The popular international training program on product thinking for news will have three additional cohorts in 2022-2023.
Product Immersion for Small Newsrooms, an online, tuition-free training program for journalists by the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, welcomes three new cohorts in 2022-2023, thanks to the support by partners News Product Alliance (NPA) and the Google News Initiative. Applications open today for the first cohort, which will train 25 journalists from Europe, the Middle East and Africa from September to November, 2022.
“Time and time again, we’ve seen how crucial product thinking is to the long term sustainability of newsrooms. The alumni of the previous cohorts reported immediate impact to their newsrooms, their service to their audiences and their own careers. Many called Product Immersion transformational,” said Marie Gilot, J+ director at the Newmark J-School.
The program is intended for journalists and staff inside small to midsize news organizations who have little to no experience with product development and management but have an interest in adopting a product approach. It consists of two months of weekly online classes taught by leaders in product design and development from newsrooms around the world, and small-group coaching along the way.
“Thanks to our network of news product experts from around the world teaching these classes, we can really showcase the diversity of ways in which product thinking can be applied to fit a newsroom’s specific needs and how versatile of a tool it can be,” said Feli Carrique, Executive Director of NPA.
Since its pilot in 2020, the program has served 100 journalists across the globe, helping them transition into product development and management roles in their newsrooms, launch news products, improve team communication and collaboration, adopt an audience-first ethos, prioritize data, and explore new revenue streams.
In this new cycle, Product Immersion will serve three consecutive cohorts of 25 to 30 journalists; one in Europe/Africa/Middle East, one in Asia Pacific, and one in the Americas. Instruction will be in English and fluency in English is required.
“The success of our prior cohorts have shown that there is a central place for product thinking in the news industry. More than ever, there is a growing need to equip journalists with those tools to ensure that they can continue to innovate, bring in new audiences, and respond to the next global crisis that reshapes the industry,” said Marco Túlio Pires, News Lab Lead for GNI.
The program is now accepting applications from journalists based in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (GMT 0 to +4) through July 15, 2022. To be considered for the program, applicants must submit the online application, which includes several short responses about the applicant’s familiarity with and interest in product development and a letter of newsroom commitment from the applicant’s organization.
Applications for the Asia-Pacific cohort will open in September 2022, while recruitment for the Americas cohort will begin in December 2022. To receive updates about the Product Immersion program, including email alerts when future applications open, please register for our mailing list.
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