New York, November 5, 2015 - Guardian US today announced the formal launch of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation funded New York City-based mobile innovation lab, with the news that former New York Times deputy interactive news editor Sasha Koren will join the Lab as editor, while Sarah Schmalbach, most recently of Gannett, takes up the role of senior product manager.
Koren brings over 15 years of integrated editorial and technological experience to the Innovation Lab, while Schmalbach’s expertise gained across Gannett’s digital product portfolio will enable practical application of ideas and concepts. Together they will lead the Lab as it addresses challenges posed by the shift to mobile and experiments with bringing stories to life on smaller screens.
The appointments come as work within the Lab kicks off with a one-day symposium, hosted by the Guardian at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism on Nov 9. The event will bring together leaders from across mobile and digital media to explore the largest quandaries and questions around mobile success, and to set the various hypotheses that the Lab will challenge over the next two years.
At the same event, the Lab will host the release of a new report from Columbia’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, providing an insider’s overview of the messaging app landscape. Tow Fellows Trushar Barot and Eytan Oren will explore the most effective existing case studies from news organizations, and will forecast likely industry developments over the next 12-24 months. They will be joined by speakers from the Guardian, Kik and CNN to discuss the findings of the report and its implications for mobile innovation.
As part of the Lab’s commitment to sharing its experiments and results for the benefit of the wider news industry, the Guardian has also today announced a content partnership with Nieman Journalism Lab’s Mobile Majority project, allowing for open dissemination of the data, analysis and outcomes of the Lab’s work and sharing knowledge broadly on how to more effectively engage news audiences on mobile devices.
Lee Glendinning, editor of Guardian US, said: “It’s really exciting to be formally launching the Lab and to have Sasha and Sarah on board to get our experiments off to a great start. It’s also fantastic to be working with pre-eminent partners such as CUNY, Tow and Nieman to debate, explore and share the work of our Lab as we seek to push the boundaries of news journalism in the mobile age.”
Jennifer Preston, vice president for journalism for Knight Foundation said: “The use of mobile technology to engage users and access information is increasing at a rapid pace. We are thrilled that the work of the Lab will now go underway, leveraging this growth to understand audiences and discover new ways of informing communities.”
Knight Foundation funding for the Mobile Innovation Lab represents one of the largest philanthropic investments Guardian News & Media has received and reinforces the media organization’s commitment to integrating transparent philanthropic support as part of its overall business model.
Support for Guardian News & Media is part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to help news organizations establish long-term sustainability in the digital age and advance excellence in journalism. Knight has made many investments in this area, including the $5 million Knight Local Media Initiative, which has supported more than 50 organizations in developing innovations in media.
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About Guardian News & Media
Guardian News & Media (GNM) publishes theguardian.com which, with 130 million unique browsers a month, is one of the largest English-speaking quality newspaper websites in the world. Since launching its US and Australia digital editions in 2011 and 2013 respectively, traffic from outside of the UK now represents over two-thirds of the Guardian’s total digital audience.
The Guardian is most recently renowned for its Pulitzer Prize and Emmy-winning revelations based on the disclosures made by whistleblower Edward Snowden. In 2014, the Guardian was named newspaper and website of the year at the Society of Editors UK Press Awards and is the most trusted news source in the UK (Ofcom digital media report, 2014).
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.