A Carnegie Corporation grant has helped to create a series of tools tracking the economic and technical transformation of the news industry.
The Transformation Project, managed by the Poynter Institute, is a three-year initiative aimed at helping the media industry better organize its efforts to sustain quality journalism in the future.
"Despite the difficult economic conditions in which news organizations are operating," said, Karen B. Dunlap, Poynter's president, "a lot of new ideas are being tried - some are good, some not so good. But all of them offer lessons to those working to keep journalism alive.”
"Poynter is in a unique position to chronicle those lessons, make them readily available and gather together individuals and organizations interested in creating, executing or funding the most promising new strategies."
The Transformation Tracker project has three components. The first two offer Poynter the opportunity to write the story of journalism's transformation:
An online center where users can search a catalogue of ideas and efforts aimed at creating, sustaining and promoting journalism. David Shedden, Poynter's library director and online columnist, maintains the site.
Two blogs: The Biz Blog by Poynter's Rick Edmonds tracks business trends for startups as well as established media; NewsPay by Poynter's Bill Mitchell provides studies of projects and strategies, of lessons learned in successful and unsuccessful efforts.
"People have actually begun speaking aloud," Dunlap said, "about whether a day could arrive when we could be without journalism - one of our democracy's truly essential components.”
"Poynter is working to ensure that day does not arrive, and we're delighted that Carnegie Corporation shares our concern. We invite others to join us."
