The Center for Investigative Reporting, one of America’s leading nonprofit news organizations, will play a leadership role in a new investigative journalism initiative launched by Alabama Media Group.
Alabama Media Group and CIR announced today that Robert J. Rosenthal, executive director of CIR, will serve as senior adviser and inaugural contributor to a new fellowship in the Alabama Investigative Journalism Lab.
The lab, an initiative of Alabama Media Group, will encourage innovation in digital journalism through storytelling that will maximize audience engagement around significant and complex stories.
“It’s rewarding for me and CIR to be asked to work with the journalists in Alabama,” Rosenthal said. “This lab gives CIR an opportunity to share our own best practices and lessons learned about investigative reporting and storytelling across platforms. Our goal in this lab is to help create a successful model that can be carried forward that underscores the value of collaboration and shows that investigative reporting makes a difference in a community.”
Meghann Farnsworth is the managing director of distribution, operations and engagement for Reveal and The Center for Investigative Reporting. She manages teams dedicated to website production and management, technology, analytics, social media, distribution, newsletters, online and on-the-ground community building, arts collaborations, and youth engagement. She also helps develop and support media partnerships and collaborations for Reveal’s national public radio show and podcast. Previously, Farnsworth was the senior digital media manager at Home Front Communications in Washington, D.C., where she worked in digital media management, interactive development and outreach for nonprofit and government clients. She also served as the associate editor of Forums at PBS NewsHour, where she created interactive online forums that helped increase and engage the NewsHour's online audience. She was an inaugural member of the Online News Association-Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media, and she has presented at conferences across the country, including SXSW, ONA, the Logan Symposium, the Reynolds Journalism Institute and others. She earned her master's degree in journalism from UC Berkeley and undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon. Farnsworth is based at Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.
