News University is/was the e-learning experiment at The Poynter Institute. The project was funded in 2003 by the Knight Foundation, initially for five years. Later the foundation gave funding for another five years so Poynter could grow the opportunities for journalists around the work to improve their skills with online or digital courses. This site has some of the more important memos and reports in the Poynter / NewsU memos section. These files are some of the “nuts and bolts” memos and other documents during the life of NewsU. There maybe some duplication between sections.
June 27, 2003
How NewsU Would Function, 2003
This is a diagram of how the e-learning site, News University, would function. The site would integrate third party e-learning software and link to Poynter's online news site.
September 12, 2003
NewsU Milestones & Projections, 2003
This internal planning document from 2003 outlines key development milestones and projected benchmarks for Poynter’s News University (NewsU) e-learning initiative. It includes a proposed timeline for prototype development, course offerings, marketing strategies, and technology deployment. The plan targets phased rollouts, with specific goals for course completions, registered users, and institutional partnerships. The document anticipates growing user