Posts

Lab , projects | Aug 13, 2026

by Joe Germuska

Knight Lab’s TimelineJS has been enormously popular. Since the Knight Lab launched TimelineJS in 2012, users have created more than one million timelines, garnering over 1 billion views. Given that popularity, we’ve been hesitant to make big changes to it. We couldn’t easily communicate with timeline authors, and we didn’t want to break things that had been published, and, honestly, we were sometimes a little dizzy at how quickly JavaScript development tools and practices were changing. Even...

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Lab , projects | Jul 21, 2025

Journalistic training emphasizes that our societies NEED journalism, but it’s fair to ask if anyone actually NEEDS the journalism we’re currently getting. Many people worldwide are not asking ‘if’ they need today’s journalism – they’re showing they don’t: 40% “often or sometimes avoid the news these days,” according to the latest Digital News Report (42% in the US, 46% in the UK, and over 60% in some other countries). Too often, traditional journalism fails to...

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Lab , projects | Oct 6, 2023

by Joe Germuska

A big change is coming to StoryMapJS, and it will affect many, if not most existing storymaps. When making a storymap, one way to set a style and tone for your project is to set the “map type,” also known as the “basemap.” When we launched StoryMapJS, it included options for a few basemaps created by Stamen Design. These included the “watercolor” style, as well as the default style for new storymaps, “Toner Lite.” Stamen...

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People | Jan 31, 2023

AmyJo Brown, a veteran journalist passionate about supporting and reshaping local political journalism and who it engages, has joined the Knight Lab as a 2022-2023 professional fellow. Her focus is on building The Public Ledger, a data tool structured from local campaign finance data that is designed to track connections and make local political relationships – and their influence – more visible. “Campaign finance data has more stories to tell – if we follow the...

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Ideas | May 31, 2022

by Max Johnson

As streaming develops into the latest age of entertainment, how are interfaces and layouts being designed to prioritize user experience and accessibility? The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated streaming services becoming the dominant form of entertainment. There are a handful of new platforms, each with thousands of hours of content, but not much change or differentiation in the user journeys. For the most part, everywhere from Netflix to illegal streaming platforms use similar video streaming UX standards, and...

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Lab projects | Dec 13, 2021

by Mago Torres | magiccia

Lee este artículo en español. How might we use AI technologies to innovate newsgathering and investigative reporting techniques? This was the question we posed to a group of seven newsrooms in Latin America and the US as part of the Americas Cohort during the 2021 JournalismAI Collab Challenges. The Collab is an initiative that brings together media organizations to experiment with AI technologies and journalism. This year,  JournalismAI, a project of Polis, the journalism think-tank at...

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Lab projects , En Español | Dec 13, 2021

by Mago Torres | magiccia

Read this article in English. ¿Cómo podemos usar la inteligencia artificial para innovar las técnicas de reporteo y de periodismo de investigación? Esta es la pregunta que convocó a un grupo de siete organizaciones periodísticas en América Latina y Estados Unidos, el grupo de las Américas del 2021 JournalismAI Collab Challenges. Esta iniciativa de colaboración reúne a medios para experimentar con inteligencia artificial y periodismo. Este año, JournalismAI, un proyecto de Polis, la think-tank de periodismo...

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Studio | Journalism AI Readiness Scorecard

by Hannah Barton , Helen Bradshaw , Joshua Hoeflich , Grace Lee , Sammie Pyo

If you’d like to use technology to make your newsroom more efficient, you’ve come to the right place. Tools exist that can help you find news, manage your work in progress, and distribute your content more effectively than ever before, and we’re here to help you find the ones that are right for you. As part of the Knight Foundation’s AI for Local News program, we worked with the Associated Press to interview dozens of......

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Ideas | Nov 23, 2020

by Rich Gordon

Knight Lab’s series on product thinking in media started with a question: “Journalism Has Been Disrupted. Can Product Thinking Save It?”  After more than 25 years in digital publishing—and as the editor for the series—I think the answer is “Yes.” In fact, I would go further.  Product thinking is the most important mindset for media companies to embrace today.  For news organizations, especially, product thinking is the best way—or only way—to ensure that you are reaching...

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Ideas | Nov 20, 2020

by Meredith Gallo | gallo_meredith

As digital media companies become tech companies, their need for people with technical backgrounds grows, creating opportunities for software developers interested in journalism and media. “I encourage technologists, product managers, project managers and anyone from outside the industry to come to the news because we need you, and your democracy needs you,” said Brian Boyer, former vice president of product and people at Spirited Media. Twelve years ago, Boyer left a career as a software...

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Ideas | Nov 18, 2020

by Styli Charalambous

Building a successful product is a collaborative process requiring inspiration, intuition, user research, business savvy and technical know-how.  This is one of two case studies in this series showing how product thinking can be applied to the development of a news or journalism product. This one was written for Knight Lab by Styli Charalambous, Publisher and CEO of the Daily Maverick. The media world did more than lift an eyebrow when, after many publications announced...

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Ideas | Nov 16, 2020

by Meredith Gallo | gallo_meredith

Soft skills, power skills and people skills. In the office, emotional intelligence goes by many names. But whatever the name, these skills are the key to success for product people. I talked with 10 product thinkers, most of whom hold product manager titles.  All mentioned leveraging emotional intelligence to conduct user research, manage and lead teams or secure buy-in across their organizations. Empathy As a product manager, you must be able to empathize with your...

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Ideas | Nov 13, 2020

by Meredith Gallo | gallo_meredith

As product management roles become increasingly common in news and media organizations, people with an interest in the field should understand the skills, experiences and mindsets that will help them be successful. Here’s what working product managers say aspiring product thinkers need to succeed. What mindset does a product thinker need to possess? Always be curious As a product manager, you will have to get comfortable questioning the status quo, said Kellen Henry, senior product...

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Ideas | Nov 11, 2020

by Ryan Restivo

Building a successful product is a collaborative process requiring inspiration, intuition, user research, business savvy and technical know-how.  This is the first of two case studies in this series showing how product thinking can be applied to the development of a journalism product. This one was written for Knight Lab by Ryan Restivo, Newsday’s project manager for mobile apps. Newsday is the go-to source for news and information on Long Island. Not only do we...

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Ideas | Nov 9, 2020

by Meredith Gallo | gallo_meredith

In the last 25 years, media organizations have had to evolve from one-product businesses into multi-product, technology-enabled companies. This evolution was born out of necessity, ushering in a new era that requires “product thinking” and the emergence of a new discipline: news product management. The first conference for product thinkers in journalism was held in February in Philadelphia, attracting 225 attendees, and over 500 people signed up for emails about the event. The event led, in...

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