What Is Poynter?

by Jane Martin – The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a journalism school for research.  It is a non-profit news organization.  It is located in St. Petersburg, Fl.  Teachers, students and newsroom leaders learn skills such as fact checking, reporting, and storytelling.  Poynter emphasizes the high importance of ethics and diversity in the newsroom.  It was also a mid-career place for journalists.  In 1999, a website was created for the school.  In 2015, The International Fact Checking Network was founded.  It promotes the best in excellence  for honesty and integrity in the business.

As owner of the St. Petersburg Times and chairman of the Times Publishing Company, Nelson Poynter decided to start a school for journalism.  He founded the Modern Institute of Media Studies.  Later, it became the Poynter Institute.  In 1977, he would give the ownership of the newspaper to the school.  The name of the newspaper was changed from the St. Petersburg Times to the Tampa Bay Times and is owned by Poynter Institute.  It the largest newspaper in the state.

Recently Poynter has been in the news to help Facebook with stories that are fake about the coronavirus.

For more information please click on this link.

Students should also follow Ponyter’s social media accounts for the latest journalism news.