The project will encourage accountability reporting and robust civil dialogue on three campuses

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.  – The Poynter Institute, a global leader in journalism, and the Charles Koch Foundation are creating a program to provide training to student journalists and to encourage campus media to support and promote civil discourse around controversial topics.

Poynter is partnering with the Associated Collegiate Press to identify three student media organizations to participate in the pilot of this initiative. The program, called the Poynter College Media Project, combines in-person training, online teaching and a campus project with two goals: improving student journalism and modeling dialogue through coverage and real-life events.

For more information and to apply, go to http://poy.nu/CollegeMedia17.

“Poynter and Koch both are passionate about fostering civil discourse on college campuses,” said Poynter vice president Kelly McBride. “We want college students to engage with challenging ideas, and to do so in an inclusive environment where all students feel welcome. Student media can play a crucial role in this.”

“This program is an exciting opportunity for student editors to improve their journalism skills, create opportunities for dialogue, and understand how a free press is important for social progress,” said Sarah Ruger, director of free expression initiatives at the Charles Koch Foundation and Institute. “We look forward to working with a Poynter, an organization that has a unique ability to deliver world-class teaching.”

College student media organizations selected for the program will receive:

• Up to $3,000 to spend on a reporting project or event that advances civil discourse on campus.
• A one-day, in-person reporting, editing and storytelling workshop for their staff.
• Exclusive admission to six online training events throughout the academic year, during which they’ll hear from professionals, as well as from the other campuses about their projects.
• Training on the best techniques for watchdog reporting that holds the powerful accountable and establishes campus media as a fair and trusted advocate for students.
• Insights into the tools of dialogue that model the search for mutual understanding and tolerance through reporting projects and real-life events.

The deadline to apply is July 19.

About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism education and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and at conferences and organizational sites around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, www.newsu.org, offers the world’s largest online journalism curriculum in 7 languages, with more than 400 interactive courses and 330,000 registered users in more than 200 countries. The Institute’s website, www.poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage of news about media, ethics, technology, the business of news and the trends that currently define and redefine journalism news reporting. The world’s top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcast producers, and to build public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and protected discourse that serves democracy and the public good.

About the Charles Koch Foundation
Charles G. Koch has supported research and educational programs focused on improving human well-being for more than 50 years. The Charles Koch Foundation supports research and educational programs focused on advancing an understanding of how free societies improve well-being. This includes support at over 300 universities and colleges around the country, in addition to other organizations working to advance our understanding of the institutions that foster societal well-being.  

Contact: Tina Dyakon
Director of Advertising and Marketing
The Poynter Institute
Tdyakon@poynter.org
727-553-4343

June 6, 2017