Archive for January, 2011

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Ms., Mother Jones, Colorlines.com and Free Speech TV to Expand News Coverage through Active Audience Engagement

(Chicago, IL & St. Paul, MN) January 19, 2011 – American Public Media’s Public Insight Network (PIN) is proud to welcome The Media Consortium to its growing list of national partners. Consortium members Ms. Magazine, Colorlines.com, Mother Jones and Free Speech TV are the newest participants in the nation’s most powerful platform for journalistic audience engagement.

The Media Consortium’s Director Tracy Van Slyke says, “The partnership between the Public Insight Network and The Media Consortium is groundbreaking; bringing national, media producers that represent a diversity of platforms and focus together with a cutting edge journalism resource.” Explaining the Consortium’s impetus to join, Van Slyke, “TMC has been working with our members to discover and assess new community and journalism models, testing and exploring community engaged reporting in a way that that these journalism organizations have not been able to do on their own  before.”

Ms. Magazine Executive Editor Kathy Spillar adds, “We are so excited to be able to participate in the Public Insight Network’s innovative approach to reporting.  Being a part of this trailblazing initiative will let our community members engage more fully in our news making process, allowing  us to tap into their incredible expertise and creative thinking.”  Monika Bauerlein, Co-Editor, Mother Jonesnotes, “We look forward to meeting our tens of thousands of new sources.”

The Public Insight Network, funded in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, gives individuals a direct channel for sharing their knowledge, experience and insights with reporters around the country.  Joaquin Alvarado, senior vice president of digital innovation at American Public Media, explains that the Public Insight Network strives to enhance quality journalism by bringing reporters unprecedented access to citizen sources around the country. “The Media Consortium newsrooms are the first magazine and national television outlets to use PIN in their reporting, and they represent a great opportunity to grow the diversity of the network and reach new communities.  These newsrooms also work together well, so we’re looking forward to how they engage the PIN for collaborative reporting.”

The Consortium members joining the PIN are influential media outlets in the industry. Colorlines.com features journalism in service to racial justice. Ms. Magazine is known as the country’s flagship feminist publication. Mother Jones sets the standard for investigative, political, and social justice reporting. Free Speech TV aims to inspire viewers to become civically engaged.

Founded in 2003, American Public Media’s Public Insight Network has nearly 100,000 sources around the country being engaged for reporting at more than two dozen media partners, including ProPublica,The Miami Herald, WNYC public radio in New York, and KQED public radio in San Francisco among others. Demographic information and insights are stored in a secure, searchable database, and participating journalists search the database for knowledgeable sources, query sources to test hunches, identify trends, and support production of major projects.

To learn more about American Public Media’s Public Insight Network, visit PublicInsightNetwork.org.

The Media Consortium is a national network of leading, progressive independent media. Members include magazines, web sites, television networks, radio, and film producers. To learn more about The Media Consortium, visit www.themediaconsortium.org and follow on Twitter: @tmcmedia.

Tags: Green Festival, journalism, Media, media consortium, Mother Jones, Ms Magazine, Public Insight Network