Smart ideas for your limited training budget

Tight newsroom budgets can make it challenging to reward journalists by investing in their careers.

With that in mind, Poynter has several outstanding and cost-effective opportunities for employers to show they care about their journalists — or for journalists to enhance their careers.

For $50, get enrollment into the six-week newsletter course Work-Life Chemistry to discover the unique formula that can help every journalist thrive. 

For $75, you can buy one pass to Beat Academy, a true bargain that gets you access to eight dynamic topics with several hours of training in each, from covering extremism to immigration to climate change. There are even free reporting trips and grant opportunities for enrollees.

$75 will also get you one entry into the Poynter Prizes — a real vote of confidence for someone’s work.

If you’ve got $250, you can send five people to Beat Academy (five or more enrollees get in for just $50 apiece), or more if your budget allows. Did we mention grant money and free trips?

For $600, you can send an outstanding employee to Lead With Influence in February or October. Show your allyship and support to female and nonbinary journalists by offering to pay for them to attend the June session, designed especially for them.

For $1,000, you can enroll a whole team of journalists (up to six) in our Transforming Crime Coverage program, designed to greatly improve your newsroom's coverage of criminal justice in your community.

Deadlines are quickly approaching, so act accordingly.

Whether you’re a manager looking for tangible ways to reward your employees, or a hard-working journalist seeking self-improvement, read on for details.

• Extremist Politics: How to report on powerful undercurrents in the 2024 elections (Feb. 1, 15)
• Auditing ARPA and IRA: How to report on Biden’s promise to communities (Feb. 29)
• Immigration in Focus: How domestic labor demand and politically driven immigrant busing expose flaws in the system (March 14; El Paso workshop June 5-7)
• Economic Realities: Understanding your local economy and telling compelling stories centered on people and families (March 28, writing session June 13)
• Transgender Coverage: Avoiding rhetoric to deliver meaningful journalism (April 18, May 2)
• New Healthcare Dynamics: What medical AI and the lack of long-term care choices mean for your communities (May 30, Sept. 26)
• Vote Watch 2024: What’s on the line for your state’s voting system? (July 11)
• Climate Change: Finding the angle in any beat (Sept. 12)

• All gender identities: Wednesdays in February
• Women and nonbinary journalists: Mondays in June
• All gender identities: Wednesdays in October