Portland Media Lab

Dedicated to the support, proliferation and evolution of journalism

MISSION
Portland Media Lab is a nonprofit news center that seeks to promote excellence, innovation and the preservation of quality news reporting in the Portland Metro Area. Portland Media Lab will provide direct support for investigative journalism, establish training and support services to citizen reporters, freelance journalists and new media producers, and establish a laboratory for innovation in emergent news media technology and its many applications.

Over the past six months Portland Media Lab has conducted a series of in- person, online, and group discussions and “salons” aimed at developing a needs-assessment study for the “journalist community” in the Portland, Ore. media market.  The following projects represent services, resources and support that PML believes the media market needs in order to sustain robust public-benefit reporting and journalism.

Portland Media Lab advocates for these project areas whether they are programs of the PML or ventures undertaken by other groups, publications, or individuals.

CORE NEEDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUSTAINING AND PROMOTING JOURNALISM

NEED- Direct support for investigative journalism:
RECOMMENDATION- Create a Newsroom or Cooperative Editorial Resource:

A) create an editor-driven newsroom that can act as either publishing entity or “wire service.”

B) establish a co-operative editor who can assign and edit news work for multiple news organizations and across platforms.

NEED- Address transition to multi-media journalism and maximize the social benefits of citizen reporting:
RECOMMENDATION- Establish Training and Support Services

C) cultivate a “support” network for reporters, bloggers, publications and media venues that will promote, aggregate, and improve the quality and quantity of rigorous disciplined reporting in the region.

D) teach basic multi-media skills including field recording, editing, file compression, and posting of video and audio to the Internet and for broadcast.

E) host workshops for freelance reporters and media producers (such as: on how to query, promote or monitize their work)

F) train citizen reporters,  bloggers, and media producers on the fundamentals of journalistic ethics, rights, standards and practices, style, and due diligence.

NEED- News media organizations must evolve as quickly as IT technology itself:
RECOMMENDATION- Provide a Laboratory for Innovation in Emergent News Media Technology and its many Applications

G) cultivate relationships with Portland’s “tech” and “open source” community.

H) incubate, develop, and test emergent media technology and test how platforms like mobile and social media can be used by news groups and media producers to empower citizens.

I) offer technical assessments, consulting, training, and development around emergent media technology for the benefit of news groups or media organizations in the Portland media market and export territories.

If you are interested in more information email PML at portlandmedialab@gmail.com.

Sponsored by the Portland Sentinel . This is a “vision statement” page.  The creators of The Sentinel launched a similar “vision statement” page in 2004 dedicated to the emergence of “digital journalism.”