Many wiped out by Maria
November 16, 2017
Healing at St Michael’s
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CAMSEL Digital Media Manager Tracy Chimming-Lewis recently returned from a week of journalism coaching and leadership training in the United States, after being selected as one of 15 international fellows of The Media Project.
Participating media practitioners came from electronic and print media in Argentina, Cameroon, Nigeria, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Kenya, Poland and Venezuela. Chimming-Lewis was the lone representative from the Caribbean.
The mid-October workshop consisted of interactive sessions on leadership principles with a focus on strategic thinking, global fact-checking, social media, coaching writers, using feedback, resolving conflict, and improving newsroom collaboration.
The Fellowship requires participants to make a year-long commitment to implement their new coaching and leadership skills. Fellows agree to mentor two journalists working in their home country.
Chimming-Lewis described the workshop as a rewarding experience and has already begun passing on the knowledge to CAMSEL’s Editorial and Digital team members. She said that the experience gave her a great opportunity to reflect on the rapidly evolving field of communications and to learn from international media practitioners facing similar challenges.
The Media Project (TMP) is an international non-profit news site and journalism training organisation which conducts education, training and professional development programmes with working journalists and journalism students around the world. It is based in New York City at The McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute at The King’s College.
Venue for the workshop was The Poynter Institute (poynter.org), St Petersburg, Florida. TMP Executive Director Paul Glader described the Institute as “a gold standard for journalistic ethics and leadership”. Poynter senior faculty members Roy Peter Clark and Al Tompkins led presentations as well as Glader, a veteran Wall Street Journal reporter, magazine journalist and associate professor at The King’s College.
Core training sessions were led by Jill Geisler, who holds the Bill Plante Chair in Leadership and Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago. For 16 years, Geisler guided the leadership and management programmes of The Poynter Institute. “This is my sixth opportunity to work with these journalists who have been carefully selected by TMP. Each year I marvel at their passion, wisdom, and resilience,” Geisler said.
During the workshop, TMP fellows also explored the intersection of journalism and faith with columnist Terry Mattingly. Mattingly writes the US syndicated column ‘On Religion’ and is a senior fellow in media and religion at The King’s College, and an ex-officio board member of TMP.
A group photo of participants, presenters and TMP Board members. CAMSEL’s Tracy Chimming-Lewis is second from left, front row.
