ThePoynter Institute for Media Studies is a nonprofit journalism school and research organization inSt. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of theTampa Bay Times newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Network.[2][3] It also operates the fact-checking websitePolitiFact.[4]
The school began on May 29, 1975,[5] whenNelson Poynter, the owner and chairman of theSt. Petersburg Times (now theTampa Bay Times) andTimes Publishing Company, announced that he planned to start a small journalism school called theModern Media Institute.[6]
In 1977, Nelson Poynter willed ownership of the Times Publishing Company to the Institute so that after his death the school would become the owner of theSt. Petersburg Times.[6]
The name of the school was changed to the "Poynter Institute" in 1984.[5]
Craig Newmark (founder ofCraigslist) is a board member of the Poynter Foundation and donated $1 million to it in 2015.[7][8]
In 2018, the Poynter Institute began a cooperation with the content recommendation network Revcontent, to stop misinformation and fake news in articles[9][10][11] supplying Revcontent withfact-checking provided by their International Fact-Checking Network.[12] January 11, 2018, theCharles Koch Foundation's Director of Free Expression, Sarah Ruger, stated in anAmerican Society of News Editors news release that "The foundation supports many grantees committed to press freedom, including The Poynter Institute, theNewseum andTechdirt's free speech initiative."[13] On February 12, 2018, theTampa Bay Times, the for-profit branch of thenonprofit Poynter institute spun off thePulitzer Prize–winningPolitiFact website to form an independent division within Poynter.[4]
Since 2019,The Washington Post has been partnering with the Poynter Institute to increase diversity in media, with the goal to expand Poynter's annual Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media training journalists to become founders, top-level executives and innovators.[14][15] Other sponsors areCNN, the Scripps Howard Foundations,Craig Newmark Philanthropies, theEthics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation and TEGNA Foundation.[16]
Poynter published a list of over 515 news websites that it labeled "unreliable" in 2019. The author of the piece used variousfake news databases (including those curated by theAnnenberg Public Policy Center,Merrimack College,PolitiFact, andSnopes) to compile the list and called on advertisers to "blacklist" the included sites. The list included conservative news websites such as theWashington Examiner,The Washington Free Beacon, andThe Daily Signal as well as conspiracy outfits includingInfoWars.[17] After backlash from both readers of and contributors to some of the included publications, Poynter retracted the list, citing "weaknesses in the methodology".[18] Poynter issued a statement, saying: "[w]e regret that we failed to ensure that the data was rigorous before publication, and apologize for the confusion and agitation caused by its publication."[19]Reason pointed out that the author was a freelancer hired by the Institute who typically works for theSouthern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).Reason drew parallels between the accuracy of the list with SPLC'sown work on hate groups.[17]
In 2020, after receiving funding fromFacebook, the Poynter Institute expanded the MediaWise program with a national media literacy program called MediaWise Voter project (#MVP). Its goal was to reach two million American college students who were first-time voters, helping them to be better prepared and informed for the2020 elections.[20][21][22]
Poynter received $737,400 in federal loans from thePaycheck Protection Program during theCOVID-19 pandemic. President Neil Brown noted that this was not the first time the institute received government funding, noting past training contracts withVoice of America.[23]
In 2015, the institute launched the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which sets acode of ethics forfact-checking organizations. The IFCN reviews fact-checkers for compliance with its code, and issues acertification to publishers who pass the audit. The certification lasts for one year, and fact-checkers must be re-examined annually to retain their certifications.[24]Facebook has used the IFCN's certification to vet publishers for fact-checking contracts.[25][26] In 2025, Facebook parent companyMeta announced it would move away from using IFCN-certified fact checkers, and replace with "community notes", similar to what is done on theX social network.[27] Membership has also been used to identify the reliability of a fact-checking organization.[28]DW called it the most prominent fact-checking consortium.[29]
The IFCN and theAmerican Press Institute jointly publishFactually, anewsletter on fact-checking and journalism ethics.[24][30] The IFCN also organizes Global Fact, a yearly conference on fact checking.[31]
News University (NewsU) is a project of the Poynter Institute that offers journalism training through methods including e-learning courses, webinars, and learning games. NewsU is funded by theJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundation.[32]
In 2023, theNews Leaders Association transferred stewardship of the NLA Awards to the Poynter Institute, who will administer the contest from 2024 onward, and the awards were renamed to the Poynter Journalism Prizes.[33][34][35] That same year, Poynter announced the creation of a new prize in honor ofRoy Peter Clark called the Roy Peter Clark Award for Excellence in Short Writing.[36][37]
Since 2015, the Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism has been awarded by the Poynter Institute, recognizing journalistic relevance, ethics, and impact.[38][39][40] Past winners include:
