Successful Journalism Lab

An experimental newsroom and learning space from Successful Journalism for Communities

The Successful Journalism Lab is a structured, intensive newsroom experience focused on journalism craft and emotional engagement.

It is essentially a community journalism boot camp, a workshop that cares.

It exists to train emerging journalists through real editorial work, clear standards, and direct feedback — working with an editor who has run newsrooms and trained people now at major organizations.

This is not a traditional class. It is virtual, yet is a working newsroom environment shaped by professional expectations, deadlines, revision, and emotional engagement of readers.

What happens in the Lab

Participants in the Successful Journalism Lab learn both in seminars and by doing:

1. Reporting and writing stories under real editorial conditions
2. Learning how structure, clarity, and emotional engagement work together
3. Receiving direct editorial feedback
4. Developing judgment through revision and discussion

The Lab includes the fundamentals as needed: clear nut graphs and strong composition, grounded in reporting. We will meet you at your skill level. If you need to learn basics, you‘ll learn basics. If not, you’ll move along to emotional engagement and deeper lessons on craft.

Who the Lab is for

The Successful Journalism Lab is designed primarily for:

• College journalism students
• Early-career journalists

Select high school students may also be considered. Participants should expect a serious workload and a professional environment.

What the Lab is not

The Successful Journalism Lab is not:

• A content farm
• A cash grab for this site
• More cynicism in a world that has enough of that

You will produce content for this site, but that’s truly not the point. The goal is not volume. This is not to get something done for free. It will be way more work for us than any benefit, honestly. The goal is to help prepare tomorrow’s journalists for a rapidly changing world, grounded in the principles of this site.

Why the Lab exists

The Lab exists because journalism matters, and because new journalists deserve a place that respects them and their needs. This is for people who care about journalism and others.

Journalism doesn’t struggle because people don’t want truth. It struggles when it loses the faith of the people it serves. When we emotionally engage our audiences, with responsible and professional journalism grounded in old-fashioned newsroom values, so much more becomes possible.

In short, the Successful Journalism Lab builds on the principles behind Successful Journalism for Communities. If you saw one of our presentations and it resonated with you, you’ve come to the right place.

The next Lab

The next Successful Journalism Lab runs May 30–June 4, 2026.

This is a virtual, structured experience involving 40+ hours of work and learning over one week, from Sunday to Thursday.

Participants will work as Lab reporters:

• Report on digital/video news. This experience may not include interviewing.
• Report, write and revise written journalism.
• Work closely with an editor.
• End with a career mentorship meeting and access to more.
• Leave with published writing samples suitable for use in pursuit of future opportunities.

The Lab is unpaid, and there is no fee to participate.

Applications to serve as a Successful Journalism Lab reporter are accepted on a rolling basis.

To apply, please send:

• A resume
• Writing samples
• A note of interest

Applications should be emailed to Rob@SuccessfulJournalism.com