Poynter Names Kelly McBride Vice President of Academic Programs

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., June 5, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Poynter Institute today named Kelly McBride, Nationally Renowned Writer, Teacher and Thought Leader, as its new Vice President of Academic Programs.  In this newly-created position, McBride will lead Poynter's teaching team and oversee all its educational efforts, both in person and online.

The new position requires McBride's credibility, expertise, ideas and passion to help execute Poynter's recently-announced strategic vision as global leader in journalism and an innovator in a time of transformational change in newsrooms and journalism education, said Poynter president Tim Franklin.

"Kelly is nationally known and respected writer, teacher and thought leader on the media," said Franklin. "She co-edited the recently published book, 'The New Ethics of Journalism: Principles for the 21^st Century,' which explores the guiding standards for the new digital media age. She represents the institute with distinction as a frequently quoted expert in the nation's top publications and broadcast programs, and also hosts a weekly segment on Tampa Bay's NPR affiliate."

McBride has also been a member of Poynter's faculty since 2002, and has taught reporting, writing, editing and ethics.  She has pioneered work in how journalists cover rape and sexual assault and she has run the summer boot camp for college fellows. She also served as the lead writer on the ESPN Poynter Review Project.

Most recently, she's been noted for her work directing Poynter's Sense-Making Project, a Ford Foundation initiative examining the transformation of journalism from the profession of a few to a civic obligation of the many.

"This is a very cool opportunity for me. I get to guide people whom I respect and occasionally idolize. And I get to work for a boss oozing ambition and enthusiasm," McBride said. "There's a deep hunger for what we teach here at Poynter. And there's a powerful need for new knowledge, too. Because it's not just journalism that's changing, it's democracy."

One of her first priorities will be to retool Poynter's curriculum with a focus on digital innovation, added Franklin.

Before joining Poynter, McBride was an award-winning reporter for 14 years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. She was the lead crime reporter, and spearheaded investigative projects on crack cocaine and the death penalty. She later gained a national reputation as a religion reporter, producing projects on the ethics of fertility treatments, pedophile priests and gay Christians.

McBride grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and earned her bachelor's degree in journalism at the University of Missouri. She went on to get her master's in theology from Gonzaga University.

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 in 6 languages, with more than 400 interactive courses and 290,000 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.

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SOURCE The Poynter Institute