SPJ training program receives sponsorship from Google News Initiative for fourth year

Home > SPJ News > SPJ training program receives sponsorship from Google News Initiative for fourth year

Program offers free workshops at journalism conferences, conventions and regional SPJ events
4/10/2019

Contacts:
Nicholas Whitaker, Strategic Partner Lead, Google News Initiative, newslabsupport@google.com
Lou Harry, SPJ Google Program Manager, 317-920-4786, lharry@spj.org
Jennifer Royer, SPJ Director of Communications and Marketing, 317-361-4134, jroyer@spj.org

INDIANAPOLIS – The Society of Professional Journalists will continue its free training of journalists across North America in the use of Google tools as part of its ongoing training program powered by the Google News Initiative.

The program has been relaunched in 2019, with an emphasis on conferences, conventions and regional SPJ events.

The program, available in English and Spanish, involves SPJ members who have been trained by Google News Initiative staff, highlighting methods for improving research and digital storytelling. These free training workshops will provide an overview of Google tools and focus on important areas of journalism such as multimedia storytelling, verification, data journalism and safety and security.

Google News Initiative Strategic Partner Lead Nicholas Whitaker said, “continuing education is critical for journalists to stay current with techniques and workflows that can improve their reporting. Often though, the cost of training is too high, and the time required to learn new skills is hard to prioritize. The continuation of this training program will bring high impact training opportunities to local journalists all over the country, at regional conferences, conventions and events where journalists already are, and provide the hands-on support journalists need to be successful in the modern newsroom.”

Since the program's inception, trainings have been held in over 550 locations in the continental United States and Canada and more than 21,000 professional and student journalists have been trained.

“Thanks to the success of this partnership, thousands of journalists across the country and in Canada have received training they may not have otherwise been able to obtain,” said SPJ Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie. “Access to information is so important, and Google tools provide valuable, inventive ways for journalists to access and process information and well as to find new voices for their stories. This is beneficial for their readers, listeners and viewers.”

About Society of Professional Journalists: SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to informing citizens; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and fights to protect First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. Support excellent journalism and fight for your right to know. Become a member, give to the Legal Defense Fund, or give to the SPJ Foundation.

About Google News Initiative: The Google News Initiative is Google's unified effort to help journalism thrive in the digital age. It's focused on three key objectives: elevating quality information, evolving business models to drive sustainable growth, and empowering news organizations to innovate with technology. For more information and updates, you can visit g.co/newsinitiative.

—END—