Our Approach

The News Co/Lab discovers, develops, and distributes innovative tools and techniques aimed at helping people understand how news works in the digital age.

In a world saturated with data, where misinformation commands the stage alongside truthful and useful information, we focus primarily on the “demand side”  —  helping people better find, understand, act upon, and create credible news and information, and to share it with integrity.

The News Co/Lab experiments with new ways of advancing news awareness. We want to collaborate with teachers, journalists, librarians, technologists, civic leaders, among others  —  all who share our goals and want to work on this. We support the good work that others are already doing, and help them do more of it.

We believe:

  • News-aware consumers are critical thinkers and lifelong learners.
  • Organizations that help people understand how media works are more service-oriented, more open and transparent. They are engaged with and reflective of their communities.
  • News-aware communities  —  geographic and virtual  —  are healthier. They make better decisions. They are better problem-solvers.
  • News literacy helps ensure an informed citizenry, a fundamental building block of democracy.

We work toward the day when news and media literacies are universal, at the heart of every fact-based society.