Craig Newmark Philanthropies Invests $15M to Strengthen Journalism Ethics for the Digital Age

Columbia Journalism School receives $10M to launch the Craig Newmark
Center for Journalism Ethics and Security and the Craig Newmark
Professorship of Journalism


Poynter Institute receives $5M to establish the Craig Newmark
Center for Ethics and Leadership, led by Kelly McBride

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, Craig Newmark Philanthropies announces a total of $15 million to
support journalism ethics. The gifts – $10 million to the Columbia
Journalism School and $5 million to the Poynter Institute – will boost
efforts to strengthen journalism ethics for the digital age.


“With disinformation flowing through social platforms and the news, it’s
critical to modernize journalism ethics so that the industry keeps pace
with the ever-changing digital landscape,” said Craig Newmark, founder
of craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies. “Both Columbia
Journalism School and Poynter are already helping journalists do just
that, and with these gifts, I hope they’ll become the industry’s go-to
resources for the challenges journalists face in a data-driven world.”


The $10 million gift to Columbia Journalism School will endow the Craig
Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security and the Craig
Newmark Professorship. Building on the School’s tradition, the
Center will work as an accelerant by conducting groundbreaking research
and providing students and practicing journalists with resources on safe
and trustworthy reporting.


“Craig Newmark’s generosity will provide an enduring and deeply
influential investment in journalism,” said Steve Coll, Dean of the
Columbia Journalism School and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism.
“At a time of disinformation campaigns and attacks on journalists online
and off, the Center and faculty chair will send a powerful message and
will bolster a free and ethical press that secures our democratic
society.”


Within the School, the Center’s activities will include strengthening
the mandatory ethics classes, taught by senior faculty to all Master of
Science students. In addition, it will allow the school to expand its
instruction in digital and physical security, algorithmic bias, image
manipulation, source protection in a high-surveillance era, and more.
Soon, the Center will begin a search for the inaugural Craig Newmark
Professor, who will serve as its director.


The additional $5 million to the Poynter Institute will create the Craig
Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, providing working
journalists and industry leaders with relevant training and continued
education. The Center aims to be the “industry ombudsman” by supporting
the coverage of journalism ethics as a news beat; conducting annual
research projects on ethics, trust, and other topics related to
journalistic integrity; organizing an annual meeting to facilitate
collaboration; and providing individuals and companies that seek to grow
trust with consultation services.


“The need for credible, trusted information is critical to a healthy
democratic society,” said Neil Brown, President of the Poynter
Institute. “Through this profound act of Craig Newmark Philanthropies in
support of journalistic integrity and excellence, Poynter will build on
its long history in promoting media ethics and elevating the practice of
journalism. Starting with the credentials of Poynter’s Kelly McBride,
the Center will yield and promote something precious: independent,
credible information that will help citizens successfully participate in
our democracy.”


The Center will be led by Kelly McBride, senior vice president at
Poynter, who will be named the Craig Newmark Ethics Chair. It
will immediately launch a fellowship program for professional
journalists who want to deepen their knowledge of and skills around
ethical decision-making and to develop solutions to some of the
industry’s most pernicious problems.


Newmark has long been a supporter of Poynter’s ethics program. He is a
member of the Poynter Foundation board, and he contributed funds to
support the development of the 2013 book The New Ethics of
Journalism: Principles for the 21st Century, edited by Kelly McBride
and Tom Rosenstiel, President of the American Press Institute. Newmark
has also supported Poynter’s Leadership Academy for Women in Digital
Media. And, in 2017, Craig Newmark Philanthropies gave a $1 million
grant to the Poynter Institute to establish the Craig Newmark
Journalism Ethics Chair.


Newmark’s expanded investment in journalistic ethics and integrity
follows a year of meaningful gifts that have helped to promote a
trustworthy press. These include $20 million to the Craig Newmark
Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York and $20
million to the tech-focused news startup The Markup, as well as generous
donations to New York Public Radio, THE CITY, and others.


About the Columbia Journalism School


For more than a century, the Columbia Journalism School has been
preparing journalists in programs that stress academic rigor, ethics,
journalistic inquiry and professional practice. Founded with a gift from
Joseph Pulitzer, the school opened in 1912 and offers Master of Science,
Master of Arts, Master of Science in Data Journalism, a joint Master of
Science degree in Computer Science and Journalism, The Knight-Bagehot
Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism and a Doctor of
Philosophy in Communications. It houses the Columbia Journalism Review,
the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, The Tow Center for Digital
Journalism, The Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human
Rights and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. The school also
administers many of the leading journalism awards, including the Alfred
I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes, the
John Chancellor Award, the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished
Environmental Journalism, Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of
Trauma, Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award, and the Mike Berger Awards. Journalism.columbia.edu


About the Poynter Institute


The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism
education and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising
excellence in journalism, media and 21st-century public discourse.
Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St.
Petersburg, Florida, and at conferences and organizations around the
world. Its e-learning division, News University, offers the world’s
largest online journalism curriculum, with hundreds of interactive
courses and tens of thousands of registered international users. The
Institute’s website, poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage about media,
ethics, technology and the business of news. The world’s top journalists
and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations
of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual
journalists, documentarians and broadcasters. Poynter is the home of
PolitiFact, the International Fact-checking Network and MediaWise. This
work builds public awareness about journalism, media, the First
Amendment and discourse that serves democracy and the public good.


About Craig Newmark Philanthropies


Craig Newmark Philanthropies was created by craigslist founder Craig
Newmark to support and connect people and drive broad civic engagement.
The organization works to advance people and grassroots organizations
that are getting stuff done in areas that include trustworthy
journalism, voter protection, gender diversity in technology, and
veterans and military families. For more information, please visit: CraigNewmarkPhilanthropies.org.


Contacts

Press ContactsChantal De Soto, Columbia Journalism SchoolChantal.Desoto@Columbia.edu,
(212) 854-3781
Tina Dyakon, the Poynter InstituteTDyakon@Poynter.org,
(727) 553-4343
Carner Round, Craig Newmark PhilanthropiesCraigNewmarkFoundation@WeberShandwick.com,
(347) 260-1957