Our leadership accelerator for journalists of color is back in 2020, in partnership with The Washington Post

This is The Poynter Institute’s Weekly Training Digest newsletter. To have it delivered to your inbox Tuesdays, click here. 

The Weekly Training Digest is back, and just in time. 2020 is already proving to be intense, from the fires in Australia to the conflict in Iran.

As always, the news of the day demands responsible journalism, effective leadership and a razor focus on building trust with our audiences. Poynter has the training you need to excel in each of these areas, starting with leadership:

Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media

In-person workshop at the Poynter Institute, June 14-19

A Poynter teaching partnership with The Washington Post

The Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media is a transformative, tuition-free leadership program that trains journalists of color working in digital media to thrive professionally and personally.

This seminar fosters honest discourse about the challenges for journalists of color in management roles. It also provides the connections, confidence and skills to confront them.

Accepted applicants will have direct access to top media executives, receive practical advice on career planning and gain a deep understanding of what it takes to successfully lead today’s digital news organizations.

Cost: Thanks to the generous support of program sponsors, tuition for the academy is free. Deadline: Feb. 14. Apply now.

Write Your Heart Out: The Craft of the Personal Essay

Online group seminar, Jan. 24-Feb. 21

Over the course of four weeks you will discover how to cultivate powerful stories from your life and tell them in ways that will resonate with others, whether in print or online. You will learn to shed the shackles of storytelling conventions and insecurities, and you’ll see how to take those experiences from an idea to an essay that an editor wants to publish and the public wants to read.

Cost: $349. Deadline: Jan. 24. Enroll now.

A Journalist’s Guide to Covering Jails — Baltimore

Morgan State School of Global Journalism & Communication, Baltimore, Maryland, March 5-6

This intensive two-day workshop will focus on understanding the causes and consequences of local jail incarceration and explore some ways that communities are addressing the issue. Poynter’s experts and experienced journalists will help reporters find engaging stories and reliable data so they can provide aggressive and thoughtful coverage of this vitally important topic. The sessions will be practical, inspiring and non-political.

Cost: Free for selected applicants. Deadline: Jan. 10. Apply now.

How Any Journalist Can Earn Trust

In-person workshop at the Poynter Institute, Feb. 10

Stop thinking of distrust in journalism as an unsolvable, big-picture problem. Instead, find concrete ways everyone in your organization can work to demonstrate credibility and earn trust every day.

In this one-day workshop with the leaders of Trusting News, you’ll hear what we’ve learned about the most common causes of mistrust. You’ll see what newsrooms are already doing to address mistrust, and how we know it’s working. You’ll leave the workshop feeling more optimistic about your relationship with your community, ready to empower your colleagues to take ownership of the problem of trust.

This workshop has a value of $500. Thanks to the generosity of the Knight Foundation, we are able to offer it for $39.

Deadline: Friday, Jan. 10. Apply now.

LEADERSHIP

Essential Skills for Rising Newsroom Leaders (Spring)
In-person seminar at the Poynter Institute, March 29-April 3
This seminar will give managers the tools and the confidence to lead and grow a staff of high-performing journalists. Deadline: Feb. 17. Cost: $1,550. Apply now.

Leadership Academy
In-person at the Poynter Institute, Sept. 20-25
This highly interactive, five-day program offers participants the chance to refine their leadership styles, update their understanding of management and media trends and tools, and receive personal coaching that will accelerate their effectiveness as leaders. Deadline: Aug. 3. Apply now.

BROADCAST

Poynter Producer Project
Online: March 10-April 7; In-person at the Poynter Institute: March 27-29
This unique seminar will help you expand your expertise as a TV producer with new writing, storytelling, coaching and ethical decision-making skills. We’re combining the best of online learning with in-person coaching and mentoring to help you tell stronger stories and make tough calls on deadline. With decades of success stories — many of our graduates are now news directors and executive producers — this opportunity can launch your career. Deadline: Feb. 17. Cost: $550. Apply Now.

