant director for products and events, about how newsrooms can begin using those tools in a manageable fashion to get the most out of limited resources.

Democracy Nerd podcast: Democracy Day w/ Joe Amditis
Democracy Nerd | Nov. 7, 2022

September 15, 2022 was the first-ever “Democracy Day,” a collaboration with newsrooms across the country in which journalists and opinion writers focused on the current threats facing American democracy. This effort was spearheaded by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey. The podcast is joined Joe Amditis, the Center’s Assistant Director, who describes the various steps needed to turn Democracy Day from an idea to reality, and what to expect from future Democracy Days.

Assessing Oregon’s Local News & Information Ecosystem 2022
Agora Journalism Center | Oct. 26, 2022

A similar framework developed by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University mapped local news outlets in New Jersey in terms of the municipalities each outlet serves. Those numbers were then correlated with community characteristics including median household income, educational attainment, and rural, suburban or urban setting to reveal structural factors most closely associated with high numbers of media outlets in each municipality. Not surprisingly, that analysis found that higher-income areas are more likely to be served by more media outlets — a finding also documented in other recent research.

New Jersey’s Civic Information Bill: The story of the campaign to transform local media
Free Press | Sept. 29, 2022

For several years prior to the passage of the Civic Info Bill in 2018, several key players were working to address the dire lack of local and community news in the state, including the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation’s Informed Communities program and the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

Why the new local news networks matter
News @ Knight | Sept. 27, 2022

🗳️ Democracy Day wins big. September 15 was International Democracy Day, but it was also the first iteration of a U.S. Democracy Day, with news outlets promising to cover threats to democracy and what people can do to counter them. The effort was a smashing success, with nearly 400 news outlets (TV, print, radio, online) reporting on national and local threats to democracy, with a database of 186 stories and counting (many of which are free to republish). Participating newsrooms included Spotlight San Jose, WHYY, Arizona Luminaria and Oklahoma City Free Press. Big props to lead organizers Jennifer Brandel of Hearken, Stefanie Murray of the Center for Cooperative Media and Rachel Glickhouse of News Revenue Hub.

Need money for college? Here are ways the state can help.
NJ.com | Sept. 22, 2022

In a forum Wednesday sponsored by the Center for Cooperative Media, the head of the state’s Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, David Socolow, outlined various ways to get ahead with the help of state grants, scholarships, or loans.

On Democracy Day, newsrooms draw attention to a crisis in the U.S. system of government
Oregon Capital Chronicle | Sept. 15, 2022

“We tend to take democracy, at least in this country, as a given,” said Joe Amditis, associate director of the Center for Cooperative Media, who is helping to organize Democracy Day. “We say that word so much, and we hear that word so much, that it loses its meaning in many contexts. It’s important, especially with all the anti-democratic activity that’s happening at every level of the government, to really stop and consider what it means to be a democracy, what it looks like to be a democracy, and really understand and grapple directly with why it’s so important to maintain and preserve that.”

From competition to collaboration: How an evolving media landscape influences teamwork in the newsroom, classroom
Gateway Journal Review | Sept. 8, 2022

To get a better understanding of how collaborative journalism works, and furthermore, how we can teach it to current journalism students, GJR spoke to three former journalists whose roles are now all journalism-adjacent. They are: Stefanie Murray, director for the Center for Cooperative Media, housed at Montclair State University; Amy Maestas, region collaborative manager and local media project director for the Solutions Journalism Network; and Patrick Ferrucci, associate professor and interim chair of the Journalism Department at University of Colorado Boulder.

How journalists can partner with outside organizations
Nigerian Sketch | July 26, 2022

“Some of the most important and impactful investigative journalism, as well as advocacy campaigns, are now coming out of cross-field collaborations,” said Sarah Stonbely, research director at the Center for Cooperative Media in Montclair State University, and the co-author of a research paper on 155 cross-field collaborations.

A new kind of partnership: Journalists and civil society organizations are teaming up
Nieman Reports | July 19, 2022

In the report we recommend a few ways to ensure that impact is captured. First, teams should build impact tracking into the project agreement from the beginning and get dedicated funding for it if possible. Second, you need to have a person who is in charge of capturing impact, at least part-time. Third, it helps to have one central repository for project impact and require all organizations to provide impact data.

How media co-ops foster democracy and accountability at independent publications
Indiegraf | July 11, 2022

An increasing number of media organizations share this view. According to Joe Amditis, associate director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, “there’s definitely been an uptick” in media co-op inquiries. “There’s a lot of movement and a lot of conversation in the journalism industry about shifting power and listening, and community engagement and collaboration,” he said.

Local news and why it matters
The Journal Podcast | July 9, 2022

On this episode of The Journal Podcast, we talk with Joe Amditis of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University about the impact of local news, and how it affects different communities and individuals.

We are becoming a nation of local news haves and have nots
Poynter | July 6, 2022

Some digital-first local startups have successfully emerged, but the Center for Cooperative Media found that 96% of the thriving outlets were in moderate- or high-income areas. “Being situated in and/or serving a community that has at least a moderate level of affluence was key to success,” reported Sarah Stonbely and Tara George.

Bridging the Gap co-hosts sat down with Joe Amditis from the Center for Cooperative Media
TAPinto South Plainfield | June 17, 2022

This week on Bridging the Gap with A.J. Mellilo and Stephen Rombolo, the co-hosts sat down with Joe Amditis of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

Three insights on preparing a public-facing collaborations policy from the 2022 Collaborative Journalism Summit
MuckRock | May 25, 2022

Last Friday, I joined Heather Bryant of Project Facet to co-facilitate a workshop on crafting collaborations policies at the 2022 Collaborative Journalism Summit. Journalists and collaborative project managers offered insights based on their experiences.

4 Collaborative Journalism Summit takeaways from LMA staff
Local Media Association | May 24, 2022

The Collaborative Journalism Summit in Chicago May 19-20 gathered an array of media and academic leaders, journalists, and collaborators for lightning talks, workshops and participatory discussions. Conversations highlighted the challenges and opportunities associated with journalism collaboratives — including funding, structure, goal-setting, communication and much more.

Illinois Latino News partners with Medill’s Metro Media Lab
Illinois Latino News | May 24, 2022

“Solutions journalism resets the mindset for journalists from focusing on problems to what’s being done about problems,” said Hugo Balta, Publisher of Illinois Latino News (ILLN), at the Collaborative Journalism Summit 2022 (CJS 2022), hosted at Columbia College, Chicago this month.

Collaborative journalism and intricate ecosystems
Time Spent | May 22, 2022

A quick note from Chicago this weekend, where I attended the Collaborative Journalism Summit. There was too much good stuff to process so quickly, so I’m just going to share a few notes below, since collaborative journalism is a key cluster I’ve been following.

Have you worked on a collaborative reporting project? We want to hear from you
Nieman Reports | May 20, 2022

Collaborations have been at the heart of journalism since its earliest days. Stefanie Murray, the director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, wrote in a recent piece in Nieman Reports that more than 175 years ago, the Associated Press started off as a collaborative effort among newspapers in New York City and is a prime example of what collaboration can look like at scale.

Why newsrooms are collaborating to take on ambitious reporting projects
Nieman Reports | May 18, 2022

I first heard about the project during a call with The Record’s top editor, Daniel Sforza. I reached out to talk about ideas that my organization, the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, had about supporting journalists in Jersey during the early days of Covid-19. “You guys are doing all that yourselves?” I remember asking Sforza. “Do you want help?”

Groundbreaking New Jersey initiative announces second series of grants to fund local news and information
NJ Civic Info Consortium | May 2, 2022

The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University will receive funding from the NJ Civic Information Consortium to launch the NJ News Commons Spanish Translation Service, partnering with the largest Spanish-language and mainstream media outlets in the state to translate statewide news — especially elections-related content and voter information — into Spanish.

Cross-field collaboration and what is an NGO?
Today in News Tech | April 3, 2022

Today we are discussing a new report from by Sarah Stonbely, and Hanna Siemaszko of the Center for Cooperative Media, on ‘cross-field’ collaboration as journalists increasingly partner with non-governmental organizations.

Journalists are increasingly partnering with outside organizations. A new report offers a glimpse at how that’s going
Nieman Lab | March 30, 2022

In a new report, “Cross-field collaboration: How and why journalists and civil society organizations around the world are working together,” Sarah Stonbely, Ph.D. and Hanna Siemaszko looked at 155 such collaborations, involving 1,010 entities across 125 countries.

The Center for Cooperative Media is organizing a national journalism collaboration to cover the threats to American democracy
Nieman Lab | February 10, 2022

We intend to pick a date on which print, radio, TV, and digital media on the national and local level can come together to report on the threat we’re facing. This would include original reporting, aggregations of existing reporting, and op-eds. Through the collaboration, we’d make some Creative Commons reporting free for all to republish and use across various mediums.

Meet the Ecosystem Builders: A unique group of leaders transforming local news
Local News Lab | January 19, 2022

An unplanned but huge benefit also came to us at Democracy Fund: takeaways from the Ecosystem Builders and our learnings from them helped us shape our grantmaking strategy. Conversations from the group helped lead to the creation of the Center for Cooperative Media’s Peer Learning and Collaboration Fund which paid for travel and time to support journalists learning from each other one-on-one, the birth of the New Mexico Local News Fund which now serves as a hub for the state’s local news ecosystem through programming such as the local revenue initiative and local student fellowship, and more.

Saving Journalism, Part One: Finding the Right Funding
Global Investigative Journalism Network | January 18, 2022

The last year has seen a mixed environment for quality journalism. Trust in media continued to rise in many parts of the world, as did audiences. Some outlets, such as the Guardian in the UK, had a stellar year. The New York Times and The Atlantic added substantial numbers of paid subscribers, too. Overall, however, print titles experienced declines in both advertising and subscription revenue, while research by academics such as Sarah Stonbely, Penny Abernathy, and Phil Napoli documents the growing problem of news deserts in the United States as local news declines.

Reimagining how we think about local news in 2022
Columbia Journalism Review | January 12, 2022

Some researchers have worked to shift paradigms when studying news networks, creating different ways for us to imagine the state of local news on the ground. In February, Sarah Stonbely from Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media told Sara Sheridan, “Life is really lived at the municipal level in a place as dense as New Jersey and elsewhere.”

Google funds research to assist news startups
Montclair State University | December 3, 2021

The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University is set to begin a yearlong research project to identify the information needs of the communities that will be served by three hyperlocal news startups. The findings will be shared with the outlets, which will use that knowledge to improve their content.

Alden Global Capital looks to buy the Press of Atlantic City
NJ Spotlight News | November 29, 2021

Alden Global Capital is attempting a takeover of Lee Enterprises, the nation’s third-largest newspaper chain and the owner of the Press of Atlantic City. The Director for the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, Stefanie Murray, talked about what the deal could mean for South Jersey and beyond.

Success of TAPinto’s DIY content submission process highlighted at 2021 NJ Local News Summit
TAPinto | November 23, 2021

TAPinto Founder and CEO Michael Shapiro was featured as a virtual speaker at the 2021 NJ Local News Summit, presented by The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, on Thursday. Shapiro talked about TAPinto’s Do-It-Yourself (DIY) content submission process and the impact on revenue.

Collaboratives are making the most of newsrooms that share their content
Reynolds Journalism Institute | November 4, 2021

“Newsrooms seem to have woken up and realized your neighboring newsroom is no longer your biggest competitor,” said Stefanie Murray, the director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

NJ Journalism Impact Awards to be presented at Byrne Kean Dinner
Insider NJ | September 27, 2021

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us have relied on dedicated journalists to question authority, seek the truth, and report it,” said Stefanie Murray, director of Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media, who chaired the awards committee. “These awards recognize the best and most impactful journalism during that most difficult and challenging time.”

Collaborative Journalism from a Latin American Perspective: An Empirical Analysis
Journalism and Media | September 27, 2021

One of the first works aiming at classifying collaborative journalism is a report published by The Center for Cooperative Media (Stonbely 2017). In it, collaborative journalism models are discussed through a comprehensive matrix of features of this expanding model.

NJ.com launches New Jersey Diverse Sources Database with media partners
NJ.com | August 25, 2021

NJ Advance Media, which produces content for NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and other affiliated newspapers, is proud to join the Center for Cooperative Media in launching the New Jersey Diverse Sources Database.

2021 Community Voices and Digital Equity Grants
Independence Public Media Foundation | August 11, 2021

The following organizations and projects are the recipients of the Community Voices Fund, which seeks to elevate community voices and community solutions to systemic inequities and systems that need to change, and the Digital Equity Fund, which aims to help communities get and stay connected to the internet and to access the information and resources they need to have agency and thrive.

