About J-Lab

J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism helps news organizations and citizens use new information ideas and innovative computer technologies to develop new ways for people to engage in critical public policy issues.

It spotlights dynamic news experiences and helps to develop interactive news ideas that not only educate people about public affairs but also invite their participation.

It rewards cutting-edge innovations through the Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism funded by the Knight Foundation. It spotlights the creative assets of women with the McCormick Foundation New Media Women project. It funds pioneering hyperlocal citizen media ventures through its New Voices project and administers the Knight Citizen News Network.

J-Lab is a center of the American University's School of Communication.

For more information on how to reach us, please visit the Contact Us page.

Other J-Lab initiatives:

• New Voices, offering start-up grants to new citizen media projects.
• J-Learning, a how-to site for community publishing.
• Knight Citizen News Network, helping citizens and journalists amplify community news.
• McCormick Foundation New Media Women Entrepreneurs, addressing issues of opportunity and innovation, recruitment and retention for women in journalism.

J-Lab is an incubator for innovative news experiments that use new technologies to help people actively engage in critical public issues. Its core mission is to improve public life by transforming journalism for today and re-inventing it for tomorrow.

Its projects are supported with grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the McCormick Foundation.