The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced a three-year, $3 million grant to the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University in support of a fellowship program that explores the relationship between journalism and technology.

The grant will enable the Tow Center, part of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, to pursue promising areas of inquiry and extend the reach of its work. To advance those ends, the center will recruit senior research fellows in four key program areas: computation, algorithms and automated journalism; data, impact, and metrics; audiences and engagement; and experimental journalism, models, and practice.  Knight News Innovation Fellows, who will work on other projects, as well will lead each of the four areas.

"We are thrilled to have the continued support of Knight Foundation," said Tow Center director Emily Bell, who will oversee the initiative. "The purpose of this is to aid the profession in experimentation with and adaptation of new technologies and to inform the practice and teaching of journalism. The overall goal is to strengthen journalism within a rapidly evolving information ecosystem."