Measuring the local news landscape: A Q&A with Penny Abernathy
Columbia Journalism Review | July 14, 2021

Sarah Stonbely, who has done local news mapping in New Jersey, has included places that people are turning to for information beyond a newspaper, like community groups. And she also tried to think a little bit about how to identify what a local community is beyond geographic boundaries.

One Atlanta victim’s family got $3M, another $6,600. Is bias to blame?
NorthJersey.com | July 8, 2021

Newsroom diversity and cultural sensitivity are topics that Montclair State’s Center for Cooperative Media is focused on. Director Stefanie Murray, a former journalist, suggests that national outlets partner with local and ethnic media instead of parachuting into a story on their own.

Local news is suffering. So are underserved communities
Digital Content Next | March 2, 2021

Sarah Stonbely’s research, from the Center of Cooperative Media, identifies news ways to answer this question. Stonbely maps local news organizations (LNO) to their coverage area, using New Jersey as a proxy for other local news markets. She then applies demographics characteristics to these maps in a first step to understand which communities are served and to what degree.

NorthJersey.com wins 35 awards in annual state journalism contest
NorthJersey.com | February 24, 2021

Singled out was the Loved and Lost series, a statewide media collaboration with the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University that set out to name and celebrate the life of every New Jersey resident lost to COVID-19. That was recognized with a first-place Innovation Award.

Q&A: Sarah Stonbely on remapping local news at the municipal level
Columbia Journalism Review | February 16, 2021

Sarah Stonbely, PhD, is the research director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. This week, in collaboration with the Tow Center, she’s publishing a report on the state of local news provision in New Jersey.

Forecasts for Journalism in 2021
Center for Journalism and Liberty | February 11, 2021

As a result, all manner of meetings, conferences, and conversations have migrated online, leading to a massive increase in the use of Zoom, Microsoft, and other video conferencing applications for day-to-day business functions. Journalism and news talk have adapted similarly, as a glance at any cable news program will show.

How a simple grant is helping my nonprofit news site
Medium | January 18, 2021

The peer learning grants from the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University are disarming in their simplicity. They exist to do nothing more than help us humans get out of our day-to-day routines and connect with one another.

What makes for strong local news coverage? Questions with Sarah Stonbely
U.S. News Deserts | January 4, 2021

Why do some communities have an abundance of local news coverage, and others don’t? In a forthcoming paper, What Makes for Robust Local News Provision?, Sarah Stonbely, research director at the Center for Cooperative Media in Montclair, N.J., identifies community characteristics that foster local news coverage.

Announcing more than $700,000 in COVID-19 relief, election integrity support
Dodge Foundation | November 11, 2020

Center for Cooperative Media: $10,000 to leverage and support its network of local news organizations to produce a multi-lingual voter education campaign and to support BIPOC- and community-based media outlets and journalists to produce basic information about local elections.

Maslow’s pyramid, fake news and the future of journalism
City Bureau | October 14, 2020

And just like with Maslow’s original hierarchy, once you put this framework into the real world, it can get messy. When Free Press took this pyramid to Newark with the Center for Cooperative Media, people asked some big questions: Are we focusing things on the ground? Can we remove the gatekeepers? How do we make sure contributors are paid?

Center for Cooperative Media receives research grant to study impact of journalism and advocacy collaboration
Montclair State University | October 13, 2020

The research is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and will address two complimentary trends being seen around the world: greater collaboration in the journalism field and an increase in journalistic activity by NGOs. The award marks the first time Montclair State University has received funding from the global foundation, the largest private philanthropic organization in the world.

Collaboration in California’s diverse journalism ecosystem
California Health Care Foundation | September 2020

For excellent research reports, practical tools, and guidance for establishing and implementing news collaborations, we recommend the compilation of resources offered by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

New Jersey funds the Civic Info Consortium, recognizes the vital role local news plays during crises
Free Press | September 30, 2020

As the host institution for the Consortium, Montclair State University is providing back-office support as the organization prepares to begin its work. The Center for Cooperative Media has also been a member of the coalition that helped build support for the Consortium over the last several years.

Project funding for Newark organizations to fill community information gaps through collaboration
WBGO | September 29, 2020

With the support of the Victoria Foundation and Nicolson Foundation, $45,000 is available for organizations to address information needs identified by Outlier Media. Local writer and Founding Partner of 3rd Space, Kenneth Miles, is coordinating the Newark Fund and provides coaching to applicants on behalf of the Center for Cooperative Media.

Identifying information needs in Newark and the future of local news
WBGO | September 28, 2020

They came together with us in New Jersey, we are also doing this project in Atlantic City and Camden, but we started with Newark to ask them what kinds of information they needed. That survey took place over the course of a week and we got some really interesting text-message responses. It’s (the report) is on the Center for Cooperative Media’s website if you want to check it out in-depth.”

Journalism beyond competition
Columbia Journalism Review | August 31, 2020

“We are seeing more statewide initiatives pop up that are both project-based and more permanent efforts,” says Stefanie Murray, who directs the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

How Stories of Atlantic City brought restorative narrative to journalists and community members in New Jersey
Gather | August 26, 2020

Members of the New Jersey news system and advocacy efforts began to recognize a need for diverse voices and stories within the greater Atlantic City area as well as a need to improve relationships with residents. The partners in this collaboration included Stockton University, Free Press, News Voices, and Center for Cooperative Media who worked together to manage each aspect of the project.

13 major climate change reports released so far in 2020
Yale Climate Connections | August 19, 2020

CCM decided to take a look at how journalists are working together to tackle the topic and all of its related issues. The result is the new report researched and written by Caroline Porter. Based on her assessments of 40 climate-related collaborations, she found that there are some climate change-specific reasons that journalism collaborations make sense, beyond the usual economic reasons for such efforts.

Collaboration is the future of journalism
Nieman Reports | August 11, 2020

But in just the last few years, the number and diversity of collaborations has exploded. According to the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, which houses a database of collaborative journalism projects, U.S. collaborations have grown from 44 in 2017 to over 300 today.

Can digital business models save local news?
NJ Monthly | August 6, 2020

“There’s millions of tax dollars being spent with no one watching,” agrees Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, founded in 2012 and funded by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and other philanthropies. The Center supports local journalism by offering training, advice and small grants.

Announcing our 2020 Signature Awards winners
Society of Professional Journalists | June 20, 2020

Joe Amditis wins the Ron Miskoff Award for New Jersey Journalism Educator of the Year for his work on the NJ College News Commons that taught student journalists how to develop stories about climate change.

Loved and Lost: Portraits of our NJ family, friends and neighbors taken by coronavirus
NorthJersey.com | June 20, 2020

The project was conceived out of several conversations between Daniel Sforza, Executive Editor of The Record, and Stefanie Murray, Director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. Its aim is simple, yet daunting in scope: profile as many people as possible who have been lost to coronavirus.

Explorador de audiencias: un panel de métricas en español para redacciones pequeñas y medianas
Sembra Media | June 12, 2020

El Explorador de Audiencias fue originalmente creado en inglés por Ned Berke para el Center of Cooperative Media como parte del programa de Audience Development Fundamentals, que cuenta con el apoyo de Knight Foundation.

Partnership in-place: Lessons from a virtual panel on partnering to cover coronavirus at the 2020 Collaborative Journalism Summit
Colorado Media Project | May 20, 2020

From in-person to in-place. Last week the Center for Cooperative Media pulled off the improbable, taking online its 2020 Collaborative Journalism Summit. With an overflow audience of more than 750 virtual attendees, the collective enthusiasm for collaborative journalism (#collaborativej) radiated through the screen, that now more than ever, we’re all in this together.

Collaborative journalism’s growth puts spotlight on funding, equity
Local Media Association | May 20, 2020

These were among the themes of the 2020 Collaborative Journalism Summit, held virtually May 14 and 15 instead of the original plan of Charlotte, North Carolina, and organized by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. Stefanie Murray, the center’s director, said the conference, with more than 750 people registered, was the largest of its kind, drawing people from across the country and the world.

Newsrooms are huddling for warmth and finding a way forward: Lessons from the Collaborative Journalism Summit
EdNC | May 19, 2020

They always say journalism is dying or I won’t find a job, and I always have the same reply: in our democracy, journalism will never really die — it will just change form. After tuning in to the virtual Collaborative Journalism Summit hosted by the Center for Cooperative Media last week and seeing how organizations across the country are working together, I realized that we’re in the midst of one of those transitions, just not in the way one might think.

Call for more global collaborative reporting
Media Career Development Network | May 18, 2020

In her remarks, Stefanie Murray, Director, Center for Cooperative Media said she was delighted by the pool of applicants and the virtual aspect, said the decision to make this year’s summit virtual was without hesitation. “Collaboration is so important and because the community we’ve built over the last four years is a supportive, flexible bunch. We knew there would be some bumps but we could work through it together.”

5 lessons about sharing power in journalism collaborations
Local News Lab | May 18, 2020

For four years, the Collaborative Journalism Summit has served as a touchstone for master media collaborators, journalists edging away from competitive instincts, and researchers delving into the data behind the process and impact of partnered journalism projects. But due to the COVID-19 crisis the Center for Cooperative Media transformed the summit into a two-day Zoom extravaganza, drawing more than 750 signups.

A secret weapon for media independence: Paying for subscribers
Global Investigative Journalism Network | May 18, 2020

The math is fairly simple and has its roots in direct-mail marketing from long ago. Once a publisher has enough information to calculate the average lifetime value of a customer (my fellow MPP researcher Joe Amditis has written more on this topic as it relates to membership), it becomes relatively straightforward to determine how much to invest in acquiring a new customer.

How newsrooms can begin making data-informed membership decisions
Membership Puzzle Project | April 30, 2020

The Audience Explorer Dashboard [from the Center for Cooperative Media] helps small newsrooms build an audience funnel by providing a set of 10 Google Analytics that pull the kind of data small publishers need to grow a relationship with their loyal and potentially-loyal readers.

The topography of local news: A new map
Columbia Journalism Review | April 29, 2020

Local journalism has become more important than ever. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, researchers were seeking new ways of seeing the local news landscape amid constant disruption. The Center for Cooperative Media’s News Ecosystem Mapping Project, which maps local news in New Jersey, is a response to this desire to better understand.

The coronavirus is the story of our lifetime. Here are resources, training and funding to help your newsroom tell it
Poynter | April 29, 2020

Sign up for the Center for Cooperative Media’s weekly email, The Local Connection, which includes great ways to localize national stories.

Is high school journalism still a pipeline for future journalists?
Poynter | April 20, 2020

These questions seemed worthy of study. So last year I embarked on an analysis of the state of journalism in high schools, limiting the parameters of the study to the state of New Jersey. The Center for Cooperative Media, a grant-funded program based at Montclair State University whose mission is to grow and strengthen journalism, gave me the money to do so.

Digital first responders: How innovative news outlets are meeting the needs of immigrant communities
Center for Community Media | April 16, 2020

Even before the latest crisis, immigrant media outlets have been folding: In New Jersey alone, at least 19 ethnic and community media outlets serving the state closed from 2009 to 2019, according to a study by Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media. Many of the outlets that remain are glorified classified papers or radio stations that fit in a bit of national programming between songs.

“Hanging by a thread.” How are funders supporting besieged news outlets?
Inside Philanthrophy | April 16, 2020

We’re also seeing organizations ramp up information sharing. The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey, in a partnership with NJ Spotlight, is making all of its COVID-19 statewide reporting available for local news organizations to republish. “This should help some smaller sites tremendously, letting them focus entirely on local coverage of the pandemic,” said the center’s Associate Director Joe Amditis.

The coronavirus crisis has made it clear: The future of journalism must be collaborative
Reynolds Journalism Institute | April 8, 2020

Montclair State’s Center for Cooperative Media, which organized one of the largest collaborative groups, NJ News Commons, maintains a nifty database of collaborative efforts.

J-Lab Episode 19: Reporting Covid-19
Civic Journalism Lab | April 8, 2020

Stefanie Murray, director of the Centre for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, tells us about some of the ways news organisations are collaborating together to help their audiences get the vital news and information they need… and to ensure that good and responsible journalism survives this crisis.

The coronavirus is the story of our lifetime. Here are resources, training and funding to help your newsroom tell it
Poynter | April 3, 2020

Sign up for the Center for Cooperative Media’s weekly email, The Local Connection, which includes great ways to localize national stories.

The Center for Media Innovation announces media partnership, shifts its focus in wake of global pandemic
Center for Media Innovation | March 31, 2020

While newsrooms are usually good at reacting quickly when there is an emergency or catastrophe to cover, a sustained, ongoing response to a crisis needs a different structure, said Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, which has been tracking and studying the growing number of collaborative news initiatives across the country.

