THE NEWS LAB

EMPOWERING THE FOURTH ESTATE

How can journalism survive? What information can you trust? How can you gain the knowledge you need to participate in a functional democracy? Despite the urgency of these questions, and the chorus of people asking them across the nation and world, few concrete answers exist.

At the News Lab, we seek to find clear answers and even clearer solutions. 

Led by Shorenstein Center Executive Director Nancy Gibbs, formerly editor-in-chief of Time Magazine, and News Lab Director Emily Dreyfuss, a veteran tech journalist best known for her work at WIRED magazine, the News Lab aims for exploration, action, and results.

We bring journalists, researchers, policymakers, and technologists together with one goal in mind: strengthening the news media. Through research projects, workshops, collaborations, and experimentation, the News Lab seeks to build consensus in the news industry. We serve as a place for practitioners of media to come together — without competition — to work through common problems and share solutions. We are a hub within Shorenstein for researchers working on topics related to news to collaborate.

Research Areas

Business Models

Advertising, subscriptions, philanthropy, none of these is the perfect solution to make journalism a sustainable business. 

At the NEWS LAB, we ask: How can media organizations reclaim the power to distribute news content and reach audiences?

Influencer Ecosystem

Journalists are increasingly competing with social media influencers for attention. To readers, the two are not so different.

We research what journalism can learn from the influencer economy and ways to make the relationship symbiotic rather than competitive.

Local News

Long gone are the local newspaper stands that once dotted street corners. Many communities in the US are news deserts. Yet myriad attempts to revive local news for the internet age have failed. 

We research the local news solutions that are working and seek new ideas to be helpful.

Artificial Intelligence

The news industry was caught flat-footed by the internet, and by social media — two tech innovations that ushered in new social eras. Now a new technological age is dawning.

We ask: how can the news media do better this time to prepare for and even benefit from this paradigm shift?

We need your help.

Do you have a weird idea for how to fix the business model problems in journalism? A pie-in-the-sky pitch for an app to revive local journalism? An example of a newspaper that's bucking national trends? Get in touch! The NEWS LAB is all ears. Don't be shy.

            EVENTS

  • December 2023: Political and Media Coverage of Election 2024, Cambridge, MA. (Invitation only.)
  • February 2024: Stabilizing the News Media, New York, NY. Invitation only.
  • March 2024: Building Consensus on AI and the News Industry, virtual. Open workshop.
  • March 2024: Accountability Journalism in the Era of Influencers, Cambridge, MA. Invitation only.
  • May 2024: Who Owns the News? Symposium with Harvard Business School, Boston, MA. Invitation only.