Poynter Institute

History

Foundation

The school began on May 29, 1975, when Nelson Poynter, the owner and chairman of the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times) and Times Publishing Company, announced that he planned to start a small journalism school called the Modern Media Institute.

In 1977, Nelson Poynter willed ownership of the Times Publishing Company to the Institute so that after his death the school would become the owner of the St. Petersburg Times.

The name of the school was changed to the "Poynter Institute" in 1984.

Expansion and development

Craig Newmark (founder of Craigslist) is a board member of the Poynter Foundation and donated $1 million to it in 2015.

In 2018, the Poynter Institute began a cooperation with the content recommendation network Revcontent, to stop misinformation and fake news in articles supplying Revcontent with fact-checking provided by their International Fact-Checking Network. January 11, 2018, the Charles Koch Foundation's Director of Free Expression, Sarah Ruger, stated in an American Society of News Editors news release that "The foundation supports many grantees committed to press freedom, including The Poynter Institute, the Newseum and Techdirt's free speech initiative." On February 12, 2018, the Tampa Bay Times, the for-profit branch of the nonprofit Poynter institute spun off the Pulitzer Prize–winning PolitiFact website to form an independent division within Poynter.

Since 2019, The Washington Post has been partnering with the Poynter Institute to increase diversity in media, with the goal to expand Poynter's annual Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media training journalists to become founders, top-level executives and innovators. Other sponsors are CNN, the Scripps Howard Foundations, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation and TEGNA Foundation.

Poynter published a list of over 515 news websites that it labeled "unreliable" in 2019. The author of the piece used various fake news databases (including those curated by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, Merrimack College, PolitiFact, and Snopes) to compile the list and called on advertisers to "blacklist" the included sites. The list included conservative news websites such as the Washington Examiner, The Washington Free Beacon, and The Daily Signal as well as conspiracy outfits including InfoWars. Poynter issued a statement, saying: "[w]e regret that we failed to ensure that the data was rigorous before publication, and apologize for the confusion and agitation caused by its publication." Reason pointed out that the author was a freelancer hired by the Institute who typically works for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Reason drew parallels between the accuracy of the list with SPLC's own work on hate groups.

Election integrity and COVID-19

In 2020, after receiving funding from Facebook, the Poynter Institute expanded the MediaWise program with a national media literacy program called MediaWise Voter project (#MVP). Its goal was to reach two million American college students who were first-time voters, helping them to be better prepared and informed for the 2020 elections.

Poynter received $737,400 in federal loans from the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Neil Brown noted that this was not the first time the institute received government funding, noting past training contracts with Voice of America.

Activities

International Fact-Checking Network

In 2015, the institute launched the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which sets a code of ethics for fact-checking organizations. The IFCN reviews fact-checkers for compliance with its code, and issues a certification to publishers who pass the audit. The certification lasts for one year, and fact-checkers must be re-examined annually to retain their certifications. Facebook has used the IFCN's certification to vet publishers for fact-checking contracts. In 2025, Facebook parent company Meta announced it would move away from using IFCN-certified fact checkers, and replace with "community notes", similar to what is done on the X social network. Membership has also been used to identify the reliability of a fact-checking organization. DW called it the most prominent fact-checking consortium.

The IFCN and the American Press Institute jointly publish Factually, a newsletter on fact-checking and journalism ethics. The IFCN also organizes Global Fact, a yearly conference on fact checking.

News University

News University (NewsU) is a project of the Poynter Institute that offers journalism training through methods including e-learning courses, webinars, and learning games. NewsU is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Awards

In 2023, the News Leaders Association transferred stewardship of the NLA Awards to the Poynter Institute, who will administer the contest from 2024 onward, and the awards were renamed to the Poynter Journalism Prizes. That same year, Poynter announced the creation of a new prize in honor of Roy Peter Clark called the Roy Peter Clark Award for Excellence in Short Writing.

Poynter Medal

Since 2015, the Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism has been awarded by the Poynter Institute, recognizing journalistic relevance, ethics, and impact. Past winners include:

• 2015: Bob Schieffer, former CBS News anchor and host of Face the Nation
• 2016: Tom Brokaw, former anchor of NBC Nightly News
• 2017: Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of PBS NewsHour
• 2018: Lester Holt, anchor of NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC
• 2019: Katie Couric, broadcast journalist, author and media entrepreneur
• 2020: Chris Wallace, anchor of Fox News Sunday
• 2021: Lesley Stahl, correspondent for CBS News' 60 Minutes
• 2022: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, investigative journalists
• 2023: Anderson Cooper, broadcast journalist and political commentator for CNN
• 2024: Robin Roberts, co-anchor of ABC's Good Morning America
• 2025: Jane Pauley, host of CBS Sunday Morning

