Poynter Institute holds Collaborative Journalism Workshops in India

The Poynter Institute (www.poynter.org) will conduct a series of journalism workshops in India during March 2014. The workshops are designed to share American journalism training ideas and best practices with Indian journalists and educators while exploring how to strengthen the ties between journalism and education in both countries.

"When people are good at journalism, journalism is good at strengthening democracy," said Karen Dunlap, president of The Poynter Institute. "These workshops represent genuine opportunities for idea exchange and collaboration around the best practices of journalism using the training methods of Poynter. I'm grateful to Howard Finberg for his leadership in this project."

Poynter has conducted similar programs in Egypt, Indonesia and South Africa as the Institute expands its role on the international stage. All of these international programs share a common thread of strengthening journalism in service of democracy and democratic ideas.

The Poynter training program, Strengthening Journalism: Poynter Collaborative Learning Workshops, will be conducted in three states, in southern India, for three days each. The high-level workshops will feature the expertise of well-known U.S. journalism editors, media executives and educators who will meet with their counterparts in India will discuss topics such as journalism best practices, credibility, digital tools and citizen journalism, and the changing nature of journalism education.

The workshops aim to improve professional practices in journalism at media organisations and work with educators, to tackle common challenges, so that schools can adapt their curricula to prepare tomorrow's journalists.

One of the goals of these unique workshops is to provide an opportunity for U.S. journalists and educators to share ideas in a more informal setting than traditional group lectures. From these encounters, Poynter will develop follow-up evaluations, impact studies and a white paper later in 2014.

"Poynter views this project as a great opportunity to develop long-lasting and sustainable training partnerships with journalists and journalism training organisations worldwide," said Howard Finberg, director of training partnerships and alliances. "We hope to extend what we learn in-person with our digital efforts, especially our e-learning site, NewsU."

Poynter will be working with journalism schools and press organisations in each of the three states to assist in the development and execution of the program. The Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media in Bangalore has already committed to assisting.

A microsite will chronicle the project's efforts at http://india.poynter.org.

The program was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.