Based at the University of Missouri, RJI is set up ‘to engage media professionals, scholars and other citizens in programs aimed at strengthening journalism in the service of democracy, by generating and testing new techniques and new thinking to improve journalism.’

Fellows spend eight months working on their idea, which can be done on-campus, off-campus or while employed in their current news organization or institution.

This year, RJI particularly welcomes ideas on the following topics:

• Projects focused on inclusivity and engaging communities.
• Applied research that helps RJI better understand the business and practice of journalism.
• New techniques, tools and technologies.
• Prototypes that need further development and market testing.
• Ideas for new revenue streams or business models that many news organizations could adopt.

Applications can be done here, before the deadline on February 15th.

These are the current 2015-2016 fellows:

I-70 Sign Show: Anne Thompson As journalism continues to explore new ways to engage and define its audience, a natural place to look for innovation and insight is the world of visual arts.

Marie Tessier In an effort to boost participation of women in online community forums on news websites, a New York Times team will conduct gender-inclusive analysis and engineering design and product-testing protocols as part of the Coral Project.

Harsh Taneja Research Harsh Taneja will conduct research using social network analysis on the role of news websites in people’s online lives.

Mark Nienhueser Staff of the Missouri Press Service will create and test revenue-generating digital services that smaller newspapers could provide to local merchants.

Victor Hernandez Research Victor Hernandez will devote eight months to exploring the impact of wearable technology on newsrooms. His research is intended to lay a foundation for future testing and experimentation.

Brian Hensel Brian Hensel will explore the opportunities for journalism to help the health care industry, which has been accelerating efforts to use storytelling to improve performance and help patients stay healthy.

Storytelling Tools: Barrett Golding Barrett Golding will create and test a suite of open-source WordPress plugins designed to make journalists’ everyday tasks faster and easier.

Mark Deuze and Tamara Witschge Research The concept, practice, and social and cultural value of entrepreneurial journalism will be explored by Mark Deuze and Tamara Witschge.

Tracy Clark Tracy Clark, founder and CEO of Reportory, will conduct usability testing, business development with publishers, and marketing outreach to support the growth and sustainability of Reportory.

David Caswell Building relevant and useful news stories from structured databases will be pursued by David Caswell, creator and developer of the news database Structured Stories.

Tad Bartimus Expanding upon her success in building skills and confidence in students from disadvantaged circumstances, Tad Bartimus, founder of Talk Story, Write Story, will pilot her personal writing workshop with a newspaper in a Missouri community.