Supporting local journalism amid COVID-19
Montclair State University | March 27, 2020

As journalists and news organizations throughout New Jersey grapple with reporting timely and accurate information on the spread of COVID-19 to their local communities, the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State is working to ensure that its 282 statewide partners have the tools and resources needed to keep New Jerseyans informed and safe.

How journalists are working together to cover the COVID-19 pandemic
Nieman Lab | March 16, 2020

As director of the Center for Cooperative Media, I’ve been collecting examples of this kind of cross-newsroom collaboration — both so you can see for yourself what’s happening and perhaps so you’ll inspired to join (virtual) hands with other media-makers in your community. Here’s what I’ve found so far.

PEN Pod, Episode 2: Wash Your Hands, Read a Book, Protect Your Heart
PEN America | March 20, 2020

In this episode for Friday, March 20, a new Pew survey shows that Americans are paying close attention to the coronavirus, but that misinformation is seeping into the dialogue.

How journalists are working together to cover the COVID-19 pandemic
Nieman Lab | March 16, 2020

As director of the Center for Cooperative Media, I’ve been collecting examples of this kind of cross-newsroom collaboration — both so you can see for yourself what’s happening and perhaps so you’ll inspired to join (virtual) hands with other media-makers in your community. Here’s what I’ve found so far.

Sources: Law helps kids who suffer concussions
Portland Tribune | March 11, 2020

The issue has been covered in “Rattled: Oregon’s Concussion Discussion,” a joint project of InvestigateWest, the Pamplin Media Group and the Agora Journalism Center, made possible in part by grants from Meyer Memorial Trust and the Center for Cooperative Media.

Inasmuch Foundation announces strategic changes
The Oklahoman | March 8, 2020

In November 2019, the Foundation convened more than 25 local journalism organizations and 10 philanthropic partners for a day of facilitated discussion led by the Center for Cooperative Media. Stemming from the event, the Center for Cooperative Media funded five collaborative projects that will begin this spring.

How do I…? Guides for writing, reporting, funding and more
Poynter | February 27, 2020

The Center for Cooperative Media has several guides and tip sheets on best practices for collaboration.

Love podcasts? MorristownGreen.com has won a grant to start one
Morristown Green | February 21, 2020

We are thrilled to announce that Morristown Green has been named a 2020 recipient of a “Grow + Strengthen” grant by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. It’s seed money to help us test the viability of podcasting at the hyperlocal level.

Para mantener los programas sociales debemos participar en el censo
Reporte Hispano | February 20, 2020

Con el objetivo de concientizar y promover la importancia de la participación de la comunidad latina en el Censo, el pasado 13 de febrero se realizó en la ciudad de Elizabeth el Foro sobre el Censo 2020: ¿Por qué es importante para la comunidad hispana ser contada? Este foro organizado por el Center for Cooperative Media, Make The Road NJ, Wind of the Spirit y Reporte Hispano, contó con la participación de más 50 personas.

TAPinto honored with three NJ News Commons Excellence in Local News awards
TAPinto Denville | February 19, 2020

The Center for Cooperative Media honored TAPinto with three NJ News Commons Excellence in Local News Awards. Each year, the Center for Cooperative Media recognizes local news outlets for innovation, collaboration, investigative reporting, campus reporting, sustainability and engagement.

TAPinto Paterson recognized for local engagement in news reporting
TAPinto Paterson | February 18, 2020

TAPinto Paterson has been announced as the winner of The Center for Cooperative Media’s Engage Local Award. The award, one of three NJ News Commons Excellence in Local News Awards given to the TAPinto network, recognizes a news organization or journalist that, “relied heavily on community engagement or similar practices as a major source or aspect of their reporting.”

Planet Princeton wins NJ News Commons award for local investigative reporting for sewer department series
Planet Princeton | February 17, 2020

The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University announced the winners of the third annual New Jersey News Commons Excellence in Local News Awards on Monday. Planet Princeton is one of seven winners.

OJAs recognized as first major awards program to honor collaborations and partnerships
Online News Association | February 7, 2020

In the ever-evolving journalism industry, one trend is clear: Collaborative reporting is on the rise. According to the Center for Cooperative Media, “working with a variety of media organizations is a key factor for success.” They cited the Online Journalism Awards as “the first major U.S. awards program” to respond to this trend with the introduction of the Excellence in Collaboration and Partnerships award.

Tip: Making collaborative journalism a success
Journalism.co.uk | February 4, 2020

When news organisations collaborate, it is not just a cost-saving exercise, but it can lead to some of the biggest investigations, like the Panama Papers story. However, as director of the Center for Cooperative Media Stefanie Murray explained, having a structure in place to manage the collaboration and its partners is critical for success.

Seeing 2020: Reveal launches nationwide collaborative reporting initiative to empower local, ethnic media outlets to report on Census
Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting | February 3, 2020

Partnering with the Center for Cooperative Media and News Counts, we will provide Seeing 2020 participants with training and webinars, assistance with community engagement efforts, access to an exclusive tip repository to seed stories, access to News Counts research experts and journalists, channels to facilitate collaboration with other reporters, opportunities to publish your work on Reveal and small reporting stipends.

CJR Galley: Molly de Aguiar talks about government funding for journalism
Columbia Journalism Review | January 22, 2020

To put it in context, Dodge had been funding local news & information work in New Jersey for a few years, starting with helping to establish the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. We had been supporting experimention [sic] with business models, resource sharing, and community engagement — all toward creating a connected and collaborative (and sustainable) statewide local journalism landscape.

These North Carolina papers used to compete. Now, they watchdog together.
Poynter | January 22, 2020
Collaborations can have a bigger reach when they involve a mix of newsrooms, including nonprofits and independents, said Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media. Civic organizations, such as public libraries and ethnic and foreign-language media, also bring a diversity of reach and voices, she said.

Media Mecca or News Desert? Covering local news in New York City
Columbia Journalism Review | January 7, 2020

While these smaller organizations are eager for more collaboration that results in reaching wider audiences and having more impact, they also recognize the pitfalls of asymmetric power relations, and insist that any partnerships would have to be truly equitable. Institutions like the CUNY Center for Community and Ethnic Media and Montclair State’s Center for Cooperative Media might be particularly well poised to play a key role in convening, capacity building, and resource gathering.

Journalism can emerge newly vibrant and powerful
Nieman Lab | December 28, 2019

First Draft News, which seeks to address misinformation head on, is at its core a collaboration. Initially global, the project is now forging new relationships at the local level in the United States. Many other collaborations are being documented by the Center for Cooperative Media.

Collaborative journalism predictions for 2020
IJNet | December 24, 2019

Stefanie Murray, Director, and Sarah Stonbely, Research Director, Center for Cooperative Media: Collaborative journalism will become an even more integral practice for the industry worldwide in 2020. In the continued quest for economic sustainability in the digital age, smart collaboration is proving to be one of the most reliable ways for outlets to both maximize their resources and have an outsized impact.

13 local news stories and series that made a difference in 2019
Knight Commission on Trust, Media, and Democracy | December 18, 2019

What sets Stories of Atlantic City apart from similar initiatives is its reliance on the community building the story, as opposed to a journalist finding the story and its community. Stefanie Murray of the Center for Cooperative Media said it especially had an impact on the community members who participated in the project.

14 new police hit Paterson’s streets
TAPinto Paterson | December 17, 2019

Fresh off her role as a resident participant in The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University’ Voting Block initiative, Doreen Johnson, a longtime resident of Presidential Towers, smiled when she learned about the new additions to the police force.

Doing more with less: Seven practical tips for local newsrooms to strrrrretch their resources
Nieman Reports | November 15, 2019

The initiative, supported in part by grants from Meyer Memorial Trust and the Center for Cooperative Media, partnered with the Solutions Journalism Network and others to report on the impact of concussions on Oregon teens, including the first-ever analysis of high school sports concussions in Oregon.

A guide to assessing your local news ecosystem
Democracy Fund | November 5, 2019

Sarah Stonbely, director of research at Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media, wrote in the trade publication Nieman Lab, “Despite the volume of research currently under way about news ecosystems, there is no gold standard.” As is often the case with research, there’s a tension between depth and breadth, between a highly contextualized knowledge of a specific place and a replicable, scalable approach that allows for comparison across communities.

What incumbent local news media can learn from the LIONs
Local Media Association | November 4, 2019

Ned Berke, editorial director of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, walked Summit attendees through a set of Google Analytics/Data Studio dashboards he developed (in cooperation with LION and the Center for Cooperative Media) to make it easier to monitor and manage to audience engagement and loyalty indicators.

Center for Cooperative Media and Gujarati Darpan host informational session for 2020 Census
ITV Gold | November 1, 2019

Center For Cooperative Media & Gujarati Darpan Host Census 2020 Program & Info – New Jersey

Kevin M. Lerner speaks to students about distrust in journalism and mainstream media
The Montclarion | October 23, 2019

Like Lerner, the audience was also inspired by Stefanie Murray, the Director of the Center of Cooperative Media, and Jaime Bedrin, an adjunct faculty member at the School of Communication and Media. The three faculty members were interviewed in a Q&A panel discussion hosted by Keith Strudler, director of the School of Communication and Media.

Local news is a public good: Public pathways for supporting Coloradans’ civic news and information needs in the 21st century
Colorado Media Project | October 13, 2019

A survey and focus groups of New Jersey residents conducted by Free Press and the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University found that those with lower incomes were more critical of the quality of the local coverage of their communities.

The Power of Nonprofit News Collaborations: Shining a Light on Rural Hospitals
Nonprofit Quarterly | October 9, 2019

Collaboration among news organizations isn’t entirely novel; as the Center for Cooperative Media points out, six newsrooms joined up to form the Associated Press in 1846, and outlets often cross-publish. But creating content together is somewhat anathema to an industry that’s historically thrived on competition.

Voting Block project seeks to engage residents in dialogue, create agenda for lawmakers
TAPinto Newark | September 30, 2019

The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University is offering Voting Block, a dialogue journalism project intended to amplify the voices, concerns and opinions of residents regarding political issues in four New Jersey cities: Newark, Camden, Paterson and Trenton.

As media industry falters, civil society must step up
Policy Options | September 18, 2019

Teach neighbours to hold their own information sessions — sharing what’s on their minds, bringing up issues, hearing what others think. Inspiration: The Voting Block project run by the Center for Cooperative Media in New Jersey. The Center, run from a journalism school and funded by foundations, fights a growing news desert by helping local news outlets collaborate rather than compete with each other, so more ground is covered in the end.

Orienting journalists toward sustainability
CivicStory | August 29, 2019

Orientation began at Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media. With trillion-dollar views of the Manhattan skyline off in the distance, we discussed everything from soil microbes to air quality advocacy …

Covering Climate Now signs on over 170 news outlets
Columbia Journalism Review | August 28, 2019

Institutional partners include the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, Boston University, the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, Climate Central & Climate Matters (George Mason University Center for Climate Communications, and Climate Communications) …

Learn tips and best practices on how to set up and run a collaborative reporting project.
ProPublica | August 14, 2019

Thank you to the collaborative journalism superstars who offered their expertise for this guide, including Stefanie Murray, the director of the Center for Cooperative Media; Project Facet founder Heather Bryant; Mar Cabra, former head of Research and Data at ICIJ; Megan Lucero, director of the Bureau Local at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism; and Jean Friedman-Rudovsky, executive director of Resolve Philly.

How SRCCON changed the way I teach journalism
OpenNews | August 14, 2019

During a lunch conversation at SRCCON:POWER, Joe Amditis of the Center for Cooperative Media introduced me to Cathy Deng’s clever open-source app, arementalkingtoomuch.com. Try it out at your next large meeting, or with TV news! But what’s brilliant is not the precise timing, but how it makes everyone aware that we often hear certain voices more than others.

Initiative seeks to engage residents in dialogue, create ‘People’s Agenda’
TAPinto Paterson | August 9, 2019

The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University is working to create a “People’s Agenda” to give lawmakers in Camden, Newark, Paterson, and Trenton a better understanding of what issues matter most to members of their community. But first they need to recruit the people.

Local Fix: Terror, Safe Passage, and Trust
The Local Fix | August 9, 2019

Another critical component was investing in and trusting those who are such gifted and patient and generous network builders, like Mike RispoliCole GoinsAnnie ChabelStefanie MurrayJoe Amditis (and so many others) have been for NJ.

Digital startups see opportunity in local journalism
Marketplace | July 25, 2019

“Many of these startups are still supported by advertising. And we know that advertising is not a growth area for news,” said Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

Facebook, Knight grants boost NC efforts on small and big scales
NC Local | July 24, 2019

How can local newsrooms report for their communities using resources and findings from national journalism? The Center for Cooperative Media has launched a weekly email newsletter to help local journalists to do just that, identifying opportunities and how-to paths. It’s called The Local Connection.

