Poynter and McClatchy Launch Innovative Training Initiative

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., March 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Poynter Institute, an international leader in journalism education, has announced it will partner with The McClatchy Company, the country's third-largest newspaper publisher, on an innovative, multi-year training program that aims to deliver more training to more employees. Poynter will work closely with McClatchy leaders to conduct training assessments and identify specific needs and offer training opportunities that support the company's strategic goals overall.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110323/MM70721LOGO)

"This is a model for professional development in a news organization even as it adjusts to economic challenges. We are finding ways to provide the shared learning needed during rapid change," said Karen Dunlap, Poynter President. "I'm pleased to work with The McClatchy Company, an industry leader."

This custom program is built on the full range of Poynter's teaching expertise. Poynter faculty and industry experts will lead in-person workshops, online seminars and Webinars, and tailored certificate programs drawn from Poynter's extensive e-learning course list will target specific skills gaps. Poynter also will work with McClatchy's in-house trainers to help them develop additional programs during this multi-year program. Training will be developed for both the editorial and sales staffs of McClatchy's 30 print and online organizations.

"Nothing is more important than effective training at a time when our newsrooms and sales forces are going in many new directions, demanding all sorts of new skills,'' said Anders Gyllenhaal, McClatchy's vice president of news. "We're delighted to be working with the Poynter Institute, which knows no match in journalism training. We believe this will be an important new part of how we move forward.''

Poynter also will develop a special McClatchy training website on its e‐learning platform, NewsU (www.newsu.org). This site will host all of McClatchy's e-learning programs and use NewsU technology to conduct assessments that will measure the value of the training program.

"We see this initiative as an opportunity to help McClatchy build upon its own training efforts with the richness of Poynter's teaching," said Howard Finberg, Poynter's director of training partnerships and alliances. "The program is unique for its depth of training, the ability to deliver teaching on-site and online, and for the variety of topics we can offer based on a company's specific needs."

About The Poynter Institute

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is an international 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, 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.

About The McClatchy Company

The McClatchy Company is a leading news and information provider, offering a wide array of print and digital products in each of the markets it serves. As the third largest newspaper company in the country, McClatchy's operations include 30 daily newspapers, community newspapers, websites, mobile news and advertising, niche publications, direct marketing and direct mail services. The company's largest newspapers include the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Sacramento Bee, The Kansas City Star, The Miami Herald, The Charlotte Observer and The (Raleigh) News & Observer. McClatchy is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI.

CONTACT:
Howard Finberg
Director of Training Partnerships and Alliances
The Poynter Institute
(727) 821-9494
[email protected]

SOURCE The Poynter Institute