Plus: Transform your newsroom in 2023 and beyond, stay sharp during peak midterm mayhem and spark a little joy on the job.

Deepfakes are scary. But “cheap fakes” are spookier. 👻

Throughout Media Literacy Week this week, Poynter will offer resources and tips like this to help you and your audiences identify online treats — not tricks.

Get started by following @MediaWise on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

We are also serving up programs to transform your newsroom in 2023 and beyond, stay sharp during peak midterm mayhem and spark a little joy on the job in today's Weekly Training Digest.

P.S. We're helping some of our neighbors in Tampa Bay prep for the polls at Poynter this Thursday during an interactive, informative luncheon with AARP. A couple of spots are still open. It's free.

COMING UP

Table Stakes: Poynter’s Local News Innovation Program

Online and in-person program, Jan. 17-Dec. 8, 2023

Usher in a new era of growth for your organization with this intensive, yearlong program. We help local news organizations transform into audience-focused, market-leading, sustainable enterprises.

“Going through Table Stakes helped us identify gaps within our organization so we could continue building out our team in a strategic way that makes sense not only from an editorial standpoint, but from a financial point of view as well,” said Vicky Ho, managing editor at Anchorage Daily News, which participated in Table Stakes in 2017 and 2019.

Table Stakes also spurred Ho and her team to seek out partnerships to grow capacity. The Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica were awarded a Pulitzer in 2020 for a project called Lawless, focusing on sexual violence and law enforcement in Alaska.

Cost: $500-$6,500, depending on the size of your news organization. Apply as a group by Nov. 18.

APPLY NOW

Midterm Essentials: Election Issues Broadcast Journalists Should Know

Self-directed online course, start anytime

Need to study up on a particular election issue? This free course — which you can take on your own time and in whatever order you want — will help you hold candidates accountable as the midterms heat up. Don't settle for campaign talking points, allow candidates to talk in rhetorical circles or accidentally amplify common falsehoods online.

Topics include climate change, inflation and the economy, health care and drug costs, immigration, campaign finance, guns and gun control, and detecting disinformation.

Cost: Free.

ENROLL NOW

Find Facts Fast

Text message course, start anytime

Media Literacy Week is the perfect opportunity to share this free resource with your audience. Help readers, listeners and viewers improve their digital savviness and contribute to a healthy democracy.

Sign up to receive daily lessons on key digital media literacy topics via SMS or WhatsApp. These topics are proven to help people quickly discover reliable information and trustworthy sources across the internet and in their social feeds.

Cost: Free.

The Bowtie Ball

In-person event, Saturday, Nov. 12, Tampa, Florida

The Bowtie Ball is Poynter’s largest celebration of journalistic excellence and most significant fundraising event where hundreds of guests are immersed in an elegant evening of impactful storytelling.

Join us this year on Saturday, Nov. 12, at Tampa Marriott Water Street. Together, we’ll celebrate the free press and honor the distinguished careers of legendary journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein whose dogged reporting of the 1972 Watergate break-in changed the course of American history and fortified journalism’s role in democracy. The pair’s contributions will be elevated throughout the evening; Bernstein will attend the event in person and reflect upon his investigative reporting during an interview on stage.

Cost: $225-$350. Proceeds from your ticket help Poynter improve, strengthen and sustain quality journalism in diverse newsrooms around the world.

GET TICKETS

FREE FACT-CHECKING RESOURCES

MediaWise en Español
Digital literacy program for Spanish speakers
Learn from MediaWise Ambassadors and international journalists José Díaz-Balart and Julio Vaqueiro as they lead you through lessons in three formats: a 10-day WhatsApp course, an online course and a YouTube video series. Learn more.

PolitiFact Weekly
Newsletter
Get fresh insight heading into the 2022 midterm elections. Subscribe to PolitiFact’s newsletter for the most newsworthy, nonpartisan fact-checks of our country’s elected officials — and those campaigning to flip their seats. Sign up.

How to Spot Misinformation Online
Self-directed course, start anytime
Outsmart algorithms, detect falsehoods and make decisions based on factual information. This free, self-guided training is designed to teach simple digital literacy skills to news consumers. Enroll now.

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