Three journalists from Australia and New Zealand will have the opportunity to build their newsroom leadership skills as part of the new Google News Initiative Newsroom Leadership Program at Columbia Journalism School.
As part of a program to help journalists better manage the transition to the digital age, the Google News Initiative (GNI) has teamed up with the Columbia School of Journalism to offer a curated program for ten journalists from the Asia-Pacific region.
The Walkley Foundation will work with the Google News Initiative to shortlist journalists from Australia and New Zealand.
“Not so long ago, journalists had the luxury of focusing on filling the next day’s paper, radio segment or television broadcast, without needing to think about business models, subscriptions, publishing tools and technology,” said Irene Jay Liu, Google News Lab Lead, Asia-Pacific.
“Today’s newsroom leaders need to understand the business of news in order to be stewards of great journalism. Everyone must also think like a publisher.”
The program, which includes four weeks of onsite courses at Columbia University in New York City and Google offices in Silicon Valley and Asia, is for mid-career journalists who have the potential to take on larger roles and run their organisations. Each Fellow will also work on a specific project during the year that is relevant to their newsroom within the main fellowship topics: technology, monetisation, and data.
Fellows will learn how to lead through change in this fast-moving environment and identify opportunities for entrepreneurship within their newsrooms. The program will emphasise:
- How news companies operate as businesses, and how technology has revolutionised what it means to be a publisher.
- Ways to evaluate the costs and benefits of introducing technology-driven changes into newsroom workflows, and how to ensure managers and direct reports support new ways of working.
- The use of data to create compelling content that will resonate with audiences.
- How to facilitate design-thinking in newsrooms using Google’s design sprint methodology, which is used to solve problems and develop products.
The deadline to apply is June 26, 2019, but journalists are encouraged to submit applications early, as they are considered on a rolling basis.
Shortlisted applicants are interviewed by the Google News Initiative, and a Columbia University faculty member will select the Fellows from among those who meet all the criteria.
For more information about the program, curriculum and application instructions, visit the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism website. Submit your application here. You can also email helen.johnstone@walkleys.com with further questions.
About the program
The Google News Initiative is partnering with news industry and journalist organisations around the Asia-Pacific region to shortlist applicants for this program, including the Walkley Foundation, J-Forum, Journalists Association of Korea, Aliansi Jurnalis Independen, and Splice.