From Experimentation to Sustainability: Media Labs as Drivers of Innovation in News Journalism, a Systematic Review

This systematic review examines how media innovation labs are conceptualized, implemented, and sustained within contemporary news organisations. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a protocol was registered in OSF, and comprehensive searches were conducted in Web of Science and Scopus (2010–2025), applying strict PICOS-based inclusion criteria that required studies to be peer-reviewed, open-access, empirical, and focused explicitly on media labs. Two reviewers independently screened all records in blinded mode, extracted data using a structured template, and assessed methodological quality with the MMAT 2018. Of 39 records identified, 14 studies met all eligibility criteria. The synthesis shows that media labs operate as protected experimental environments characterized by interdisciplinary collaboration, agile prototyping, and knowledge transfer. Strengths include institutionalized experimentation, cross-functional coordination, and strategic foresight; weaknesses involve siloisation, resource fragility, and cultural resistance; opportunities arise from emerging technologies and open-innovation ecosystems; threats relate to financial precarity, organizational inertia, and superficial innovation cultures. Overall, the evidence base is predominantly qualitative and geographically concentrated in Europe, limiting generalizability. The review highlights the need for longitudinal and comparative research to clarify how labs contribute to sustainable organizational transformation.