NewsLab

NewsLab is part of the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi.

We feature the work of the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy & Innovation and its Mississippi Media Lab, as well as student projects and faculty research. In 2017, NewsLab became part of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi. The Meek School is home to a new and thriving integrated marketing communications program and an established and well-respected jou

rnalism program. To serve professionals across the communications spectrum, NewsLab has expanded its content to include marketing while maintaining its commitment to outstanding journalism. NewsLab began in 1998 as an initiative funded by the Park Foundation, a private foundation based in Ithaca, New York, and was aimed at broadcast journalists. Until 2003, it was associated with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and affiliated with the Project for Excellence in Journalism. From 2003 until 2017, NewsLab operated independently under the leadership of founder and Executive Director Deborah Potter, who also offered workshops for newsrooms and journalism groups around the world.

22/05/2026

Illinois poised to become the first state in the nation to explicitly protect the editorial independence of employees at public radio and television stations that are licensed to or affiliated with state colleges and universities.

The General Assembly has approved House Bill 4420, which extends provisions of the College Campus Press Act beyond student journalists at state-sponsored institutions to include professional journalists at public media outlets.

20/05/2026

NYT - James Murdoch is buying Vox Media’s podcast network, New York magazine and Vox.com for more than $300 million. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/business/media/vox-media-james-murdoch-sale.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

The media scion is buying Vox Media’s podcast network, New York magazine and Vox.com for more than $300 million.

19/05/2026

A group of news organizations has filed a motion to unseal filings and subpoenas in the DoJ’s ongoing investigation into the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia.

Federal investigators have demanded the names and addresses of 2020 election workers, but officials in the Atlanta-area county have refused.

17/05/2026

WSJ - US regulators are inquiring about suspicious betting on Kalshi and Polymarket tied to political events and military operations. (Polymarket has a data partnership with Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.)

Regulators are seeking information from Kalshi and Polymarket over wagers tied to political events and military operations.

15/05/2026

The media empire built by former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government, a key pillar of the nationalist leader's 16 years in power, is swiftly unravelling following an election last month that abruptly ended his rule.

13/05/2026

A large network of prominent regional newspapers has posted thousands of low-quality articles promoting gambling and prediction markets — and is pretending it's journalism.

12/05/2026

As international funding dries up, Burma’s journalists in exile are driving taxis and selling food just to keep documenting their country’s civil war.

MAE SOT, Thailand. – Mae Sot is a dusty trading town on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Lately, it has also become a precarious sanctuary for hundreds of Myanmar journalists and media workers in exile. Close enough to hear the artillery fire they report on, they remain legally, mentally a...

11/05/2026

FCC encouraged several ABC affiliates to make late political disclosures after a Texas state representative made an appearance on “The View,” only to then later accuse an ABC-owned station of failing to do the same, according to the agency's lone Democratic commissioner.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said the agency gave amnesty to nearly two dozen ABC affiliates who filed late political disclosures, then challenged an ABC-owned station for not doing the same.

09/05/2026

Disney, in a filing with the FCC, accuses the federal regulatory agency of violating the ABC network's First Amendment rights by seeking to punish political content it doesn't like.

Federal Communication Commission Electronic Comment Filing System

07/05/2026

CJR/Tow Center - Journalists should remain vigilant about their coverage of anything related to predicting the future—especially if there’s money on the line.

Polymarket and Kalshi offer to predict the future. Journalists should be wary, especially during elections.