Knight Foundation gives Poynter $758,000 to remake online journalism education

The Knight Foundation announced on Tuesday that it’s giving The Poynter Institute $758,000 to rebuild News University, its online journalism education platform.

The grant will be used to create a new, mobile-friendly version of NewsU, which in 2015 saw an all-time enrollment peak of 102,000. The 11-year-old program, which was founded in 2005 with a $2.8 million grant from Knight, is the world’s largest online journalism learning platform. It has trained 370,000 people and offers 400 interactive courses with training in seven languages.

Although journalists have been a mainstay for NewsU during the past decade, the reimagined version will further expand the institute’s teaching to individuals outside the news industry.

It all fits in with an effort to make Poynter’s training more helpful to journalists and other communicators around the world, said Tim Franklin, Poynter’s president, in a statement.

“By connecting the dots of Poynter’s expansive body of work to support excellence in journalism and democracy, Poynter will be the largest single resource for working journalists throughout their careers,” Franklin said.

Given today’s swiftly changing media environment, the demand for accessible, quality journalism education has never been greater, Shazna Nessa, The Knight Foundation’s director for journalism, said in a statement.

“In the digital age, journalists are required to constantly update their skills and keep up with a fast-changing media landscape,” Nessa said. “News University can be an essential partner in this goal. With an updated design and a platform built with the needs of its audience in mind, it can help expand talent in the field, and ensure that the next generation of leaders are equipped to meet 21st century information demands.”

For more, see the official announcement.