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Plus, the “Lifespan of a Fact” with PolitiFact’s Angie Holan

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Meeting you at the theater

(Courtesy Stageworks Theatre)

You may recall that actor Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) played a fact-checker in the Broadway production of “The Lifespan of a Fact.” A Tampa theatre company is performing the comedic play and asked PolitiFact editor Angie Holan to do a talkback after two performances. She’ll share how the work of real fact-checkers compares with that of Jim Fingal, the fact-checker that a struggling literary magazine assigns to test the truth of a sensationalist essay about a teenager jumping from the observation deck of a Las Vegas casino. You can be part of the talkbacks after the Sunday, Feb. 21 and Feb. 28 shows, whether you attend in person or virtually.

For details and tickets, go to Stageworks Theatre’s website, choose the Feb. 21 or 28 matinee performance and when you check out, use the discount code POYNTER to get $5 off your ticket.

Celebrating a free student press

(Shutterstock)

Many journalists you know got their start as student journalists — Walter Cronkite, Lester Holt, Katie Couric. Some of you may have worked on high school or college media. You can be a part of Student Press Freedom Day on Feb. 26, where the theme is Journalism Against the Odds in acknowledgment of the work of student journalists despite incredible challenges. Event organizers urge students to write an op-ed for the local paper about the importance of local journalism, or tweet about the importance of a free student press.

You can help, too. You can support student journalism organizations like the Student Press Law Center, which provides pro bono legal advice to student editors when they run afoul of principals or school boards, or Poynter, which plans a virtual high school journalism workshop this summer and welcomes donations for scholarships to make the experience available to all. You can also subscribe to our newsletter for student journalists or our newsletter for journalism educators to stay plugged into the future of news.

Helping early career journalists get their big break

(Shutterstock)

Do you know someone who wants to switch career paths and explore journalism? Let them know about Poynter’s year-long fellowship program that places early career journalists in paid positions inside newsrooms while providing rigorous training and mentorship opportunities. And if you know a student interested in journalism, be sure they know about the new Poynter internship database. It lists more than 60 paid internships at media organizations across the country.

These are two more ways that Poynter, with your support, supports new voices in media.

Helping you learn something new

(Screenshot, Humaaans)

Browse this roundup of 50 new tools and see how these resources can improve your writing and storytelling, whether you’re a professional journalist or not. You’ll find free illustrations with rich diversity for your newsletters or email invitations, and a website that helps you avoid the word “very” by recommending a more concise alternative (“furious” instead of “very angry”). The list comes from Jeremy Caplan at the City University of New York who taught entrepreneurial journalism at Poynter thanks to a grant from the Ford Foundation.

You could also sign up for upcoming training with Poynter. Two suggestions:

Becoming a More Effective Writer: Clarity and Organization. Online group seminar, begins April 5. Build the reporting and writing habits you need to organize your information better and write more clearly.

MediaWise for Seniors: Fact-Checking Course. Self-directed course, start anytime. In this online course designed for Americans over 50 years old, Christiane Amanpour and Joan Lunden will share tools and techniques for fact-checking what you see on the internet.

Thank you for your interest in Poynter and your support of our work in service to democracy. We appreciate you!

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