Introducing our Inaugural Residents for Journalism R&D Program

We are proud to announce that Surya Mattu and Ingrid Burrington will be the inaugural residents for our R&D Program for the Future of Journalism, a new pilot program that takes an artist-led approach to fighting misinformation and fake news funded in part by Craig Newmark. Mattu and Burrington will start November 2, joining Eyebeam’s new resident cohort in its new Bushwick location. Surya Mattu is an artist and engineer based in Brooklyn. Previously, Mattu worked as a contributing researcher for ProPublica and a data reporter for Gizmodo Media Group’s Special Projects Desk, and has exhibited work at the Whitney Museum, Sundance Film Festival, and Bitforms Gallery. A former Eyebeam resident, Ingrid Burrington most recently served an Artist in Residence at the Data and Society Research Institute. She is also known for her book “Networks of New York: An Illustrated Field Guide to Urban Internet Infrastructure". "Journalism in general, and investigative journalism in particular, is at an interesting crossroads. The increasing pervasiveness of networked technology (and the invasive species of misguided Silicon Valley utopianism that often comes with it) has provided interesting challenges and opportunities to tell stories about injustice,” say Burrington and Mattu. “We look forward to working with Eyebeam to find compelling ways to tell these stories." Additionally, Marisa Mazria Katz will join the program as Editorial Producer. She was the founding editor of Creative Time Reports, and most recently, she was the host and producer of In Situ, a talk series in collaboration with the New York Public Library. As a journalist she has contributed to The New York Times, Financial Times, Time, The Guardian, Vogue and the Wall Street Journal. In addition to her writing, Marisa ran a US State Department-sponsored program in Casablanca, Morocco, for four years that taught marginalized youth journalism and blogging. "As a longtime admirer of the intrepid work of Eyebeam residents, I am so excited to come on board and help envision unique and creative ways the organization can bring the work of the artists here to large audiences around the world," says Katz. The program is supported by a grant from Craig Newmark Philanthropies, and implemented in partnership with The Brown Institute at the Columbia School of Journalism. "It's time for artists to help push back and help defend us all from media manipulation and information warfare, whether it's domestic or foreign. The folks at Eyebeam are helping out," says Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies. It will initially offer residencies for emerging technologists and engineers that are focused on research and tool development in online journalism. For one year, residents will receive financial support as well as access to Eyebeam’s space and equipment, as well as promotional and production assistance. Feedback, critique and professional development will balance the experience within a space for creative freedom. It continues Eyebeam’s work over the past 20 years of collaborative experimentation with art and technology. Eyebeam has given time, space and money to artists whose work has shaped our world – including the first-ever social sharing tool ReBlog, electronic toys startup littleBits, and the pioneering net art of Cory Arcangel. Everything is guided by a focus on Eyebeam’s core values: openness, invention and justice.