Engaging News Project
The Engaging News Project (ENP) evaluates ways that newsrooms can engage audiences by conducting trailblazing social science research—often in collaboration with news organizations—to understand how citizens interact with the news within the changing landscape of digital information. It then disseminates its findings to the broader journalism industry. The Rita Allen Foundation first supported ENP in 2014, allowing it to increase its capacity for research, partnerships and online resources, and to attract additional investments. In 2016 ENP produced 10 research reports, including one of the largest-ever surveys of online news commenters; refined its quiz and “engaging buttons” tools for newsrooms; and met with more than 100 working journalists to help them put these tools and research findings into practice. A new grant from the Rita Allen Foundation is enabling ENP to continue building awareness of its research, tools and strategies among the most influential and geographically diverse newsrooms.