The Texas Tribune announced plans this week to create its first-ever revenue and training lab — a freestanding entity, housed in its Austin newsroom, where it will experiment with innovative ways to fund local news, model best practices, and mentor and coach dozens of would-be peers.
Evan Smith, CEO and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, said that Rodney Gibbs, who was chief product officer, has been named executive director of the RevLab, as it is being called.
The RevLab is a nearly $4 million, three-year initiative, of which $2.5 million came from the Facebook Journalism Project. The balance will be raised through philanthropic support from organizations and individuals.
