The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has selected the Poynter Institute to develop and implement the second phase of its Digital Transformation Program. This initiative aims to train up to 225 public media entities on a multi-platform approach to public media.
Supported by a $5 million grant from CPB, the three-year phase will introduce two main training tracks: Fundamentals and Advanced. The Fundamentals track will target up to 150 station leaders and staff new to the program, while the Advanced track is reserved for up to 75 alumni of the initial phase or similar programs.
The DTP’s inaugural phase trained 79 entities and 458 personnel in 2022 and 2023, helping generate over $3.1 million in new digital revenue and attracted more than 10 million new digital audience members for public radio and television outlets.
The training will be customized for each cohort, focusing on enhancing digital capabilities and revenue generation through “owned” digital platforms like station websites and podcasts. Participants will also gain expertise in data analytics to improve audience engagement and monetization strategies.
The Poynter Institute is a nonprofit school for journalism located in Florida. It also operates several prominent media resources such as the fact-checking site PolitiFact, the media literacy project MediaWise, and the International Fact-Checking Network.
Applications for the Fundamentals track are open until September 6, with phase two starting in January 2025.
CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said, “CPB serves as the steward of the federal appropriation and applies these monies in ways that enable public media to continue to deliver value to the American people. Local stations are strongly connected to the communities they serve, and these communities are accessing media in many ways. CPB is forward leaning in embracing digital innovation and helping stations be future focused. Based on stations’ reviews, we have chosen the Poynter Institute to help continue our work accelerating stations digital transformation efforts.”
Poynter Institute President Neil Brown added, “The Poynter-CPB partnership recognizes the vital role that public media plays in helping people navigate their communities and the world each day. We’ve seen the transformation this program creates with greater audience, revenue, and engagement. We are eager to bring these capabilities to even more public media stations to help them serve their audiences as thriving digital enterprises.”
