CPB Selects Poynter Institute to Deliver Public Media Digital Transformation Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 13, 2021) — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today that it has selected the Poynter Institute to develop and deliver a new Digital Transformation Program to educate, assist, and coach up to 80 public media senior leaders on the best strategies and tactics to transform their organization’s digital operations and culture. The virtual training will be funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The initiative will provide online training during the next two years for up to 75 public media stations’ CEOs and their staff members, as well as the leaders of five National Multicultural Alliance (NMCA) organizations.

“CPB’s commitment to advancing innovation and diversity continues to be reflected through our strategic investments helping system leaders advance a digital-first, audience-centric approach,” said Patricia Harrison, president of CEO of CPB. “The Poynter Institute, as a leading instructor and innovator, will help to scale up our efforts to support more stations accelerate their digital transformation efforts.”

The Poynter Institute will customize the Digital Transformation Program for four cohorts of up to 20 public media leaders, who will participate in the nine-month program. The program includes one-on-one coaching sessions, peer-group sessions, educational webinars, work exercises, and resources. Each CEO will work with their team on a specific digital performance challenge with clearly defined business outcomes, such as attracting and growing new and diverse audiences, increasing audience engagement, converting audiences to loyal members, and driving new revenues from digital channels.

“Vibrant public media outlets are essential to the local information ecosystem, and Poynter is excited to join in partnership with CPB to provide stations across the nation with tools, ideas and leadership strategies to generate the benefits of effectively serving audiences in the digital marketplace,” said Poynter President Neil Brown. “A focus on digital transformation will pay off for public media by establishing even greater audience engagement and loyalty.”

The new program will be in addition to the existing CPB-funded Digital Culture Accelerator Program, an intensive training and mentorship program run by QCatalyst that continues to help 22 incumbent public media station participants develop a digital mindset and adopt best practices, tools, and ways of working to increase audience reach, deepen engagement, and drive growth in membership, and revenue.

Applications for the new program are now open, with the first cohort of the program to launch in January 2022. To apply, go to http://poy.nu/DTP.

About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television, and related online services.  For more information, visit cpb.org, follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn and subscribe for email updates.

About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism education and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media, and 21st-century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, and at newsrooms, conferences, and organizations around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, offers the world’s largest online journalism curriculum, with hundreds of interactive courses and tens of thousands of registered international users. The Institute’s website produces 24-hour coverage about media, ethics, technology, and the business of news. Poynter is the home of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact, the International Fact-Checking Network and MediaWise, a digital information literacy project for young people, first-time voters, and senior citizens. The world’s top journalists and media innovators rely on Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians, and broadcasters. This work builds public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment, and discourse that serves democracy and the public good. Learn more at poynter.org.