State of the Art 2019 comes home to Studio Montclair
Montclair Local | July 10, 2019

Debra Galant, known to many Montclairites as an author from MidCentury Modern and the Center for Cooperative Media, sat in a chair outside taking in the world. “It’s my first piece in an art show ever,” she said, of her pastel “Floating Dock.”

Local newsrooms are teaming up with National Geographic Society to cover the environment
Poynter | July 10, 2019

Expect to see more collaborations on the environment, said Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media. “Complex topics, investigations and issues that impact a lot of people lend themselves well to journalistic collaboration,” she said in an email. “The climate crisis hits all of these areas, which is one part of the reason why we’re seeing so many collaborations focusing on the environment.”

How media startups in the Philly suburbs are trying to fill the local news void
WHYY | June 27, 2019

“The clear majority of local news organizations rely on advertising,” said Stefanie Murray, Director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

Camden Residents Crave More Coverage of the Local Economy
Free Press | June 14, 2019
We co-hosted the event with the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, close allies of ours on the Civic Info Bill campaign and the Stories of Atlantic City project. The Courier Post and WCMD, a Camden-based radio station, were in attendance and listened attentively to what residents had to say.

Why journalists should care about collective wisdom
Immerse | June 10, 2019

Over the past decade, news entrepreneurs have been busy developing tailored systems and models to refine such practices. Many of these were on tap at May’s Collaborative Journalism Summit in Philadelphia.

With Stories of Atlantic City, local news organizations are inviting community leaders into the reporting process
The Lenfest Institute for Journalism | June 6, 2019

In Atlantic City, a group of community leaders and local journalists experimented with a project where those community leaders would source stories — finding local personalities and narratives that weren’t being covered — that they would then pitch to local reporters to cover. This was part of a project called Stories of Atlantic City, organized by Free Press and the Center for Cooperative Media, which brought together local outlets and community groups to report on Atlantic City.

Five questions with Wrangell reporter June Leffler
KCAW | June 3, 2019

For a moment in May, listeners may have caught a different voice reading Sitka’s news over the airwaves. KSTK reporter June Leffler traveled to Sitka from Wrangell last month, and spent a week shadowing the KCAW news department. The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University awarded Leffler a grant to learn how to run a small newsroom.

What keeps ethnic media strong in New Jersey (and beyond)
Nieman Lab | June 3, 2019

A new report from the Center for Cooperative Media examines the state of ethnic media in and around New Jersey (that definition of ethnic media is theirs), highlighting the work the state’s 119 outlets have already done in building strong ties with their audiences, and the work the outlets need to do to survive in the future.

Judge: Monmouth County broke law by refusing public records requests
Insider NJ | May 28, 2019

OPRAmachine is a website that facilitates requests under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA). The site is active in all 21 counties and has processed over 5000 requests since 2017. It is also the only website that is collecting OPRA compliance statistics by county, municipality and school district. In February, 2019 it received the “Excellence in Local News” award in the “Innovate Local” category from Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media.

‘Collaborate or Die’: What we learned at the 2019 Collaborative Journalism Summit
LION Publishers | May 21, 2019

This sticker, gathered from a table at the conference entry at the top of this post, though, really says everything about what media is like in 2019, and will continue for the foreseeable future: We all need to collaborate. Or there won’t be much of a future to work toward.

The power of journalism collaboration is also the power of inclusion — here’s how to harness it
Nieman Lab | May 20, 2019

The third annual Collaborative Journalism Summit, organized by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University and hosted this year by WHYY in Philadelphia, is, well, a collaborative collaboration geek-out. (There may have been “Collaborate or die” stickers.)

This media company has launched 81 local news sites and is expanding
The Business of Content | May 1, 2019

For instance, at our June franchise meeting, Stefanie Murray, who is the director for the center for cooperative media in the state of New Jersey, she’s coming in and doing a whole half day seminar on content and, in particular, how franchises can better listen to readers in their town and produce news that’s of most interest to the residents of the town.

How do you define participatory practice?
Groundsourced | April 17, 2019

The Membership Puzzle Project commissioned Joe Amditis of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University to examine measuring the value of membership and participation. Here is a taste of what he found…

Brooklyn Eagle announces Ned Berke as Editorial Director, will be WordPress.com partner in Newspack program
Brooklyn Eagle | April 3, 2019

Ned Berke comes to the Eagle with a track record of developing innovative and sustainable news products. He most recently worked through the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism and the Center for Cooperative Media to provide professional support, needs assessment and strategic planning for nearly 200 publishers including global, national, niche and local titles.

The Streetlight receives award from the Center for Cooperative Media
The College of New Jersey | March 28, 2019

“I think the way that Streetlight reporters and editors have gone out of their way to lift up the stories of people from some of the most vulnerable and neglected sectors of their community is incredibly endearing,” says Joe Amditis, associate director of the Center of Cooperative Media.

Celebrating women who are making democracy stronger
Democracy Fund | March 18, 2019

As we commemorate Women’s History Month at Democracy Fund, we also want to take some time to celebrate our incredible women-led and women-focused grantees who today are continuing this long tradition of public service and leadership.

How 6 newsrooms in Charlotte are trying to create a local news ecosystem
Poynter | March 14, 2019

That kind of local partnership, which includes big and small local newsrooms covering different communities, “is by far one of the most solid ways to start developing a culture of collaboration in a city or a region,” said Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media.

While Trenton passes the buck, local journalists pass the hat in Madison
Morristown Green | March 8, 2019

“Journalism is public service and I would argue that you should fund it like one,” Amditis said. “I mean, we have things called Special Improvement Districts in our communities which allow us to fund the public services that we deem necessary that the municipal government doesn’t already provide.”

“You can’t do it alone any more”
Cronkite News Lab | March 7, 2019

Why don’t TV news people play more nicely in the sandbox? “Journalists are competitive, but TV news journalists are ultra-competitive,” says Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media.

Community project seeks ‘Stories of Atlantic City’ tonight
Press of Atlantic City | March 6, 2019

Stories of Atlantic City, a collaborative effort between community organizations and local journalists, is seeking nominations of individuals whose lives reveal the rich history of their communities and the city.

Use it or lose it: Can local journalism survive?
Morristown Green | March 1, 2019

Local newsrooms are disappearing in America. According to a 2018 survey by the University of North Carolina Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media, half of the 3,143 counties in the U.S. now have just one newspaper.

Why is no one questioning the program that countless communities, foundations, and media makers are banking on to rescue local investigative journalism?
Chris Faraone | February 25, 2019

Outside of the critical foundational support of trade organizations like the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) and Local Independent Online News (LION), plus the democratic NewsMatch campaign and select university-based outliers like the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, there isn’t close to enough proactive assistance for the scrappy local outlets that so many claim to value.

Local TV is still the most trusted source of news. So how do you collaborate with a station?
Nieman Lab | February 20, 2019

“What’s driving [the growth of collaborations] are business models — papers are smaller and trying to look for ways they can still produce quality journalism,” Stefanie Murray, the Center’s director, told me. “Many local TV stations don’t see the value they would get out of collaboration.”

Newsrooms are finally focusing on loyalty over pageviews. Here’s how to actually measure it.
Poynter | February 18, 2019

Enter: The Center for Cooperative Media and its game-changing (really) audience explorer dashboard. This thing plugs into Google Analytics and, in minutes, splits audiences into “Brand Lovers,” “Prospective Loyalists” and “Casual,” providing meaningful numbers for each.

What is a news ecosystem?
Local News Lab | February 15, 2019

In New Jersey, the infusion of investment follows successful experiments begun by the Knight Foundation and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The funding is helping to continue that momentum and broaden the work there beyond newsrooms to other civic information networks and institutions.

Six years later, the jury is still out on Advance newspapers’ abrupt swing to digital
Poynter | January 31, 2019

The company-wide rollout began in 2012, but the plan took shape much earlier — in Ann Arbor in 2008. Stefanie Murray, now director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, was part of the small team detached to the project (two others are now top Advance Local executives and a fourth, Amalie Nash, later became editor of The Des Moines Register and now executive editor of local news for Gannett’s USA Today Network.

Camden residents & reporters meet to strengthen local coverage
Free Press | December 18, 2018

During our event, community members first paired up with reporters from the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, the Courier PostNJ Advance MediaNJ SpotlightState Broadcast NewsTap into CamdenWHYY, local independent journalists, and reporters from City BureauHearkenResolve Philadelphia, and Temple University, who were in town for a conference.

Colorado Media Project: Key Insights and Recommendations
Gates Family Foundation Report | September 2018

Taking a more strategic, ecosystem approach to strengthening local news is gaining steam nationwide. Examples include The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey, the North Carolina Local News Lab, and a recently announced expansion of the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative that may include non-legacy newsrooms.

Local News Is Dying, and It’s Taking Small Town America With It
Bloomberg | September 5, 2018

Stefanie Murray, the director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Monclair State University, works with so-called hyperlocal media outlets in New Jersey that focus exclusively on providing news to small communities. But Murray said these bootstrap organizations are a long way away from filling the overarching local news gap that plagues the U.S.

Where can you find funding for that local journalism project? Here’s a quick guide
Poynter | August 28, 2018

This list was created with suggestions from Democracy Fund’s Teresa Gorman, the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Sue Cross, Stefanie Murray from the Center for Cooperative Media and Local Independent Online News Publisher’s Matt DeRienzo.

News From Your Neighborhood, Brought to You by the State of New Jersey
New York Times | July 30, 2018

“We need to do something,” said Joe Amditis, an associate director for the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, one of the schools involved in the effort. “We just can’t sit around and expect it to get better.”

NJ takes chance on unique effort to boost local news
Current | July 19, 2018

Going forward, “we will certainly do everything we can to support the mission of the consortium, as well as our partners and other New Jersey news organizations and entities” that will apply for funding, Amditis said.

As local newsrooms shrink, college journalists fill in the gaps
Poynter | July 16, 2018

There’s a lot of potential for student journalists to cover their communities in partnership with local outlets, said Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media. The center’s mission is to strengthen local journalism in New Jersey with a focus on collaborative journalism.

$5M New Jersey Civic Info Bill Survives Budget Battle, Heads to Murphy’s Desk
NJ Pen | July 2, 2018

Montclair State is also the home to the Center for Cooperative Media, an academic working group that provides technical, organizational, and financial support to local news-gathering organizations in New Jersey. Its associate director, Joe Amditis, said the Civic Info Consortium will help the center build more and greater partnerships statewide.

Facebook’s Screening for Political Ads Nabs News Sites Instead of Politicians
ProPublica | June 15, 2018

“This could be really confusing to consumers because it’s labelling news content as political ad content,” said Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

How can mainstream and ethnic media team up to produce better journalism? Learn these lessons from facilitators 
American Press Institute | May 4, 2018

The Center for Cooperative Media, which published a study on different models of collaborative journalism in 2017, has found teaming up with ethnic media poses particular challenges.

Who’s who in local news: A guide to the biggest brains and bank accounts in the fight for local journalism
Nieman Lab | Apr. 25, 2018

The Center for Cooperative Media strives for collaboration across all levels of news organizations but through its NJ News Commons and other initiatives has a special spot for local projects, too.

NJCASA awards 2018 Visionary Voice Award to Stefanie Murray
NJ Coalition Against Sexual Assault | Apr. 23, 2018

“We’re thrilled to honor Stefanie as our 2018 Visionary Voice awardee,” said Patricia Teffenhart, executive director of NJCASA. “Her expertise helped shape NJCASA’s Media Toolkit into the most successful resource it could be. NJCASA is grateful for her continued collaboration and enthusiasm for the project and we’re delighted to recognize her contributions with this award.”

Collaboration and the creation of a new journalism commons
Columbia Journalism Review | Mar. 30, 2018

The latest report on the current estate of collaboration, published in 2017 by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the current state of collaborative journalism.

An investigative journalist and a stand-up comic walk into a bar: The role of comedy in public engagement with environmental journalism
Journalism | Mar. 23, 2018

As investigative journalism organizations innovate to engage the public, leveraging comedy may be worth considering, given comedy’s ability to attract attention and encourage public sharing. To explore this proposition, an investigative reporting collaborative project about toxic environmental contamination in New Jersey, Dirty Little Secrets, worked with stand-up comics to translate investigative news material into stand-up comedy routines performed in front of two live audiences.

Combining investigative journalism with stand-up comedy can improve public engagement
Journalism Research News | Mar. 22, 2018

“Dirty Little Secrets” was a project from 2015 bringing together New Jersey news organizations, comedians, two universities, and a national investigative journalism organization CIR. The project turned investigative news material about New Jersey’s toxic contamination areas into stand-up comedy routines.

How Digital News Startups Choose Between For-Profit and Non-Profit Status
MediaShift | Mar. 12, 2018

Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, works with many hyper-local newsrooms in New Jersey. She said there is often a perception among for-profit journalists that “if I could just be non-profit it would be easier, but once they start getting into the weeds, they realize it’s not easier by any stretch.