TV Power Reporting Academy
Online: Sept. 8-Oct. 6; In-Person: Sept. 25-27
In this hybrid online and in-person training, you will get individual feedback on your work, hone your critical thinking and learn to find the stories that others miss. When you’re done, you’ll have a toolkit full of practical skills and a roadmap to move your career ahead. Apply by Aug. 17. Cost: $550. Apply now.

REPORTING, WRITING, EDITING

Summit for Reporters and Editors
In-person seminar at the Poynter Institute, May 3-8
In this week-long specialized training, you will learn to use digital approaches and narrative writing techniques to transform your work, whether it’s a daily story or a major project. Deadline: March 27. Cost: $1,550. Apply now.

Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellowship: 2020-2021
Fellowship blending education opportunities with work experience, June 2020-May 2021
Are you an early career journalist who wants to accelerate your future? The Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism Fellowship provides the cohort, coaching and career-starting job you need to level up as a media professional. Deadline: Feb. 28. Apply now.

Teachapalooza: Front Edge Teaching Tools for College Educators
In-person seminar at the Poynter Institute, June 5-7
This seminar will get you up to date on the technology and trends that shape journalism, show you the latest ways educators are using innovation in their classrooms, and focus on data storytelling and new storytelling platforms. Apply by April 30. Cost: $350. Early bird pricing: $299 for first 50 registrants. Apply now.

A Journalists Guide to Covering Jails — Memphis
Regional training in Memphis, Tennessee, June 24-25
This intensive two-day workshop will focus on understanding the causes and consequences of local jail incarceration and explore some ways that communities are addressing the issue. The sessions will be practical, inspiring and non-political. Deadline: April 24. Cost: Free for selected applicants. Apply now.

A Journalist’s Guide to Covering Jails — Minneapolis
Regional training in Minneapolis, Aug. 4-5
This intensive two-day workshop will focus on understanding the causes and consequences of local jail incarceration and explore some ways that communities are addressing the issue. The sessions will be practical, inspiring and non-political.
Deadline: June 12. Cost: Free for selected applicants. Apply now.

The Power of Diverse Voices: The Poynter Minority Writers Workshop
In-person workshop at the Poynter Institute, Nov. 12-15
This transformative four-day seminar will help journalists from a wide spectrum of backgrounds find their voices and build skills for writing opinion pieces and personal essays. Apply by July 31. Cost: Free for selected applicants. Apply now.

Investigating Jails
Self-directed course
This course is organized into three one-hour lessons each centered on an area of great importance in covering jails: mental illness, financial injustice and mistreatment. Each lesson features one or two journalism projects as a driving vehicle for learning, breaking down the reporting process for each with the help of the journalist behind the piece. Cost: Free. Enroll now. 

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

The Poynter Institute is hiring! Join our team or forward to a colleague:

• Faculty Member — Poynter, Washington, D.C., or St. Petersburg, Florida
• Communications Specialist — Poynter, St. Petersburg, Florida
• Program Manager, IFCN (The International Fact Checking Institute) — Poynter, St. Petersburg, Florida
• MediaWise Multimedia Producer — Poynter, St. Petersburg, Florida
• MediaWise Multimedia Reporter (x2) — Poynter, St. Petersburg, Florida
• MediaWise Editorial Director — Poynter, St. Petersburg, Florida
• Reporter, PolitiFact — Poynter, St. Petersburg, Florida
• Assistant Editor, PolitiFact — Poynter, St. Petersburg, Florida
• Assistant Editor, Part-Time, PolitiFact — Poynter, St. Petersburg, Florida
• Interactive Designer — Poynter, St. Petersburg, Florida

Click here for more jobs.

MORE FROM POYNTER

Tips, program follow-ups and more on Poynter.org

• Fox News’ take on Soleimani’s death. By Tom Jones.
• McClatchy stiffs retired executives on a scheduled pension payment. By Rick Edmonds.
• A reason to be proud: At least 25 awards were given to IFCN’s fact-checkers in 2019. By Cristina Tardáguila.
• Truth in absentia: 25 years of excuse-making in media ethics. By Michael Bugeja.
• Fact-checkers say these are the best fact-checks they did during this decade. By Cristina Tardáguila.