Poynter wouldn’t be the international hub for journalistic excellence without caring individuals like you who value truth and transparency in news.
Thank you for trusting us to raise the standards of a free press and help citizens more fully participate in democracy worldwide.
Because of you, we can:
Direct you to ethical coverage of the Ukraine-Russia crisis
Ukrainian servicemen walk on an armored fighting vehicle during an exercise in a Joint Forces Operation controlled area in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine on Feb. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
As the world watches the conflict between Ukraine and Russia unfold, newsrooms turn to Poynter’s Al Tompkins, senior faculty, and Kelly McBride, senior vice president and chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, for guidance on ethical standards for covering military actions in real time.
If you’re tuning in to the news about this conflict, be critical consumers. Are the credentials of experts vetted? Are visuals clearly labeled with a date and time? Are you given a warning before graphic content? If yes, you can trust your news source is working hard to bring you ethical news.
Journalists’ work in the days ahead will be crucial to help citizens make informed decisions worldwide. Thank you for supporting independent reporting that elevates the truth during historic events.
Find the enduring value of stories from long ago
Roy Peter Clark holds a reprint of “Three Little Words.” (Photo by Alison Hastings)
In 1996, Roy Peter Clark wrote a serial narrative as a staff writer for the then-St. Petersburg Times called “Three Little Words.” In 29 short chapters, Clark told the story of Jane and Mick Morse, a couple with three children whose 20-year marriage was upended by the AIDS epidemic. The series established a foundation for journalists on how to cover disease, stigmatization, fear, disinformation, but also, compassion, heroism and science.
Now, 25 years later, Clark revisits this gripping collection and shares lessons from its evolution. He writes for Poynter, “The way we understand our moment — as in a pandemic, for example — can be illuminated by a return to the past, so that the ‘first rough draft of history’ can be revised and reimagined.”
Journalists rely on Poynter for mentorships with writing coaches and advice from scholars like Roy Peter Clark. Thank you for supporting Poynter and making their connections possible.
Remind your local reporters to tell it like it is
Two of Poynter’s newest trainings help reporters safely cover society’s most pressing topics. (Jayden Simelda-Longe/Poynter)
Thanks to the Joyce Foundation, your community reporters have free access to two new courses that will ensure you have full transparency around high-stakes topics leading up to this year’s midterm elections.
Starting next month, local journalists will dive deep into a series of data journalism workshops to learn how to track the nearly $2 trillion that will hit states for the next several years through the American Rescue Plan. Participants will acquire new skills to follow stimulus packages, hold local authorities accountable for spending, and incite smart societal change through storytelling.
In April, PolitiFact is leading a series of online group seminars to teach journalists how to cover elections when democratic process and participation is fractured by disinformation, intimidation, threats and violence. Voters like you will see journalists safely and responsibly holding powerful institutions accountable and reporting on pressing issues like election security and electoral law.
With support from the Joyce Foundation, we can deepen our commitment to providing journalists with professional development opportunities to better serve you and democracy. Thank you.
Discover how George Washington was his own fact-checker
President George Washington delivers his inaugural address in the Senate Chamber of Old Federal Hall in New York on April 30, 1789. (AP Photo)
PolitiFact’s editor-in-chief Angie Drobnic Holan reports that people have been using deceiving tactics to try to gain political advantage since the founding of our country. Even George Washington was a target of misinformation. Holan writes, “Forged letters from before his presidency claimed to show that Washington privately sympathized with the British monarchy and thought the American cause was doomed.”
Washington eventually issued his own fact-check. He wrote, “I have thought it a duty that I owed to myself, to my country and to truth, now to detail the circumstances above recited; and to add my solemn declaration, that the letters herein described, are a base forgery, and that I never saw or heard of them until they appeared in print.”
As we prepare to cast our votes in November’s election, fact-checkers will be working around the clock to verify or disprove stories from candidates campaign trails. Thank you for supporting our fact-checking enterprises and standing up for the truth.
You might also like to:
Circle Nov. 12 on your calendars because Poynter’s annual Bowtie Ball gala is coming back — and you’re invited!
Know the truth behind those viral posts in your feed. Follow @MediaWise on social media for daily fact-checks.
Show your alma mater's student newspaper some love on Feb. 24, and celebrate Student Press Freedom Day.
Special thanks to our Poynter Foundation Board
for their dedication to create opportunities through philanthropy
Brian Tierney, CEO, Brian Communications Ramon Bosquez, President, The Bosquez Group, LLC Michael Dreyer, President, Tampa Bay Trust Company Frank “Sandy” Rief III, Attorney, Allen Dell, Attorneys at Law Michael P. Silver, Attorney, Shutts & Bowen LLP
and Paul C. Tash, Chairman and CEO of the Times Publishing Company and Chairman of Poynter’s Board of Trustees
