Jan Schaffer | Nieman Journalism Lab

Articles by Jan Schaffer

Jan Schaffer, is executive director of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism at the American University School of Communication. Previously, she was business editor and a Pulitzer Prize winner at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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Journalism as relationship building

“By reaching out with targeted calls for information and keeping the conversation going, these journalists created stories that were deeply informed by their audiences — and that wouldn’t have happened without those interchanges.”

June 22, 2015

If audience engagement is the goal, it’s time to look back at the successes of civic journalism for answers

“Simply put: civic journalism worked. Readers and viewers got it. We learned that if you deliberately build in simple ways for people to participate — in community problems or elections — many will engage.”

Lost in the gloom, an entrepreneurial boom

“Let’s stop the handwringing about losses in legacy journalism and work on creating and growing the next acts in media.”

July 11, 2013

In New Orleans, public radio, local startups, and more are teaming up for the news

“When you start creating more local content, the audience expects that content to be better.”

July 10, 2013

In New Jersey, a university teams up with local news orgs to collaborate for impact

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.

July 9, 2013

In St. Louis, two news organizations are navigating the tricky path to a merger

The St. Louis Beacon is one of the nation’s most prominent local news nonprofits. St. Louis Public Radio has a substantial audience. What can they do together?

July 8, 2013

With a coming void in Oregon’s news ecosystem, public broadcasting’s trying to build a new kind of state wire

Can Oregon Public Broadcasting, working with local newspapers, TV and radio stations, and bloggers, make a substantial state news report in the face of cutbacks elsewhere?

June 4, 2013

A new kind of activist journalism: When finding solutions are part of journalists’ job, too

The executive director of J-Lab says it’s time for news to move from a commodity to a catalyst for empowering citizens.

Journalism schools as startup accelerators

“The opportunities are wide open for connecting silos of information in communities, amplifying good stories that people want to know about and for leveraging resources so that the sum of the efforts is bigger than the individual contributions.”