The Poynter Institute
| The Poynter Institute | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | St. Peterburg, Fl. |
| Type: | 501(c)(3) Educational Institution |
| Affiliation: | Nonpartisan |
| Top official: | Neil Brown, President |
| Founder(s): | Nelson Poynter |
| Year founded: | 1975 |
| Employees: | 77 |
| Website: | Official website |
The Poynter Institute is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) that provides professional development training for journalists and citizens, commentary and analysis of the media industry, and fact-checking.[1] The Poynter Institute is a controlling shareholder in the Times Publishing Company, which owns the Tampa Bay Times and the national fact-checking website PolitiFact. Located in St. Petersburg, Florida, the institute offers training for journalists in the form of seminars and workshops at its St. Petersburg campus and online. Poynter also conducts training sessions at client locations. Training topics include ethics and diversity, online and multimedia, leadership and management, reporting, writing and editing, TV and radio and visual journalism.[2]
Background
The Poynter Institute describes itself as "a global nonprofit that strengthens democracy by improving the relevance, ethical practice and value of journalism.[1] Poynter was founded in 1975 by Nelson Poynter, an Indiana University graduate and the owner of the Times Publishing Company, as the Modern Media Institute (MMI).[3] He made Donald Baldwin, the editor of the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times) president of the Institute.[4] In 1977, Poynter stated:
| “ | Modern Media Institute is going to be something big and important—it has to live modestly for quite a number of years, but its job is to help train the people who are going to help maintain the integrity, the stability, the progress of self-government.[5] | ” |
Poynter died in 1978. He stipulated in his will that MMI would become the controlling shareholder of the Times in order to provide a source of revenue for the institute and to ensure the independence of the St. Petersburg Times. Six years later, MMI's board of trustees changed the institute's name to the Poynter Institute in honor of its founder.[4]
Baldwin remained president of Poynter until 1983. His successors include former editor of the St. Petersburg Times, Robert J. Haiman (1983 to 1996); former New York Times White House correspondent and editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, James M. Naughton (1996 to 2003); former editor of the Poynter Institute's Best Newspaper Writing and six-time Pulitzer Prize jurist, Dr. Karen B. Dunlap (2003 to 2014), former Washington managing editor for Bloomberg News and director of the National Sports Journalism Center at the Indiana University School of Journalism, Tim Franklin (2014 to 2017), and former Tampa Bay Times editor and vice president Neil Brown (2017 to present).[4]
Leadership
As of October 2025, the following individuals held leadership positions at the Poynter Institute:[6]
- Neil Brown, President
- Kelly McBride, Senior Vice President and Chair of Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership
- Jesse Navarro, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer
Work and activities
Acquisition of PolitiFact (2018)
The Poynter Institute acquired PolitiFact, a political fact-checking website founded in 2007, in 2018.[4] PolitiFact was originally a project of the Tampa Bay Times. Poynter released a statement that said PolitiFact's move to Poynter would allow it to "expand its fact-check training and leadership in best practices, and to be engaged in the real time journalism that it teaches."[7]
News University
In 2005, Poynter launched News University which Poynter's website describes as "one of the world's most innovative online journalism and media training programs ever created." News University is an e-learning project, meaning it utilizes an online learning environment. It offers over "300 free and low-cost courses" on topics related to multimedia, reporting and writing.
Support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation helped Poynter launch the project.[8]
MediaWire
MediaWire was an online blog hosted by the Poynter Institute. It focused on journalism, the media and "news about the news." The blog originated in 1999 as "Romenesko" and was primarily written by Jim Romenesko. After other writers began making contributions, it became known as Romenesko+. Romenesko left Poynter in 2011, following a controversy about source attribution on the blog. It was renamed MediaWire after his departure.[9][10]
Finances
The following is a breakdown of the Poynter Institute's revenues and expenses from 2015 to 2023. The information comes from ProPublica.
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $15.8 million | $15.3 million |
| 2022 | $14.9 million | $14.3 million |
| 2021 | $13.1 million | $10.5 million |
| 2020 | $14.6 million | $12.1 million |
| 2019 | $14.9 million | $9 million |
| 2018 | $9.4 million | $8.7 million |
| 2017 | $6 million | $5.9 million |
| 2016 | $5.9 million | $5.3 million |
| 2015 | $7.3 million | $6.5 million |
See also
External link
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Poynter Institute, "About Poynter," accessed October 10, 2025
- ↑ Poynter Institute, "Training Catalog," accessed October 10, 2025
- ↑ Indiana University, "The Poynter Center," accessed October 10, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Poynter Institute, "History," accessed October 10, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Poynter Institute, "Our People," accessed October 10, 2025
- ↑ Poynter, "Poynter Expands Fact-Checking Franchise by Acquiring PolitiFact.com," February 12, 2018
- ↑ News University, "About," accessed September 14, 2015
- ↑ Poynter, "Romenesko resigns after 12 years at Poynter," November 10, 2011
- ↑ New York Times, "Romenesko Leaves Poynter After Conflict Over Quotes," accessed October 10, 2025
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