References

References

1. "Neil Brown".
2. "Company Overview of The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Inc.". Bloomberg.
3. (April 12, 2016). "Short film celebrates Pulitzer Prize centennial". [[Tampa Bay Times]].
4. Shedden, David. (2005-05-26). "Institute History: 30 Years Ago".
5. Hooker, Robert W.. (July 16, 2009). "By giving away the St. Petersburg Times, Nelson Poynter may have ensured its survival".
6. (December 12, 2016). "Craigslist founder gives Poynter Institute $1 million to support 'journalism ethics'". [[Politico]].
7. (December 12, 2018). "Craig Newmark Donates $1 Million to Poynter Institute". [[Adweek]].
8. Guaglione, Sara. (August 16, 2018). "Revcontent, Poynter Partner to Demonetize Fake News".
9. Naresh, Nitin. (August 14, 2018). "Revcontent is trying to get rid of misinformation with help from the Poynter Institute".
10. Ha, Anthony. (2018-08-14). "Revcontent is trying to get rid of misinformation with help from the Poynter Institute".
11. (August 14, 2018). "Revcontent is trying to get rid of misinformation with help from the Poynter Institute". [[TechCrunch]].
12. Cook, Christopher D.. (January 11, 2018). "Koch Foundation grants to ASNE, Poynter ignite criticism".
13. (February 13, 2018). "PolitiFact Becomes Its Own Division within Nonprofit Poynter Institute". Nonprofit Quarterly.
14. (April 17, 2019). "The Washington Post partners with Poynter for the Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media". [[The Washington Post]].
15. (September 9, 2019). "The Washington Post and Poynter name members of the 2019 Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media". [[The Washington Post]].
16. (August 6, 2020). "Matthew Ong named to the Poynter, Washington Post Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media". [[The Cancer Letter]].
17. (May 3, 2019). "Poynter pulls blacklist of 'unreliable' news websites after backlash". [[The Hill (newspaper).
18. Allen, Barbara. (May 2, 2019). "Letter from the Editor". Poynter Institute.
19. Soave, Robby. (June 5, 2019). "Poynter Institute's Retracted List of Fake News Sites Was Written by SPLC Podcast Producer". [[Reason Foundation]].
20. Smith, Zachary Oren. "Digital info literacy group MediaWise brings info to first-time voters".
21. (2021-06-30). "Youth Informed their Peers through the MediaWise Voter Project".
22. "Political Science Student Chosen for Nationwide Digital Literacy Project – Suffolk University".
23. (April 29, 2020). "Axios returns coronavirus bailout loan as news organizations grapple with the ethics of taking government funds". [[The Washington Post]].
24. Lerner-Rubin, D.. (October 23, 2019). "Fact-checking fact-checkers". [[The Jerusalem Post]].
25. Owen, Laura Hazard. (August 15, 2019). "Finally, Instagram is getting fact-checked (in a limited way and just in the U.S., for now)". Nieman Foundation for Journalism.
26. (August 27, 2018). "Facebook's War on Bullshit Is Not Going Well—We Talked to the Fact Checkers on the Front Lines". [[Gizmodo]].
27. (2025-01-07). "Meta is ending its fact-checking program in favor of a 'community notes' system similar to X's".
28. Ruggeri, Amanda. (May 10, 2024). "The 'Sift' strategy: A four-step method for spotting misinformation".
29. (October 8, 2020). "Fact-checking: A curated guide to resources and ideas".
30. Granger, Jacob. (April 24, 2019). "10 essential newsletters every journalist should read".
31. Oyedeji, Niyi. (April 14, 2022). "Fact-checkers head to Oslo for ninth edition of Global Fact conference".
32. (June 28, 2016). "Poynter Institute to grow 'News University' platform with Knight Foundation funding". Tampa Bay Times.
33. Orsi, Jennifer. (November 30, 2023). "Poynter Institute to run respected 45-year-old journalism contest, now renamed The Poynter Journalism Prizes".
34. (2023-12-12). "NLA board approves membership's vote to dissolve by June 2024".
35. (2024-04-24). "The Post receives multiple honors in the Poynter Journalism Prizes". Washington Post.
36. Orsi, Jennifer. (December 12, 2023). "The Poynter Journalism Prizes establishes new award honoring writing coach Roy Peter Clark".
37. Banaszynski, Jacqui. (Dec 14, 2023). "Writing award named for Roy Peter Clark".
38. (2024-11-18). "Robin Roberts receives Poynter's Medal of Lifetime Achievement award".
39. Streissguth, Adele. (2025-07-08). "Jane Pauley of ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ to receive Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism".
40. "Judy Woodruff Named Recipient of Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award".
41. Hare, Kristen. (2015-06-23). "Poynter to honor Bob Schieffer with lifetime achievement award".
42. Mullin, Benjamin. (2016-03-31). "Poynter to honor Tom Brokaw with lifetime achievement award".
43. Mullin, Benjamin. (2017-04-13). "Poynter to honor Judy Woodruff with lifetime achievement award".
44. Dyakon, Tina. (2018-07-16). "Lester Holt to receive Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism".
45. Grau, Mel. (2019-07-10). "Poynter to honor Katie Couric and Norman Pearlstine at its Bowtie Ball on Nov. 2".
46. Dyakon, Tina. (2020-09-23). "Poynter to honor Chris Wallace at its fundraising gala".
47. Dyakon, Tina. (2021-09-13). "Poynter to honor Lesley Stahl during its annual fundraising gala".
48. Bealor, Sara. (2022-08-29). "Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to be honored with the Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement".
49. "Anderson Cooper receives lifetime achievement award at the 2023 Bowtie Ball".
50. Streissguth, Adele. (2024-08-07). "Robin Roberts of ABC's 'Good Morning America' to receive Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism".
51. Streissguth, Adele. (2025-07-08). "Jane Pauley of 'CBS Sunday Morning' to receive Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism".