Collaborative Scaffolding: The Key to Successful Collaborative Journalism

The Tow Center studied the impact six collaboratives created for their members, their partner newsrooms, their media ecosystems and their communities during 2020-21. The research found that the most mature collaboratives had a strong sense of shared values, operated with a high degree of trust and had a commitment to the collaborative as an entity. The values, trust and commitment operated like a scaffold to keep the groups moving forward on their projects, even when they encountered challenges.