Director hired for Center for Collaborative Journalism

Tim Regan-Porter, president and CEO of Decatur, Ga.-based Paste Media Group, was named the first director of Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism on Feb. 14. His appointment started Mar. 1.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in December awarded $4.6 million in grants to launch a journalism collaborative program involving Mercer’s Journalism and Media Studies Departments, The Telegraph and Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB Media) in employing digital-age storytelling skills to inform and engage Central Georgia.
“Mr. Regan-Porter offers unmatched experience as a digital media leader, and we are excited by the skills and vision he will bring to the Center for Collaborative Journalism,” said Dr. Lake Lambert, dean of Mercer’s College of Liberal Arts.
“His reputation for innovation and his experience with the business, editorial, design and technology aspects of media and publishing make him ideally suited to lead this new initiative,” said Dr. Lambert.
Regan-Porter co-founded Paste magazine in 2002 and helped progress the publication to become the third-largest popular music title among English speaking publications, trailing only behind the infamous Rolling Stone and Spin.
The magazine earned numerous editorial awards and its annual revenue grew to $5 million under Regan-Porter’s guidance.
“The Center for Collaborative Journalism is an ambitious effort,” Regan-Porter said.
“The Center’s clinical education model, enabled by close partnerships with a statewide public broadcaster and regional daily newspaper; its cross-disciplinary approach, with a focus on new technology and innovative business models; and its investment in transforming local communities uniquely position it to become a standard for journalism education and practice nationwide. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help realize the vision set by Mercer, Knight Foundation, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and The Telegraph.”
Prior to co-founding Paste, Regan-Porter worked for seven years in the tech industry as lead architect for IBM’s e-Business Group and director of development for Enterpulse, whose clients included AT&T, the City of Chicago, Coca-Cola, CNN, T-Mobile and Sprint.
Regan-Porter holds an undergraduate degree in economics from Olivet Nazarene University and has completed graduate work in business and mathematics at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia.
This summer the Center for Collaborative Journalism will move into the first floor of Phase II of the Lofts at Mercer Village.
The 12,000-square-foot Center will feature a joint newsroom shared by Mercer’s journalism department, The Telegraph and GPB Radio Macon, whose studios are currently located in a neighboring building in Mercer Village.
The media partners will also collaborate on two community engagement projects during each year that will involve Central Georgia residents in choosing important issues to cover, reporting the facts, debating the choices facing them and ultimately creating solutions to better the Middle Georgia community as a whole.