Our Mission
The Dallas Morning News Journalism Innovation Endowment strives to be a leader in pushing media forward while educating students. Through a collective we call the Media Innovation Group, we bring students and professional news organizations together to develop new media initiatives through experiential learning projects. We value ethical journalism that better serves the community, no matter its size, shape or form.
Media Innovation Group Data Fellows
MIG has continued their work on the local campaign finances project, in which fellows will develop and build a searchable database of local campaign finances since 2020. Our student fellows Aislyn Gaddis, Karina Kumar and Olivia Dilley each work in different areas of research from collecting data to presenting it in a podcast format.
Data Club
“Data club” provides students hands-on training in data journalism practices. It is hosted by the Media Innovation Group and funded by the Dallas Morning News Journalism Innovation Endowment.
Rural Journalism Pipeline Project
The Rural Journalism Pipeline Project is exploring the landscape of Texas community journalism succession, communicating the challenge based on case studies and research. It is funded through a grant by the IC2 Institute.
Who we are and why we innovate
Thanks to what is now known as Parks for Downtown Dallas, the Dallas Morning News Journalism Innovation Endowment was established in 2016. Robert Quigley was appointed Innovation Director to work with graduate and undergraduate students, founding several programs such as the Tiny Texas Podcast Festival and The Drag Audio Production House. In August 2020, Christian McDonald was appointed the Innovation Director and he now mentors multiple initiatives through what we now call the Media Innovation Group.