The Journalism Lab: Taking a Tip from Dayton
Since May of this year, I’ve been alive, well, and living in Dayton. As Toledo is famous for making glass and Jeeps, Dayton, I’ve learned, is famous for inventions, notably the cash register and the airplane.
There’s something else Dayton has spawned that might be wise for Toledo, or any small-to-medium sized city to adopt: The Journalism Lab.
“We want to get people interested in and passionate about the things happening in their locality to a degree that moves them – journalism tools in hand – to report,” Lab organizers say on the website. “Every aspect of The Journalism Lab is animated by the belief that regular people not only can do this work, but that they should do it.”
And these “regular” people are doing just that. One in particular is an artist who wrote a detailed, descriptive, and delightful story about murals at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base painted during World War II by German prisoners of war. She did this and had it published in the Dayton Daily News (which, unlike many newspapers, prints seven days a week) thanks to the guidance of Lab organizers who are veteran reporters.
Other stories have appeared elsewhere. The point is, the Lab is empowering non-journalists to professionally write about what they feel is important in the community, and have their words read and their photos seen.
Would this model be good for cities like Toledo? Few, if any Northwest Ohio media outlets, welcome freelancers, whether they be mentored by journalists or not.
Perhaps, though, the marketing and communications community would do well to start something similar. Let’s call it an Imagination Lab, for now. In a line of work driven by the need for fresh ideas, marketing folks could open a channel to people who are fascinated by the profession even without being a professional. These “regular” people might provide a twist on a design or product pitch, or media buy that the “pros” overlooked.
This idea might fly. Or not. But then, people said the Wright Brothers’ invention wouldn’t work either.
Learn more about The Journalism Lab initiative at thejournalismlab.org or find them on Facebook and Twitter.
