This is a collection of memos and reports that I wrote during my time at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies. I joined Poynter in 2002 as its Presidential Scholar. This was a more like a consulting job. I traveled from Phoenix to St. Petersburg at least once a month and stayed for a week to 10 days. In 2003 I joined the Institute full-time to lead its efforts to create an e-learning site, News University. As Interactive Learning Director, I created, with lots of help, the world’s largest journalism-based online training program. As of 2014, there are more than 300,000 registered users on the site. I became Poynter’s director of partnerships and alliances [as known as business development] director in 2012. Some of these memos are also reflected in the “Analog to Digital” timeline, which is the heart of this project.
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September 21, 1988
Poynter Seminar on Design for 1980s
One of the first seminars I taught at was The Poynter Institute for Media Studies' "Newspaper Design for the '80s". Here's the invitation letter from Mario Garcia bio, associate director of Poynter. I had been at the Institute earlier as both a participant and a presenter.
Read MoreJune 27, 2003
Poynter’s News University: Site Structure
I've have learned that when trying to create something new, it is helpful to draw a picture. Some folks learn by reading; others by looking at a picture.
Read MoreJanuary 29, 2004
Web+10 Conference Proposal
Ideas for a Poynter conference to celebrate 10 years of Web-based news
Read MoreNovember 18, 2004
NewsU 2004 Stats
Some of the statistics shortly before official launch of NewsU
Read MoreJune 1, 2006
The Explosive Growth of Journalism E-Learning
Part of the mission of Poynter's News University was to provide research on the whether e-learning would be an effective method of training journalists. NewsU launched in April 2005 after a short beta period, with 1961 registered users. In April 2006, the e-learning platform had more than 13,500 users.
Read MoreNovember 19, 2014
Constant Training: New Normal or Missed Opportunity
As part of the grant to The Poynter Institute for the creation and running of News University, an online training program, the Knight Foundation asked that we conduct studies as to how effective training was and better understand the training needs of journalists. One study was called "Constant Training" and it was based on a survey of newsrooms and journalists. Here's what I wrote in the introduction:
Read MoreJanuary 1, 2015
NewsU Story Contest Finalists
Poynter's News University liked to celebrate its users and held a couple of contests to get compelling stories from its students. This document is a worksheet for those at Poynter who were tasked to pick the best stories. [The stars note candidates that I thought were solid entries.]
Read MoreJuly 21, 2015
NewsU 2003 Site Plans
Description of some of the NewsU site features in advance of meeting with technology providers
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