Yesterday, Montclair State University announced the launch of its Center for Cooperative Media, a remarkable leap of progress for strengthening and expanding the news here in New Jersey.
The Center is a hub for journalists and media organizations throughout the state by:
- providing office space, access to tv and radio studios, and a shared newsroom on its campus;
- facilitating coordination and collaboration on reporting projects;
- curating the best reporting around the state through a daily news digest;
- offering business and journalism training as well as other services to support the whole news ecosystem here in NJ; and
- providing important linkages and opportunities for MSU faculty and students to the Center’s efforts.
Impressively, a number of partners are already sharing office space on campus, including New Jersey Public Radio, NJ Spotlight, WBGO, NJTV, NJ.com, Patch – New Jersey, North Jersey Media Group, and Reuters International, as well as NJ News Commons which is an initiative of the Center.
Dodge is a major funder of the Center, along with our partners at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, because we believe that people need high quality news and information in order to make educated decisions on issues that impact our lives. And yet, living in New Jersey has always meant tuning into news dominated by the New York and Philadelphia media markets. We’re trying to change that. We do this by supporting: individual media organizations (including NJ Spotlight, New Jersey Public Radio, NJTV, WBGO, and WHYY’s NewsWorks, among others); community engagement efforts and projects; and the Center’s work to serve and strengthen the New Jersey news ecosystem.
For more information about the Center, visit their website. You can also sign up for their daily news digest here, featuring the best reporting around the state. Debbie Galant, the director of the NJ News Commons, is also a regular blogger for the Dodge blog. You can read her popular blog posts here.
Related Reading:
Montclair State Launching Partnership with 6 NJ Media Companies; Expanding New Communications School (NJ.com)
Pew: News Industry in Crisis (Debbie Galant, NJ News Commons)
Business Mentoring is One Way to Beat the Hyperlocal Cooties (Janet Coats/The Patterson Foundation)
Image: TJ Russell delivers the news during Introduction to Control Room and Studio Production at Montclair State University’s DuMont Media Center.
(John Munson/The Star-Ledger)