ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 16, 2025) — Poynter is pleased to welcome the 30 promising journalists chosen for the first Essential Skills for Rising Newsroom Leaders workshop of 2025 in St. Petersburg. A second cohort will follow in December.
This powerful five-day workshop gives new managers the critical human-centered skills they need to navigate today’s changing media landscape. Designed for journalists with five or fewer years of management experience and those facing promotion into leadership roles, the program offers a hands-on mix of practical training and personalized guidance.
Under the seasoned leadership of faculty members Tony Elkins and Fernanda Camarena, the chosen cohort will receive customized advice addressing their most pressing concerns. The curriculum will impart evergreen tactics to onboard and retain top talent, learn effective delegation and lead result-getting conversations.
Poynter faculty and program co-lead Elkins said focusing on people, not tasks, is something new managers often overlook when they get caught up in the day-to-day work of managing.
“It’s easy to get lost in the never-ending cycle of news and forget to save some of our time and attention for the people we lead,” he said. “New managers might be overwhelmed trying to balance their own work, their team’s tasks and the organization’s goals — therefore losing sight of how to connect, communicate and motivate the people around them. Our focus is on developing these human-centered skills so they feel more comfortable learning to delegate, creating productive meetings, how to have fair conversations and giving meaningful feedback.”
Co-lead faculty Fernanda Camarena said that this intentionality is key for emerging managers.
“The jump from journalist to manager is one of the hardest shifts, and one we don’t talk enough about or prepare people for,” she said. “Leadership is a skill. And it demands the same intentionality and care that we bring to our reporting. This program will help new managers step into that role with purpose. To lead their teams and their newsrooms with a deep sense of responsibility for the people and the mission they serve.”
Journalists selected for the first Essential Skills of 2025 are:
- Kristen Cabrera, Reporter, Producer, Texas Standard
- Jonathan Ehrens, Managing Editor and Senior Producer of Vermont Edition, Vermont Public
- Casey Fabris, Content Manager, Education Writers Association
- Joe Fisher, Executive Reporter, WPTV
- Francis Flisiuk, Executive Producer, WMTW-TV
- Linda Gorman, Interactive News Editor, The Associated Press
- Louise Lind Jensen, Journalist/News Editor, Danish Broadcasting Corporation
- Jennifer Maloney, Deputy Corporate Bureau Chief, Retail Editor, The Wall Street Journal
- Chasity Maynard, Digital News Content Manager, WCTV
- James Meadows, Newsletter Editor, The Baltimore Banner
- Nate Monroe, Executive Editor, The Tributary
- Gustav Juul Olesen, Editor, Danish Broadcasting Corporation
- Emily Olson, Head of Live Blogs, The Associated Press
- Dave Orrick, Cities Team Leader, Minnesota Star Tribune
- Jonathan Oosting, Deputy Editor, Bridge Michigan
- Katherine Pelletier, Live Blogs Editor, New York Post
- Nebi Qena, US Assignment Manager, The Associated Press
- Matthew Rosenberg, Deputy Managing Editor, Content Strategy/Digital, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Tamara Russell (P.O.C.), Radio Host, Broadcaster (Founder), REVIVE RADIO + MEDIA
- Manuel Blas Sanchez, Broadcast Operations Manager, WKNY – Radio Kingston
- Abigail Sewell, News Director – Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Turkey, The Associated Press
- Itika Sharma, Deputy Editor, Rest of World
- Marie-Ane Buus Simonsen, News Editor, Danish Broadcast Organization
- Lauren Settles, Reporter, Producer, We Talk Weekly LLC
- Ashley Swansong, Executive Producer, PBS Utah
- Tracee Tibbitts, Design Director, Science News
- Mark Trumbull, National Editor, The Christian Science Monitor
- Lindsay VanHulle, Reporter, Automotive News
- Guy Wathen, Deputy Director of Visuals, The Dallas Morning News
- Madeline Will, Assistant Managing Editor, Education Week
If you are a new manager, Poynter is accepting applications for the December cohort until Friday, Oct. 3.
Media Contact
Sarah Sweeny
Director of Marketing, Events and Communications
ssweeny@poynter.org
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit working to address society’s most pressing issues by teaching journalists and journalism, covering the media and the complexities facing the industry, convening and community building, improving the capacity and sustainability of news organizations and fostering trust and reliability of information. The Institute is a gold standard in journalistic excellence and dedicated to the preservation and advancement of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, businesses, big tech corporations and citizens convene to find solutions that promote trust and transparency in news and stoke meaningful public discourse. The world’s top journalists and emerging media leaders rely on the Institute to learn new skills, adopt best practices, better serve audiences, scale operations and improve the quality of the universally shared information ecosystem.
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