How WTF Just Happened Today? is rethinking membership
Solutions Set from The Lenfest Institute | Mar. 8, 2018

Amditis’ day job is as associate director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, but on the side, he produces the WTFJHT podcast (more on that later) and helps Kiser run the site. Amditis takes the early shift because he lives in New Jersey, which is three hours ahead of Seattle.

Could local news driven by residents who pay fees in a special service district…work?
Nieman Lab | Mar. 5, 2018

The goal for the project at the Center for Cooperative Media is “to help test the idea of community information district out in a few New Jersey communities,” said Stefanie Murray, the center’s director and a former business reporter who has covered special service districts before.

How a Midwest Collaboration Helped Uncover Tax Shortfalls in Kansas Schools
MediaShift | Mar. 1, 2018

Funded by a Center for Cooperative Media grant, the two-part series took nearly a year to execute but produced immediate results upon its December 2017 launch. State officials started using its original reporting to spark new negotiations with wind turbine companies.

Journalism and Media Grantmaking: 5 Things You Need to Know and 5 Ways to Get Started
Media Impact Funders | Feb. 21, 2018

The Center for Cooperative Media has been researching and showcasing successful collaborations that involve multiple outlets. They have identified six variations of partnerships ranging from temporary, in which organizations coordinate but work separately, to ongoing partnerships in which multiple organizations share resources.

Investing in Local Journalism, Public Media, and Storytelling: Examples from place-based organizations
Wyncote Foundation | Feb. 21, 2018

“Through 30 potluck dinners, an election-themed game show, and crowd-sourced texting campaign, Voting Block demonstrated new ways journalists can report on issues by putting their communities at the center of their work and reaching new audiences.”

Robot rights: 5 ways to manage the AI moral dilemma in the workplace
Mobile Business Insights | Feb. 13, 2018

“Users need to know that the questions they ask and the interactions they have with your bots will remain private and secure,” writes Joe Amditis.

Local People Will Create the Future of Local News
Democracy Fund | Feb. 7, 2018

In New Jersey, we will build on our previous work in partnership with the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Knight Foundation by establishing the New Jersey Local News Lab Fund with $1.3 million over two years. New Jersey has become a bold laboratory for new models of collaboration, revenue experiments, and community engagement.

How To Write For MetricShift
MediaShift | Feb. 6, 2018

But they aren’t the only ones talking about listening. News outlets of all sizes are considering how they develop closer, two-way relationships with their communities.

How a Boston nonprofit newsroom starts its listening by popping up where people live and play
American Press Institute | Jan. 30, 2018

The inspirations at Engage Local came from speakers representing Montclair State University’s NJ News Commons and the Philadelphia-based Billy Penn, both of which had organized election night press hubs in public spaces. I took their ideas back to Boston, brainstormed ways to shape them for our readership, and got to popping up.

Newsrooms welcome Facebook’s new local news emphasis, but remain wary of its effect
Poynter | Jan. 30, 2018

Last year, Facebook put energy and resources into working with local newsrooms. One of those projects included Stefanie Murray and the Center for Cooperative Media. She coordinated a project that worked with nonprofit and independent online publishers and the social media company.

MediaShift20: Recognizing 2017’s Top Digital Innovators
MediaShift | Jan. 8, 2018

First up on our list is Stefanie Murray, the director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

How can local and national work together better when big news breaks?
Poynter | Dec. 28, 2017

Organizations such as ProPublica and Chalkbeat are doing it right, he said. So are The Guardian and the Marshall Project, said Stefanie Murray, director at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

From New Delhi to New Jersey: How an Indian newsroom workflow scheme is helping US journalists work smarter
IJNet | Dec. 18, 2017

Although southern New Jersey is located within the Philadelphia market area, citizens face a drought of local news access and coverage. SNJ Today was built on the idea that good news stories about our communities were not getting told. Just under three years old, SNJ Today boasts the only television news broadcast for southern New Jersey, in addition to radio news and local cable shows.

Top 6 Journalism Collaborations of 2017
MediaShift | Dec. 18, 2017

Over the past year the conversation around editorial collaboration has strengthened. That’s thanks in parts to efforts like the Collaborative Journalism Summit, funding for collaborative ventures, more conference discussions about collaboration and the launch of companies and technologies aimed at making collaboration easier and more effective.

How to fill the void in local news
Asbury Park Press | Dec. 14, 2017

We could not be more grateful to have the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State serving in that capacity in New Jersey. The Center’s team has their fingers on the pulse of the New Jersey and broader news ecosystem, and view their role as much in service to the people of New Jersey as to news outlets.

How Voting Block used collaboration, potlucks to bring together newsrooms and communities
MediaShift | Dec. 1, 2017

To manage a project of this scope, it was necessary to roll it out in stages. The project consisted of four foundational reporting partners that were brought on in the beginning: WNYC, WHYY, NJ Spotlight and The Record. The project’s coordinators at the Center for Cooperative Media, Stefanie Murray and Joe Amditis, worked with the partners to design the scaffolding for the project.

How to rethink teaching broadcast journalism in a digital age
MediaShift | Nov. 29, 2017

And everything was utilized on election night. Control Room C was busy and buzzy, with students throwing to live shots, cueing talent and rolling pieces. The studio was jamming with professional journalists affiliated with the School’s Center for Cooperative Media, working alongside the student journalists.

This is what happens when you turn a governor’s election into a dating game
Reveal | Nov. 6, 2017

To help the public get to know the gubernatorial candidates better, CIR, WFMU and the Center for Cooperative Media commissioned Firestone to conceptualize a comedic game show drawing from facts and issues at the core of the election. Firestone devised Electorama as a dating show to spotlight the candidates’ platforms.

Block by block, New Jersey news organizations are hosting potlucks and telling voters’ stories
Poynter | Oct. 31, 2017

Solomon, managing editor of New Jersey Public Radio and WNYC, thought of that walk and those neighbors when she sat in on a conference call with the Center for Cooperative Media and several other news organizations that cover New Jersey. CCM wanted to help those organizations work together to cover the upcoming election for New Jersey’s governor.

Building bridges across the editorial divide
The Toronto Star | Oct. 7, 2017

How to strengthen journalism? Collaborations in Montreal and New Jersey promise more voices, more expertise and deeper understanding.

Dawn of a new hope for journalism
The Toronto Star | Oct. 7, 2017

The future of journalism — the facts and stories that bind communities and build trust — can be found in creating new information networks.

How can collaborations between ethnic and mainstream outlets serve communities in the digital age?
American Press Institute | Oct. 4, 2017

A Nigerian chief, a Chinese activist, and a Muslim Republican shared their perspectives on the hotly contested 2017 New Jersey governor’s race. The stories and more than a dozen others like them are part of Voting Block, a unique, statewide collaboration between more than 20 ethnic, hyperlocal and mainstream news outlets.

Tip: Use these platforms to collaborate on stories and projects
Journalism.co.uk | Oct. 3, 2017

Working with multiple teams or organisations? Check out this list of resources for collaborative journalism from the Center for Cooperative Media.

Morristown High star ready to test ‘Hollywood East’ at Montclair State
Morristown Green | Sept. 29, 2017

The [new] building also houses the Center for Cooperative Media, overseeing the New Jersey News Commons, of which MorristownGreen.com is a proud member.

The 4 things successful newsroom collaborations share
Poynter | Sept. 29, 2017

A new report from the Center for Cooperative Media looks at the growing movement of collaboration among newsrooms. It’s one that, according to the author and editors, “is now being practiced on a scale that constitutes a revolution in journalism.”

6 types of collaborations between news organisations and their benefits and challenges
Journalism.co.uk | Sept. 29, 2017

A report published today by the Center for Cooperative Media looks at examples of different editorial partnerships, as well as the benefits and tensions they present.

Morristown High star ready to test ‘Hollywood East’ at Montclair State
Morristown Green | Sept. 29, 2017

The [new] building also houses the Center for Cooperative Media, overseeing the New Jersey News Commons, of which MorristownGreen.com is a proud member.

The 4 things successful newsroom collaborations share
Poynter | Sept. 29, 2017

A new report from the Center for Cooperative Media looks at the growing movement of collaboration among newsrooms. It’s one that, according to the author and editors, “is now being practiced on a scale that constitutes a revolution in journalism.”

Here are 6 different kinds of collaborative journalism and the good and bad things about each
Nieman Lab | Sept. 29, 2017

The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University’s School of Communication and Media has spent a bunch of time studying the rise of cooperation among news entities, and on Friday published a report outlining what it’s found as collaborative journalism has “evolved from experiment to common practice.”

USA TODAY NETWORK launches groundbreaking project, ‘The Wall’
USA TODAY Network | Sept. 20, 2017

The project received a $28,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Google News Lab. ‘The Wall’ was also selected for a grant by the Center For Cooperative Media for collaborative engagement efforts.

Quartz is partnering with a local newspaper in Texas to investigate the effects of climate change
Journalism.co.uk | Sept. 15, 2017

The collaboration between Quartz and The Monitor is supported through a grant from the Center for Cooperative Media.

Center for Cooperative Media partnerships engage New Jersey voters
Montclair State News | July 19, 2017

As New Jersey’s fall gubernatorial election approaches, the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University’s School of Communication and Media has received funding to spearhead a project that aims to encourage civil political dialogue and more informed voters in neighborhoods across the Garden State.

Voting Block: New Jersey neighbors dare to talk politics
NJ Spotlight | June 19, 2017

For the first time in 12 years, New Jerseyans will choose a governor this fall without an incumbent in the race. It’s a critical moment for the future of the state, and it comes at a time when conversations across the political divide are increasingly difficult.

Media Projects Aim to Break Bread and Political Barriers
MediaFile | June 19, 2017

NPR structured the idea of conversation with a new project called Voting Block, created by Nancy Soloman, managing editor of New Jersey Public Radio. The project is a collaboration between WNYC, WHYY, WBGO, NJ Spotlight, The Record of the USA Today Network and New American Media. Some of the projects partners include the Center for Investigative Reporting’s Reveal and the Center for Cooperative Media.

Why local and national newsrooms should collaborate on projects
Journalism.co.uk | June 6, 2017

In this week’s podcast we speak to digital media consultant Tim Griggs, who recently researched local and national collaborations for the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, about the best ways to approach editorial partnerships and the different types of collaborations that can happen between organisations.

After Fits and Starts, Collaborative News Is Finally Making Headlines
StreetFight Mag | May 18, 2017

Numerous examples of new and productive partnering are happening seemingly everywhere. Success stories — with the not few bumps along the way — were presented at the recent Collaborative Journalism Summit put together by the Center for Cooperative Media under Director Stefanie Murray at the Center’s home base at Montclair State University in suburban New Jersey.

In North Carolina, these 2 women are bringing journalists closer to the public
Poynter | May 9, 2017

Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media has become a national leader in talking about how to do collaborative journalism, but more than that, their NJ News Commons is a hub for journalists and news outlets of all kinds across the state.

The Collaborative Journalism Summit Explained Using Lyrics from ‘Crazy in Love’ by Beyoncé
MediaShift | May 9, 2017

The Collaborative Journalism Summit happened last week in Montclair, N.J., at the Center for Cooperative Media. The room was full, the attendee swag was clever and the schedule promised to deliver the best sharing of lessons around journalism collaboration and news partnerships we could ask for.

Here are some takeaways from Electionland, a 1,000-person effort covering Election Day voting issues
Nieman Lab | May 4, 2017

A comprehensive new report debriefing the Electionland initiative released Thursday at the Collaborative Journalism Summit at Montclair State University examines every step in the collaboration, from the selection of newsroom partners, to the legwork done before Election Day itself, to the technical effort that went into setting up social verification and communication tools, to the physical layout of the Electionland newsroom hosted at CUNY, to a post mortem on the voting issues captured and stories written at the end of it all. (Just naming all the people involved in Electionland takes up five full pages at the end of this report.)

Electionland: The Inside Story – A case study about our Electionland project was published today.
ProPublica | May 4, 2017

The 66-page report was researched and written by Cassandra Lord, a writer and consultant based in London. It’s being released​ on the first day of the Collaborative Journalism Summit, a conference taking place this week at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

Hands across America: How to make local/national journalism collaborations work
Nieman Lab | May 4, 2017

What if there were creative ways to give both national and local news orgs access to some of the resources they lack and, in turn, help produce more meaningful journalism that reaches broader audiences? Such is the goal of the local/national news partnerships initiative by the Center for Cooperative Media (graciously funded by the Democracy Fund and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation): to evaluate and foster more and better collaboration between national and local news organizations.

