We have collated a list of self-paced online courses for journalists and newsroom leaders to build capacity in core areas of the craft and develop their careers.
Creating time to attend live webinars or committing to scheduled training might be difficult for journalists and newsroom leaders whose fast-paced and unpredictable work makes them mostly unavailable.
Self-paced online courses are better options for professionals. This is why we collated a list of self-paced online courses to build your capacity in core areas of craft to develop your career and benefit your organisation. More importantly, these online courses are free and some of them offer certificates at the end of participation.
Grant Writing for Journalists. Poynter Institute for Media Studies
In this age of big-tech platforms taking most of the advertisement, media outfits need to explore other sources of funding to power their operation. This self-paced online course designed by the Poynter Institute in collaboration with the Centre for Sustainable Media walks participants through the details of a typical grant application process from start to end. It includes developing an organizational strategy; finding grants to support the strategy; developing the components of a grant application; designing budgets; and creating monitoring and evaluation plans.
The course does not only explores the strategies, frameworks and approaches for grant applications, but it also walks participants through the step-by-step process of writing grant proposals and the monitoring and evaluation stage. The course is made free with the support of Meta.
Interested journalists and newsroom leaders can enroll for the course here.
Pay Attention: Legal Issues and Your Media Company. Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
This course focuses on the obvious and intricate legal issues that come with media practice, exploring topics like privacy and consent, defamation and retraction, reporters’ rights and copyrights in all its scope.
“It aims to expose you to a wide variety of legal issues you need to consider throughout the news-publishing process as well as practical approaches to minimizing risk. It is not looking to arm you to be your own lawyer. This is not training so you can defend yourself in court. The goal is to fill you in on legal risks, not tell you what to do legally.” The course was sponsored by the Democracy Fund.
Interested journalists and newsroom leaders can enroll for the course here.
[READ ALSO: Opportunities to learn AI in Journalism]
How Any Journalist Can Earn Trust. Poynter Institute for Media Studies
News consumers’ trust in news, for years now, has consistently reduced and audiences are now intentionally avoiding certain kinds of news or news platforms.
Journalists and media outfits need to get their acts right and start working to earn back the trust of their audience who are the reason for their relevance. Doing this will need journalists to actively work to earn the trust of their communities by telling them why they are worthy of their time, trust and support.
This self-directed online course, led by the Trusting News team, will help journalists understand mistrust and gain a better understanding of what trust in news looks like. It will also provide you with tips and tools to be more transparent, more engaged and more open with your users.
Interested journalists and newsroom leaders can enrol for the course here.
AI in The Newsroom: The Ethical Approach. Thomson Foundation.
The adoption of Artificial intelligence in workflow even by journalists is growing by the day and journalism being a sensitive profession that not only deals in information sharing but is responsible for ethical and legal considerations, there is a need for a conscious effort to ensure this revolutionary tool align with the ideals of the profession.
Newsrooms need to have mechanisms for quality assurance in place for the use of AI because if they don’t have the right policies in place, there can be reputational damage, legal trouble and damage to audience trust.
This course takes journalists and newsroom leaders through the intricacies of the ethical use of AI.
Interested journalists and newsroom leaders can enroll for the course here.
[READ ALSO: Editorial: Ensuring best practices in use of AI]
The Principles of Media Company Management. Thomson Foundation.
Media business although primarily powered by the production of editorial content is also like any other business that needs to align with well-established business management practices.
From market research to business planning to structuring, performance monitoring, accountability and other core concepts, a good media business leader should be conversant with how it is done. The need for this knowledge is exactly what this online course caters for.
The programme illustrates the fundamental principles of media business management. It focuses on managing a media business. The process of assessing a marketplace for the launch of a media business or developing a market strategy are separate topics
Interested journalists and newsroom leaders can enroll for the course here.
