Renaissance Journalism Center Launches New Media ToolKit
[Source: Renaissance Journalism Center, April 21, 2011]
An online resource on digital media for the ethnic/community media and nonprofits
San Francisco (April 2011) — The Renaissance Journalism Center, a project of San Francisco State University’s Journalism Department, has launched the New Media ToolKit (www.newmediatoolkit.org), a comprehensive website designed to help nonprofits and ethnic and community news organizations navigate the often confusing and intimidating world of online media.
The site covers six key areas of digital media: video, blogging, social media, audio, monitoring and metrics, and search engine optimization (SEO). Each section provides carefully selected tools, tutorials and resources for both beginners and pros, highlighting the ways in which digital media can augment reporting and storytelling efforts.
“New tools and practices are emerging every day for telling a community’s stories, engaging old and new audiences, and monitoring online impact,” says Jon Funabiki, executive director of the Renaissance Journalism Center. “But how many of us have the time, know-how or patience to sift through the high volume of information that’s out there? We’ve done that work for you by creating an accessible and easy-to-use site designed to help nonprofit professionals and community journalists jump-start and strengthen their efforts in digital media.”
The need and idea for the New Media ToolKit grew out of a Renaissance Journalism Center project called the New Media Lab & Incubator. This project helped five nonprofit organizations to experiment with best practices in new media, journalism and social media as a way to engage audiences in civic dialogue. The New Media Lab and ToolKit were funded by five Educational Broadband Service (EBS) organizations: the Chicago Instructional Technology Foundation; Denver Area Education Telecommunication Consortium; Instructional Telecommunications Foundation; Portland Regional Education Telecommunications Corporation; and Twin Cities Schools Telecommunications Group.
About the Renaissance Journalism Center
The Renaissance Journalism Center, a project of San Francisco State University’s Journalism Department, incubates innovative approaches to journalism and storytelling that serve, strengthen and empower communities. Created in 2009, the Center provides grants, technical assistance and training, and forges entrepreneurial partnerships with journalists and their news organizations, ethnic media and hyper-local news sites, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations, scholars and students. The Center is operated in partnership with ZeroDivide.