Collaborative Journalism Summit Showcases the Future of News — and the Future Is Now
Evrybit | May 3, 2017

Collaboration in journalism is more important now than ever. The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University understands this reality and organized the Collaborative Journalism Summit to promote it. Led by Center for Cooperative Media director Stefanie Murray and associate director Joe Amditis, the summit takes place May 4-5 at Montclair State in New Jersey, bringing together journalists, media executives, scholars and technologists to discuss how collaboration can produce more meaningful journalism, better community engagement and more sustainable business models.

New Report Documents Devastating Impacts of Consolidation on Four New Jersey Weeklies
Free Press | April 28, 2017

Newsrooms across the country are much smaller today than they were even five years ago as the news industry has struggled to reshape its beleaguered business model. That’s no secret. New rounds of layoffs seemed to be announced every week. What isn’t as well known is what kind of impact these layoffs and consolidation moves are having on the volume and type of information available to local communities. We can assume it’s causing harm, but we don’t really know.

With Push, small publishers have a cheaper, quicker way to develop their own mobile apps
NiemanLab | April 7, 2017

Last month, the Center for Cooperative Media announced plans to help five New Jersey news organizations (Banana Tree News, Delaware Currents, Hudson County View, Route 40, and Planet Princeton) develop their own apps using Push’s software. The project is part of NJ Mobile News Lab, which the Center for Cooperative Media started in an effort to “bridge the innovation gap” between large and small publishers, said Joe Amditis, the associate director of the Center for Cooperative Media.

Analysis without benchmarks: An approach for measuring the success of innovation projects
NiemanLab | April 3, 2017

Newsroom innovation initiatives like our mobile lab in the Guardian U.S. are springing up everywhere. Projects are being funded by philanthropies and tech companies through smaller programs in New Jersey and larger ones at the BBC…

Software Engineer Starts Unlikely Business: A Weekly Newspaper
New York Times | March 27, 2017

The Local, for some, has been a welcome move in the opposite direction, even if media analysts say it faces long odds of financial success. “That can have an amazing impact, putting more reporters on the street,” said Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

RBR Holds Forum on “Fake News”
Red Bank Regional High School | March 18, 2017

On March 16, the RBR Student Public Policy Group welcomed Joseph Amditis, Associate Director for the Montclair State Center for Cooperative Media, (affiliated Montclair University) to give a presentation on “Fake News.” His audience was composed of approximately 250 students including AP English and Journalism students.

Gannett’s push into New Jersey saps local coverage
Columbia Journalism Review | March 17, 2017

Content analysis of four of the weeklies now owned by Gannett found they included fewer and less substantive news articles about their respective communities after the sale, in addition to an increase in pieces shared across newspapers. Researchers from the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, which is in northern New Jersey, also observed a shift in attention from local board meetings toward crime.

Hundreds of local reporters in New Jersey were laid off this past year. What does that mean for the state?
NiemanLab | March 17, 2017

Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media has a new report out today that puts a few hard numbers on what we all already know — that many of the reporters laid off in the past decade in New Jersey have decades of local news reporting experience under their belts, and a decline in articles published as well as a marked decline in articles explicitly about and for the local communities.

How U.S Publishers Are Using a New App to Reach Mobile Users More Affordably
International Center for Journalists | March 16, 2017

Using Push (as opposed to building an app from scratch) can save an organization an estimated $50,000, according to recent ICFJ Knight Fellow Christopher Guess, who created the project. Guess is teaming up with the Center for Cooperative Media (CCM) to bring “Push” to five New Jersey newsrooms. Each will receive a custom mobile app to help it more effectively distribute content.

In 2017, Journalists Have to Partner, Not Parachute
Democracy Fund | January 18, 2017

In 2016 the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University launched a local/national reporting partnership, staffed by Tim Griggs who has worked for New York Times, Texas Tribune and Wilmington Star News. The project is based in part on the success of an earlier project — Toxic NJ — a collaboration of ten local newsrooms working with the Center for Investigative Reporting to report on small toxic sites across the state.

Facebook Journalism Project Announced to Tackle Fake News
PC Quest | January 12, 2017

Facebook is going to collaborate with Knight Foundation, Detroit Journalism Cooperative, Institute for NonProfit News, Local Independent News Online (LION), Institute for Journalism in New Media, Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media and more for providing training at scale for local newsrooms.

In New Jersey, Only a Few Media Watchdogs Are Left
New York Times | January 3, 2017

When New Jersey lawmakers blocked a vote last month on a bill backed by Gov. Chris Christie that would have ended the requirement that legal notices be published in newspapers, it was a rare good news story for the state’s press corps.

Here’s A Fabulous 2016 Charitable Donation Idea: Saving Journalism
Forbes | December 23, 2016

There is a long list of important causes worthy of your charitable contributions this time of year, but I’d rank saving the future of journalism pretty high on mine. I spent some time this week speaking to several folks that would never refer to themselves as saviors, but are all playing a part in building a more solid foundation for journalism’s future. And not surprisingly, money is a critical part of the equation.

The Media is the Message at Montclair State University
Hispanic Outlook | November 22, 2016

Montclair State University (MSU) has been making great strides to further develop their School of Communication and Media to reflect the exploding media industrial complex that it has become. Its Center for Cooperative Media is just one example of the way this university is embracing a high tech future.

Community News’ Fight to Succeed: ‘Sustain Local 2016’ Put It All Together
Street Fight Mag | November 10, 2016

Local news sites have encountered a big disconnect in the digital world. Readers browse the sites’ content, but too often don’t get very engaged with it. In response, local businesses are increasingly seeking out alternative ways to connect with consumers more directly — like Facebook and other social media — and they generally say they’re more satisfied spending their ad dollars on those platforms.

22 Medium publications about journalism and technology
Journalism.co.uk | November 9, 2016

If you have just discovered Medium, if your reading list could use a refresh, or if you’re interested in following as many sources of media news and commentary as possible, here is a list of Medium publications that cover the industry. The list is by no means exhaustive – it’s a collection of publications we follow at Journalism.co.uk and others that have been recommended by our readers on Twitter.

Liar, liar, pants on fire: NPR editor on Trump, truth and the media
Morristown Green | October 10, 2016

Should news organizations call out politicians as liars? The New York Times thinks so, and has been accusing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump of lying with increasing frequency. But the editorial director of National Public Radio considers that a mistake.

Collaborate or die: A new initiative wants to make it easier for national and local outlets to work together
NiemanLab | September 28, 2016

If you want an idea of what it’s like to get news organizations to collaborate, try herding cats. That’s how Tim Griggs describes it, anyway, and he would know. Over the past ten years, in big roles at The New York Times, the Times-owned Wilmington Star-News and, most recently, as publisher of The Texas Tribune, he’s spent a lot of time navigating what he calls the “sticky, complicated process” of getting big and small newsrooms to work together on projects. And while the process isn’t easy, it’s clearly worthwhile — even vital — for many.

Introducing Reveal Labs, a new engine for local investigative reporting
Reveal | September 15, 2016

It’s no secret that extensive downsizing at newsrooms across the country over the last decade has struck a blow to local and regional investigative journalism. Many news organizations have lost the resources needed to report big, important stories in their backyards. Finding sustainable models for journalism that spotlight injustice and empower citizens doesn’t come easily.

How to turn toxic contamination into stand-up comedy
Reveal | September 6, 2016

“A guy with lead poisoning, a guy with respiratory disease and a guy with polychlorinated biphenyl exposure walk into a bar …” Thus began the first-ever comedy event dedicated to environmental contamination. It was a stand-up night with a special twist: On July 29, 12 comedians each performed original material at WFMU’s Monty Hall in Jersey City inspired by tales of toxicity in the Garden State.

A Promising New Start on News Collaboration, but There’s Another Non-Starter as Well
StreetFight | August 25, 2016

But next week the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in suburban North Jersey will launch a local/national news partnership project that will show community sites in Jersey how, for example, they can produce the same eye-catching data visualizations that are routinely published by national publications.

Finding humor in toxic contamination. Seriously.
Reveal | July 6, 2016

What happens when you pair stand-up comedians with journalists to explore the effects of local pollution? The Center for Investigative Reporting and WFMU are about to find out. In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, CIR and WFMU are teaming up to launch a new initiative exploring New Jersey’s toxic legacy through comedy. Yes, comedy.

NJIT Journalism Students Take First Place in Environmental Contest
NJIT News Room | June 30, 2016

Twenty-two NJIT students have won first place in a student journalism contest on the environment. A cash prize was awarded for the winning entries, which were included in a collaborative investigative reporting project on the local effects of New Jersey’s toxic environmental legacy and published on brickcitylive.com, a Newark website.

Local news publishing on Medium: Exploring pros & cons
Knight Digital Media Center | June 14, 2016

Meanwhile, at Rutgers Univ. in N.J., Muckgers launched on WordPress in 2013 — but they’re currently shifting all of their publishing to Medium. Joe Amditis, acting Associate Director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, was involved with the launch of this venue for investigative campus journalism. The new Guardian Mobile Innovation Lab also launched recently on Medium, and the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism also relies on this platform.

How a New Jersey couple’s battle with a leaking oil tank became theater
Reveal | June 10, 2016

Flanagan’s reporting was part of Dirty Little Secrets, a collaborative series facilitated by CIR to investigate New Jersey’s toxic legacy with media partners across the state, including New Jersey Public Radio/WNYC, WHYY, NJTV, NJ Spotlight, Jersey Shore Hurricane News, WBGO, New Brunswick Today and the Rutgers Department of Journalism and Media Studies. The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University helped CIR coordinate the project, made possible by a grant to CIR from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

A new play explores a real-life environmental battle in Teaneck
NJ Advance Media | May 31, 2016

“Terra Incoginta,” the latest production at the George Street Playhouse, tackles this issue by drawing upon incidents from real-life investigative reporting. It’s part of an ambitious new series of productions, called “Dirty Little Secrets,” initiated by the Center for Investigative Reporting, a California-based nonprofit news organization.

Dark Comedy STORYWORKS: TERRA INCOGNITA Premieres at George Street Playhouse
Broadway World | May 25, 2016

An absurd, dark comedy about a New Jersey family who finds themselves suddenly dealing with an environmental cleanup in their backyard – literally – makes its debut at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, N.J., with a pair of 8pm performances June 3 and 4, with post-play discussions to follow each night.

TV and radio stations, working together? It’s possible — and potentially powerful
Current | April 21, 2016

The Center for Investigative Reporting and the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University coordinated reporting among nine news entities, including NJTV and dual licensee WHYY in Philadelphia.

Montclair State University presents panel on Italians and media
The Montclair Times | April 9, 2016

Fiore, originally from Sicily, is the first holder of the Inserra endowed chair. Inserra, named for Larry Inserra, is dedicated to the promotion of Italian and Italian-American studies. The panel is co-sponsored by the Global Education Center, the Department of History and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and in collaboration with the Center for Cooperative Media and the Amici Italian Club at Montclair State University.

Thinking outside the (newspaper) box: The Local News Lab seeks to revive community news
NiemanLab | February 17, 2016

Professional networks like NJ News Commons and the Institute for Nonprofit News are critical for sharing lessons, testing ideas, and leveraging economies of scale while retaining the unique character of each individual community site.

In the Shadow of Liberty: NJ Spotlight’s year-long study of immigration in New Jersey
NJ Spotlight | February 8, 2016

Through our partnership with the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State, we will reach into these communities via ethnic media. These publications — targeted at New Jersey’s Arab, Brazilian, Chinese, Filipino, and Latino communities, among others — will give voice to their stories and experiences.

How New Jersey newsrooms are working together to expose local contamination
Reveal | December 30, 2015

Over the past six months, reporters and editors from newsrooms around New Jersey have been digging into the state’s toxic legacy. Dubbed Dirty Little Secrets, the collaborative series has included participation from a diverse group of media partners, including New Jersey Public Radio/WNYC, WHYY, NJTV, NJ Spotlight, Jersey Shore Hurricane News, WBGO, New Brunswick Today and the Rutgers Department of Journalism and Media Studies. The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University helped CIR coordinate the project, made possible by a grant to CIR from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Investigative local reporting has a future—but it won’t look like the past
Columbia Journalism Review | December 18, 2015

The collaboration is being facilitated by The Center for Investigative Reporting, which is taking the story national, with help from the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State. That is a huge number of organizations, coming together to lend their strengths and share their work in service of local communities. But what is important about this project is not just who is doing the journalism but how they are doing it.

CIR to convene investigative collaboration in New Jersey
Reveal | July 23, 2015

With help from the Center for Cooperative Media, which already has been instrumental in organizing a share-alike culture among New Jersey news organizations, we’re beginning to map this investigative quest and identify the topics and stories we’ll pursue.

