Journalism Accelerator furthers journalism innovation, collaboration

When it announced its vision in 2010, The Patterson Foundation sought, in part, to connect journalism innovation – the kind that furthers democracy and a free society. This goal to collaborate and connect would both honor the Patterson family history as entrepreneurs and connect today’s innovators to share better practices in an industry that must adapt to survive.

This exploration and journey led The Patterson Foundation to connect local online journalism entrepreneurs with each other through a new web-based tool: the Journalism Accelerator.

In partnership with the University of Missouri Reynolds Journalism Institute, The Patterson Foundation provided resources to expand and propel the Journalism Accelerator concept developed by Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow Lisa Skube.

The Journalism Accelerator was conceived as an online communications platform for journalists and others to access news and information quickly and easily, without replicating or replacing the work of others. During the formative stages of the initiative, The Patterson Foundation and Skube conducted research and tested the tool. Groups that are currently using it include an existing news group in the Pacific Northwest called Journalism That Matters and a new community of local online journalism entrepreneurs called Block by Block. The testing provided essential information that helped The Patterson Foundation and Skube fine-tune the tool and share what they learned with the journalism community.

Working together with The Patterson Foundation’s New Media Journalism Initiative, Skube’s news collaboration tool was launched in 2011. The resulting website, JournalismAccelerator.com, is an online community forum that connects localized news and information resources in a curated platform.

The website is a combination of a news forum, blog, information curation service, and hosted learning and sharing platform. Based on the research and investigation supported by The Patterson Foundation, the Journalism Accelerator aims to connect journalism innovators so they can share what is and isn’t working, find out who is doing what and learn what resources are available and how they are being used.

For more information about the Journalism Accelerator tool, visit  www.journalismacccelerator.com.

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