The Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University provides journalists with the skills and knowledge to lead the future of digital journalism and serves as a research and development center for the profession as a whole.

The Center explores how the development of technology is changing journalism, its practice and its consumption — particularly as consumers of news seek ways to judge the reliability, standards and credibility of information. By commissioning research in these emerging areas, and developing teaching methods and courses, the Tow Center seeks convene debate around the issues facing digital journalism. Our mission is to help individual journalists, news organizations and areas of relevant media policymaking with their thinking and practice in this area.

Digital journalism has a vital role in a world of information overload and explanation drought by striking a new relationship between data and narrative. The Tow Center seeks to cultivate the skilled practitioners needed to mine data and text, but who can also think journalistically in relating this information through words, pictures and graphics. Digital journalism needs to include the citizen and witness as a participant, and not just a recipient. But these new complexities demand professional intervention and standards. As an institution, the Tow Center seeks to be a leader in these areas.