Learning About Messy NJ Data through Hacking at Hack Jersey 2.0
New Jersey Tech Weekly | April 14, 2015

This hackathon, Hack Jersey 2.0, held at Montclair State University on March 25th and 26th, is the brain child of Baristanet founder and associate director of the NJ News Commons at Montclair State, Debra Galant, and data journalist at The Marshal Project Tom Meagher.

Be the Best Journalist Your Hackathon Has Ever Seen
The Digital Cycle | Match 27, 2015

This weekend I’m going to participate in a journalism hackathon, Hack Jersey 2.0. at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey. The selected focus of Hack Jersey 2.0 is to explore better data journalism as well as new tools for storytelling.

Dodge makes community the hub of NJ Journalism Sustainability Project
Knight Digital Media Center | December 15, 2014

The Dodge Foundation’s Journalism Sustainability Project has a dizzying number of moving parts. Community is the steady hub at its center.

Journalists Gather to Discuss, Rebuild the Business of Local News
NJ News Commons | April 29, 2014

Marc Andreesen, an Internet pioneer and venture capitalist, tweeted in early February that he’s bullish on the growth of the news business in the next 20 years. “Will grow 10x-100x,” he wrote.

In Post-Patch Era, Local Media Watchers Pin Hopes on Smaller Operations
Street Fight | April 28, 2014

“Hi, I’m Larry Kramer, and I like to make money,” said the president and publisher of Gannett-owned USA Today (and an early investor in Street Fight), during introductions at a conference on the future of local media held at Montclair State University Friday.

Ecosystems aren’t just for biologists, Dodge president tells digital journalists
Morristown Green | April 28, 2014

New Jersey, long overshadowed by the media glare of New York City and Philadelphia, is poised to re-make the face of news. It can’t happen soon enough, according to Chris Daggett of the Morristown-based Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, which is leading a philanthropic drive to transform the Garden State into a test-bed for journalistic ventures to augment “legacy” media ravaged by changing economics.

Like a phoenix from the ashes: How some local reporters are sticking it out post
Nieman Lab | March 12, 2014

Wealthy, suburban, outer-metro areas have always been financial strongholds for local journalism. That’s why, back in 2009 when Patch launched, they seeded the network with sites in the New York suburbs of Connecticut and New Jersey. It’s also why local news reporters in that region who found themselves unemployed after after Patch came crashing down aren’t all throwing in the towel.

Reconsidering Anniversaries for Reporting Tragedies
PBS Media Shift | Nov. 14, 2013

For all the talk of journalism’s noble past and uncertain future, the truth is that journalism’s day-to-day is a lot like slinging hash. Everyday journalism is produced quickly, in massive quantities, in front of a live audience.

Recaps and Handouts: It Takes a Village–Working Together Online
Citizens Campaign | Nov. 4, 2013

This Saturday we co-hosted “It Takes a Village: Working Together Online” with our friends from New Jersey News Commons and Jersey Shore Hurricane News. For this event we departed from the usual journalism basic training — and shifted gears and focused on new media skills and tools. At the end of the day you probably heard chattering about RebelMouse, Feedly, WordPress, Google Maps Engine, Document Cloud, and so much more! Guests left saying, “I have a lot of new words to go home and google.”

New Jersey Now 11/3
My9NJ.com | November 3, 2013

A preview of Tuesday’s Gubernatorial Election between incumbent Republican Governor Chris Christie and Democratic Challenger State Senator Barbara Buono! Also, a debate on whether Republicans can win a majority in the Democratically-controlled Legislature, as well as a look at the ballot question to raise the minimum wage. Guests include Democratic Strategist Adam Silverstein, Republican Strategist Steven Some, Mary Mann of NJ News Commons, and John Schoonejongen of the Asbury Park Press.

Just Your Average 10-Foot High Neighborhood Totem Pole
NJPR | Nov. 1, 2013

A totem pole. In Chatham. Right there on Edgewood Road. As part of our “one-year-after-Sandy” coverage we have a story about a New Jersey artist who saw a golden opportunity in his Sandy-ravaged neighborhood. That damaged tree? Surely it’s a future totem pole.

New Jersey Now 10/27
My9NJ.com | October 27, 2013

A look at the legalization of marriage equality in the Garden State, Senator-elect Cory Booker’s future in Washington as well as the future of Newark without him, and the latest in the Governor’s race! Guests include Democratic Strategist Adam Silverstein, Republican Strategist Steven Some, Mary Mann of NJ News Commons, and John Schoonejongen of the Asbury Park Press.

At September Hack Jersey, Political Finance Laws, Campaign Spending Get Hacked
NJ Tech Weekly | October 21, 2013

Journalism is becoming increasingly technology-dependent. Half the political stories require spreadsheet skills, and coders and reporters need to learn how to talk to one another. There was plenty of Excel spreadsheet training and more as Hack Jersey hosted its second hackathon Sept. 21, 2013. On this sunny Saturday, some 40 participants tried to ferret out stories by analyzing campaign finance data. They also sought to build a news app.

New Jersey Now 10/20
My9NJ.com | October 20, 2013

A look at the one year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy and the devastation left behind, including homes destroyed at the Jersey Shore and flooding in towns such as Hoboken! Also, a look at recovery efforts one year later and the road ahead! And, the latest on the Archbishop John Myers of the Archdiocese of Newark and the naming of the Most Reverend Bernard Hebda as Coadjutor Archbishop!

Parking in Princeton and Hecklers in Montclair
NJPR | Oct. 17, 2013

Mary Mann with New Jersey News Commons at Montclair State University joins New Jersey Public Radio host, David Furst, to highlight the work of two local news reporters. One covers the news for the web site, Planet Princeton – the other is a freshman working for the student radio station at Montclair State University.

New Jersey Now 10/13
My9NJ.com | October 13, 2013

New Jersey Now focuses on some of the biggest issues in the Garden State including the latest surrounding a nameless NJ Transit supervisor blamed for the damage to rail cars during Superstorm Sandy, the battle over appointments to the State Supreme Court, and a judge’s ruling over marriage equality! Also, our roundtable tackles the latest in the special Senate and Governor’s race!

Announcing: Now a Member of NJ News Commons
Muckgers | September 13, 2013

About a week ago, we received an email from the deputy director of a roughly year-old experiment in local news collaboration called NJ News Commons, inviting us to join their team as a partner. The invite was pretty unexpected and, being the lowly and relatively young campus publication that we are, we were flabbergasted at the prospect. Today, however, we’re incredibly excited (honored, really) to announce that Muckgers is now an official NJ News Commons partner.

“This Trenton Life”
NJPR | October 10, 2013

“This Trenton Life,” a play created by high school students and the Passage Theatre Company, was performed this summer in in a revitalized vacant lot in Trenton. A mini-documentary about the experience now appears on the web site, State of the Arts. Mary Mann is with New Jersey News Commons at Montclair State University. She speaks with New Jersey Public Radio’s David Furst about the collaboration.

The New Jersey News Desert
Free Press | July 12, 2013

In recent years the news coverage on WWOR-TV in New Jersey got so bad that local residents started a campaign to have the Federal Communications Commission take away the station’s broadcast license. And now the station has canceled its remaining newscast. This means the only major commercial broadcaster in New Jersey has no news on its airwaves.

What Happened to the Poison-Ivy Eating Goats?
NJPR | October 3, 2013

From civilian employees facing furloughs at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst to the closure of national parks in New Jersey, we’ve been hearing about the many ways the partial government shutdown is affecting people in the state. But New Jersey bloggers have been doing a good job calling our attention to some of the less obvious impacts.

Rutgers Changes a Few Lyrics — New Jersey Takes Notice
NJPR | September 26, 2013

During the Rutgers-Arkansas football game last Saturday, some new lyrics were unveiled for the university’s alma mater. The idea was to drag Rutgers into the 21st century and make the words more gender-neutral.

Wanna Pray? There’s an App for That
NJPR | Sept. 12, 2013

Orthodox Judaism meets high-tech innovation. “Wanna Pray” is the sassy name of a new app designed by Linden, New Jersey-based app creator, Josh Weiss. He’s also vice president of his Orthodox synagogue. New Jersey Public Radio’s David Furst speaks about the new app with Mary Mann, with New Jersey News Commons at Montclair State University.

Cake Boss in Westfield
NJPR | Sept. 9, 2013

The ‘Cake Boss’ opens a new joint in Westfield… and the blogs go wild. Mary Mann with New Jersey News Commons at Montclair State University joins New Jersey Public Radio’s David Furst to talk about the new Carlo’s Bakery location – and how the Cake Boss has gotten involved with making political endorsements in New Jersey.

The “Best Tasting Water” in New Jersey
NJPR | August 29, 2013

This month, Livingston was presented with an award for having the “best tasting water” in the state by the New Jersey Chapter of the American Water Works Association. And earlier this summer, Facebook called Livingston one of the top-10 “fittest” cities in America. Mary Mann with New Jersey News Commons at Montclair State University joins New Jersey Public Radio’s David Furst to talk about Livingston’s new bragging rights.

Back to School — With a “Shooter Drill” in West Orange
NJPR | August 22, 2013

It’s sobering that one of our first back-to-school stories this August is all about a “shooter drill” in New Jersey. But that’s the reality of back-to-school, 2013-style. This was a major school shooting simulation that took place at Liberty Middle School in West Orange on Tuesday. The story was reported by West Orange Patch.

A Shark Panic in New Jersey — From Over 90 Years Ago
NJPR | August 15, 2013

We may have missed ‘Shark Week’ on the Discovery Channel but we’ll make up for it with a terrifying New Jersey story. This gruesome slice of state history appeared on weirdnj.com. It all started in Beach Haven in July of 1916. Debbie Galant is with New Jersey News Commons at Montclair State University. She speaks with New Jersey Public Radio’s David Furst about a true story that MAY have inspired author Peter Benchley to write Jaws.

Pesticide-Free Zone
NJPR | August 8, 2013

It’s the latest suburban showdown. Barista Kids recently reported on the growing divide between neighbors who spray their lawns with pesticides… and those who do not. Debbie Galant with New Jersey News Commons speaks with New Jersey Public Radio’s David Furst about a new program to encourage pesticide-free lawns in Montclair.

Business Slow at the Beach
NJPR | August 1, 2013

It’s standard practice around this time of year. As we head into the home stretch of the summer beach season, it’s expected that shops and restaurants along the Jersey shore will grumble about the weather and its impact on their bottom line. But this year, obviously, is very different.

Jellies Thrive in Barnegat Bay
NJPR | July 25, 2013

According to several reports, the stinging jellyfish in Barnegat Bay are worse than ever this year. New Jersey Public Radio’s David Furst speaks with Mary Mann of New Jersey News Commons about the bothersome jellies – and a study underway looking into why they are now here in such abundance.

In New Jersey, a university teams up with local news orgs to collaborate for impact
Neiman Journalism Lab | July 10, 2013

Montclair State’s Center for Cooperative Media is betting there are returns on getting newspapers, broadcasters, bloggers, and wire services all in the same building.

Creating a Unique New Jersey Media Hub
J-Lab

The germ of the idea came at a 2011 meeting in Newark, N.J. What was going to happen to news coverage once Gov. Chris Christie spun off the state-owned New Jersey Network (NJN) of radio and television stations? As the group of funders, journalists, academics and public broadcasters from New York City and Philadelphia mulled various possibilities, a voice piped up: “What we probably need here is a co-op, sort of like the Associated Press.”

NJ News Commons Poll Finds Majority of Residents Say Undocumented Immigrants Should Stay
NJTV | July 3, 2013

While a new poll finds that most New Jerseyans believe undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S., it also shows a significant percentage believes they should be deported. NJ News Commons Director Debbie Galant told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that the poll results surprised her.

Charting the Shared Road Ahead
Dodge Foundation Blog | June 24, 2013

“World Café” lunch-time conversations with designated table leaders enabled Conference attendees to engage in in-depth group discussions on specific topics. I chose to sit with Mary Mann, deputy director of New Jersey News Commons based at Montclair State University, a project spurred and supported by the Knight Foundation and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation as a means of creating a robust media sector in the state. A concrete model of effective philanthropy, NJ News Commons will no doubt serve our state well as a key resource for rebuilding efforts.

Tending to the Business Side
Dodge Foundation Blog | May 29, 2013

When I started Baristanet, one of the first hyperlocal news sites in the country, in 2004, I didn’t realize I was starting a new industry. I barely understood that I was starting a new business. I didn’t have a business plan. And while I’d sketched out page designs with places for ads, and had vague hopes about what they might be worth, there was no science behind it — and it took months before anybody handed me a check.

Getting News to New Jersey
Reporter’s Roundtable/NJTV | December 6, 2013

John Mooney of NJ Spotlight, Ken Schlager of New Jersey Monthly, Anthony Birritteri of New Jersey Business Magazine and Debbie Galant of NJ News Commons discuss how they get news to a New Jersey audience.

