​Understanding Protomaps: Join new low-cost workshop on open-source mapping

The digital mapping landscape is evolving, and journalists need tools that offer flexibility, affordability, and longevity. Traditional online maps often have significant costs and limitations, especially for newsrooms producing high-traffic visualizations. 

That’s why the Knight Center is excited to present an accessible and practical workshop: Understanding Protomaps: An Introduction to Open-Source, Interactive Maps for News with mapping and data expert John Keefe! 

Join us on Tuesday, April 22, at 5 p.m. Eastern Time / 4 p.m. Central Time for this insightful session led by John Keefe, Weather Data Editor at The New York Times, who has been creating newsroom maps for over a decade. Register now for this one-hour workshop for just $40!

Before joining The New York Times, John Keefe worked at WNYC, CNN, and Quartz, leading teams in data journalism, interactive graphics, and AI-driven storytelling. Keefe’s efforts have empowered news organizations to utilize data to inform and engage audiences more effectively, with innovative, ongoing contributions to weather and data visualization.

With most online maps, users can zoom and move around to explore streets, terrain, and any data added to them. But these maps typically rely on commercial mapping services, which can be expensive, especially if your maps go viral. And if your relationship with that service ends, your maps can break or disappear from your archives.

That’s where Protomaps comes in. This open-source tool stores map tiles in single, static files, making it easy to host interactive maps on your servers without relying on third-party platforms.

In this low-cost workshop, John Keefe will explain how tiled maps work, why they’re important for journalism, and how Protomaps can help you build sustainable, customizable maps without relying on third-party platforms.

This one-hour workshop costs just $40 and includes lifetime access to the recording, a certificate of attendance, and a downloadable tipsheet focused on using Protomaps in the newsroom.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from an industry expert and explore how Protomaps can transform your newsroom’s mapping capabilities. Save your spot today!

Special newsroom discounts are available for group registrations—contact us to learn more!