Poynter Institute Announces Collaborative Journalism Workshops in India
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, Nov. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Poynter Institute (www.poynter.org) announced today it will conduct a series of journalism workshops in India during March 2014. The workshops are designed to share American journalism training ideas and best practices with Indian journalists and educators, while exploring how to strengthen the ties between journalism and education in both countries.
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"When people are good at journalism, journalism is good at strengthening democracy," said Karen Dunlap, president of The Poynter Institute. "These workshops represent genuine opportunities for idea exchange and collaboration around the best practices of journalism using the training methods of Poynter. I'm grateful to Howard Finberg for his leadership in this project."
Poynter has conducted similar programs in Egypt, Indonesia and South Africa as the Institute expands its role on the international stage. All of these international programs share a common thread of strengthening journalism in service of democracy and democratic ideas.
The Poynter training program, Strengthening Journalism: Poynter Collaborative Learning Workshops, will be conducted in three states in southern India for three days each. The high-level workshops will feature the expertise of well-known U.S. journalism editors, media executives and educators who will meet with their counterparts in India to discuss topics such as journalism best practices, credibility, digital tools and citizen journalism, and the changing nature of journalism education. The workshops aim to improve professional practices in journalism at media organizations and work with educators to tackle common challenges so schools can adapt their curricula to best prepare tomorrow's journalists.
The faculty members for the project so far are:
- Tom Huang, Dallas Morning News Sunday and Enterprise Editor and Poynter Institute Reporting, Writing and Editing Fellow.
- Sue Burzynski Bullard, Associate Professor of Journalism, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and former Managing Editor of The Detroit News.
- Jeffry Couch, Executive Editor of the News-Democrat and http://bnd.com in Belleville, Ill., who served as a Pulitzer Prize juror in 2010 and 2011.
- Casey Frechette, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Journalism and Media Studies department at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Dr. Frechette was on the original team that created Poynter's e-learning project, News University (www.newsu.org).
- Zella Bracy, a business development executive at Tru Measure, a division of The McClatchy Company. Previously she was Digital Revenue Manager for Strategic Initiatives.
- Vidisha Priyanka, Interactive Learning Producer, Poynter NewsU, former multimedia editor at The Tampa Tribune.
- Howard Finberg, Poynter Director of Training Partnerships and Alliances and founder of Poynter News University (www.newsu.org).
One of the goals of these unique workshops is to provide an opportunity for U.S. journalists and educators to share ideas in a more informal setting than traditional group lectures. From these encounters, Poynter will develop follow-up evaluations, impact studies and a white paper later in 2014.
"Poynter views this project as a great opportunity to develop long-lasting and sustainable training partnerships with journalists and journalism training organizations worldwide," said Howard Finberg, director of training partnerships and alliances. "We hope to extend what we learn in-person with our digital efforts, especially our e-learning site, NewsU."
Poynter will be working with journalism schools and press organizations in each of the three states to assist in the development and execution of the program. The Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media in Bangalore has already committed to assisting.
A microsite will chronicle the project's efforts at http://india.poynter.org.
The program was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is an international leader in journalism education, and a thought leader 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, with more than 250 interactive courses and 240,000 students. 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.
CONTACT:
Howard Finberg
Director of Training Partnerships and Alliances
[email protected]
Jessica Blais
Director of Marketing
[email protected]
Site: http://india.poynter.org
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