Newsrooms, Open Source, and the Maker Culture

Hacks/Hackers isn't just sprouting up in the Twin Cities, it's taking hold across the country. Local professor Seth Lewis is doing research on the idea of hacks/hackers as well as the intersection of journalism and technology and how the open source culture can make a positive difference for the future of journalism.

The fall Hacks and Hackers gathering will be over at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication (less than a half a block from the Computer Science department...) and will feature Seth Lewis - a professor in the Journalism School, who will be talking about the research he is doing on journalism, technology and entrepreneurship - and his specific project on the Hacks and Hackers organization.

Seth C. Lewis is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. His research on news, technology and innovation examines how the professional boundaries of journalism are changing in the digital environment. His work has been published in a number of academic journals, including Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journalism, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice, Journal of Media Business Studies, and the International Journal of Internet Science, among others. He co-edited the book The Future of News: An Agenda of Perspectives, and he is affiliated with the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University. His current research includes a study of computational journalism and emerging connections between journalists and programmers. Previously, he was a journalist for a number of news organizations, including The Miami Herald, and he was a Fulbright Scholar to Spain. He holds a BA in Communications from Brigham Young University, an MBA from Barry University, and a PhD in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.