In a Fragmented Media Market, New Jersey Hopes to Thrive with Mobile, Collaboration
PBS Media Shift | May 23, 2013

At a conference at Montclair State University titled, “New Jersey: A Laboratory for Media Innovation,” sponsored in part by the Knight Foundation, newsrooms large and small weighed the current problems and opportunities in New Jersey’s current media market, laying out a microcosm of the challenges facing the American news business and how they’re evolving in the digital age to meet them.

Twitter Was Leading Place for News During Boston Shootout
NJTV | April 19, 2013

When the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings were engaged in a shootout with police, it was the middle of the night and cable news operations were rerunning some of their earlier programming. So journalists took to Twitter to spread the news about what was happening. NJ News Commons Director Debbie Galant told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that she and many others were getting the latest information from the social networking site.

Media Blitz: A New Communication And Media School At MSU
New Jersey Monthly | April 8, 2013

Montclair State University has spent the past school year rolling out an ambitious plan to become a major center for media education—at the same time defining what that might mean in the digital age.

With NJ News Co-op, Professor Deb Galant Keeps to Her Hyperlocal Roots
Street Fight | February 28, 2013

Debra Galant was the quintessential hyperlocal entrepreneur, co-founding in 2004 (on the strength of her credit card) the lively, news-filled, deeply engaged and now profitableBaristanet in suburban New Jersey. Then, in July 2012, shedecamped for the nearby groves of academe – to the new Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. Not surprisingly, Galant stayed true to her entrepreneurial spirit. She’s the director of the NJ News Commons, the first initiative to spring forth from the center. Street Fight caught up with Galant recently to find out more about the news co-op, and why the project is important for hyperlocals.

Hack Jersey: Programmers and Journalists Work Together to Shine a Light on NJ
NJ Tech Weekly | February 20, 2013

Hack Jersey — which took place from Jan. 25 to Jan. 27, 2013, at Montclair State University — was a unique event to the N.J. tech scene and one that cemented Montclair State’s reputation as a cutting-edge institution at the intersection of journalism and digital information.

Interview with Debbie Galant
Carpe Diem | November 29, 2012

Marc Rosenwig sits down for an interview with Debbie Galant on Montclair’s premiere interview and public affairs program, Carpe Diem.

Hack Jersey Enters Homestretch
Baristanet | January 27, 2013

Hack Jersey, a 24-hour contest to develop the best journalism-related app over a weekend, is in full swing at Montclair State University. Sponsored by the NJ News Commons in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University and Knight-Mozilla Open News, the contest ends at noon today; presentations, which are open to public and live streamed, begin at 1:15 p.m.

NJ Journos, Techs Team Up at Hackathon
NetNewsCheck.com | January 29, 2013

Montclair State University over the weekend hosted New Jersey’s first ever journalist-tech hackathon, titled “Hack Jersey.” The event — sponsored and hosted by the NJ News Commons at Montclair State University, in partnership with Knight-Mozilla Open News — was a 24-hour competition, allowing groups of journalists and software coders to team up to create projects that could transform the way New Jersey residents use data and experience news.

Montclair Tech and Media Startups to Discuss Creating Makerspace
Baristanet | January 29, 2013

What’s a “Makerspace” you ask? It’s a community-operated, physical space where people with common interests in computers, technology, science, and digital or electronic art can meet, socialize and/or collaborate.

#HackJersey Pairs #Coders and #Reporters for Creative Media Apps
NYConvergence.com | January 31, 2013

Reporters and coders will band together at Hack Jersey this weekend in the service of journalism. Their task: create new apps, media tools and data visualizations. In addition to a tour of The New York Times’ R&D Lab or lunch with Jeff Jarvis, the team that creates the best work related to Hurricane Sandy wins a (still undisclosed) special prize. The idea for the hackathon arose after a conversation between Debbie Galant, founder of Baristanet, and Tom Meagher, data editor of NY-based Digital First Media. Galent told The Star-Ledgerthat, “The important thing is to get people to start thinking creatively.”

North Jersey journalists, computer coders team up to create new tools
NorthJersey.com | January 27, 2013

A database allows consumers to quickly look up the widely varying costs of radiology services throughout New Jersey. A map permits members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to identify towns where they’ve been harassed or assaulted. Those websites and applications were among 11 created during a frenzied 24-hour period at “Hack Jersey,” the first so-called hackathon in the Garden State to team up local journalists and computer software coders.

Opinion: It’s time for journalists to learn math
NJ News Commons | February 1, 2013

Watching someone like Matt Ericson of the New York Times show off the fabulous data visualizations that his department makes is a little like watching a master magician. What is there, after all, to pulling a rabbit out of a hat? Bubble maps of the words most used at the Democratic and GOP national conventions? What’s the big deal about that? A graphic of every male 100-meter sprint Olympic medalist ever, showing how much faster athletes have gotten over time? Ok, that’s pretty impressive. And the two-and-a-half minute video with pitch-by-pitch visualizations of Yankees closer Mariano Rivera? Well, that’s kind of like sawing a lady in half. Still, even when lifting the curtain and showing what went into these pieces of data visualization, it still looks easy – it’s not.

Watch President Obama’s inauguration here, complete coverage, Jan. 21
Morristown Green | January 21, 2013

Follow President Obama’s inauguration here, on Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, from 9 am to 5 pm. Coverage by the Associated Press; our thanks to the NJ News Commons for sharing this news feed with MorristownGreen.com.

Hack Jersey: An exercise in decoding the news
Star-Ledger | January 25, 2013

Hack Jersey. It’s not what it sounds like. Far from some call to breach state security systems, it’s a gathering of news reporters and coders in the name of journalism. Who, yes, will be staring at screens for hours on end — 24 hours, specifically.

CrashDataNJ Wins Hack Jersey
Baristanet | January 28, 2013

Wonder what’s the most dangerous stretch of the Garden State Parkway? Check outCrashDataNJ, winner of Best Overall Project at the first ever Hack Jersey, is a tool that analyzes car accident data along New Jersey’s major highways (130 to 140 has the highest number of accidents).

Conference Finds NJ Public Radio and TV Faring Well in New York, Philadelpia
NJ Spotlight | January 23, 2013

A year and a half after the state turned over its public radio and TV stations to organizations in New York and Philadelphia, station operators said they have seen New Jersey audience and membership grow to varying degrees. What’s more, the public radio stations are investing in news about the state. And NJTV, the new TV station operated by WNET/Thirteen, said it is on the forefront nationally of finding ways to deliver news economically, a necessity since it is working with a budget two-thirds that of its predecessor, WNJN.

#HackJersey: Transform Storytelling with Data and #News
NYConvergence.com | January 7, 2013

Hack Jersey is New Jersey’s first 24-hour hackathon to invite both journalists and coders to work together and build innovative products that transform the way people use data and experience news in the Garden State. The hackathon, held at Montclair State Universityon Jan. 26 and 27, will be preceded by a social event on Friday evening, Jan. 25. Sponsors include Montclair University NJ News Commons, Knight-Mozilla Open News, NJ Star Ledger, The Record and CartoDB.

Jersey’s First ‘Hackathon’ Comes to Montclair State
The Montclarion | January 24, 2013

This weekend, Montclair will host the first ever “hackathon” in New Jersey. Coined as “Hack Jersey,” the event will begin on Saturday afternoon. Teams of journalist and computer coders alike will have 24 hours to create something for one of five categories. The event was co-created by Debbie Galant, director of the NJ News Commons and Tom Meagher, data editor at Digital First Media.

HackJersey to bring Coders and Journalists Together
Planet Princeton | December 10, 2012

Have an idea for an app, data visualization or new media that will organize newsworthy data or deliver important stories to readers in a better way? Then you’ll want to take part in Hack Jersey, the first hackathon in the state to invite journalists and coders to collaborate on teams to build projects that could transform the way people use data and experience news in the Garden State.

NJ News Commons helps residents vote, track results in wake of Hurricane Sandy
Knight Foundation | November 7, 2012

Hurricane Sandy created havoc in many seaside communities in New Jersey, and also caused damage with downed trees, powerlines and flooding in inland communities. The New Jersey News Commons, a new project to pump up the amount of civic news and information for New Jersey residents, got an early test of their collaborative model with Sandy.

Storm Poses First Big Test for NJTV News Coverage
New York Times | November 4, 2012

During his 6 p.m. newscast Thursday, the NJTV anchor Mike Schneider got a little cranky on the air, after twice trying, unsuccessfully, to interview Representative Frank LoBiondo, Republican of New Jersey, over a patchy cellphone line.

NJ News Commons Live Blog: Tracking Voting Problems
NJ Today | November 6, 2012

The NJ News Commons, joined by news organizations across the state, is running a public service campaign to provide real-time voting information following the destruction of Superstorm Sandy, and to monitor voting problems in the state.

NJ News Commons at Montclair State: An Experiment in Sharing Content, Resources
New Jersey Tech Weekly | October 26, 2012

An experiment in digital journalism is taking place at Montclair State University, where Debbie Galant, director of new media initiatives, is leading NJ News Commons in an effort to help N.J. online and offline news organizations “survive the seismic shifts in the economics of journalism and create better journalism by working together.” Reporters for news outlets will be able to partner with each other to cover large stories — hurricanes, elections, trials — and share information.

NJ Online News Resource Group joins Montclair’s NJ News Commons
The Citizens Campaign | December 13, 2012

Last summer, the Center for Cooperative Media, which resides in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University, launched the NJ News Commons, through extensive grants from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. NJ News Commons is directed by Debbie Galant, founder and former editor of Baristanet, one of the first hyperlocal news sites in the United States.

NJ News Commons Post-Christie Keynote Hangout

Statewide coverage of Frankenstorm from NJ News Commons
Morristown Green | October 28, 2012

Here is statewide coverage of Hurricane Sandy from our friends at NJ News Commons, a program at Montclair State University supported by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Analyists from NJ News Commons, Twitter Abuzz on Christie’s RNC Speech
Jersey City Independent | August 29, 2012

Governor Chris Christie’s speech at the Republican National Convention was called a “proud” moment for New Jersey. It was to be an exciting spotlight on all things local when Christie nationally celebrated Republican governance at its self-described best: supposedly reining in taxes that were seen as out of control and forcing steep concessions from powerfully entrenched unions, all in a place where Democrats outnumber Republicans by the better part of a million voters.

NJ News Commons to hold Internship Fair November 27
Montclair State University | November 20, 2012

The NJ News Commons will sponsor an Internship Fair on Tuesday, Nov. 27, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Multipurpose News Room (Room 311) in Schmitt Hall to introduce communication and journalism students at Montclair State University to news organizations across the state.

Debbie Galant Leaving Baristanet for Role at Montclair State
Street Fight | July 9, 2012

Debra Galant, who co-founded Baristanet, the New Jersey network of indie hyperlocals, is leaving management of the site to take a role at Montclair State University, where she’ll join “an ambitious effort to nurture digital and hyperlocal journalism in New Jersey.” Liz George, who will take over day-to-day operations at Baristanet, has been running the site alongside Galant for years.

Big news in Hyperlocaland
Buzz Machine | July 9, 2012

Debbie Galant, co-founder of Baristanet and the Queen of Hyperlocal, is moving to a new gig at Montclair State University, where she will share her experience and help nurture and grow the local news ecosystem of New Jersey. In short, she will spread her hyperlocal fairy dust over the Garden State. Baristanet continues under the strong and loyal local leadership of Liz George, who has been there almost from the start. The queen has left the building. Long live the queens.

Can Local Newspapers Collaborate with Blogs?
PBS | December 6, 2012

J-Lab recently released the results of its Networked Journalism pilot project, a three-year initiative that “called for eight newspapers and one public radio station to network with local blogs,” resulting in “nine different models of collaboration,” J-Lab reports.

Hyperlocal Hotbed Thrives in New Jersey
NetNewsCheck.com | November 8, 2012

If there is one word that defines New Jersey’s digital media scene, it’s synergy. Whether it’s network news sites like the Advance Publications-owned and operated NJ.com, which includes original active content from 12 area newspapers including The Star-Ledger and The Times of Trenton, or the profusion of hyperlocals, some of which have partnered up (and were instrumental in aiding residents with breaking updates and information related to Hurricane Sandy), consolidation drives the Garden State’s local news apparatus.

A New Approach to News
Montclair State University | September 17, 2012

When Tropical Storm Irene barreled through New Jersey in August 2011, it left independent “hyperlocal” journalists up a creek. “It’s tough to cover a story like that without support. I wasn’t sure exactly when it would hit, whether I should stay up and wait for it or get some sleep,” recalls Debra Galant, former editor of Montclair’s hyperlocal news website, Baristanet, and now the director of the New Jersey News Commons for the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State.