San Jose Mercury News Joins The Learning Newsroom

Reston, VA--The San Jose Mercury News will spend two years working to develop a more open and collaborative newsroom culture by participating in The Learning Newsroom, a program sponsored by the American Press Institute and the American Society of Newspaper Editors. The Mercury News is the ninth newspaper to join the program, which is funded through a $1 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

A yearlong, on-site training program will begin in January. During this time 120 newsroom staffers will receive training aimed at fostering teamwork, improving communication and solving operational problems. Once training ends there is a second year of follow-up monitoring. Anticipated outcomes for the newsroom include improved business literacy, better communication, training plans more closely aligned with strategic goals and more efficient  processes.

The Mercury News was selected because of its innovative approach to reporting and delivering the news, said Vickey Williams, project director for The Learning Newsroom.

"The future-focused journalists who work at the Mercury News will be excellent partners in this venture," said Williams. "This is a newspaper where national stories involving technology are broken daily and innovation in the reporting and delivery of the news has been the expectation for a long time.

The paper also has a strong commitment to training. "There are many reasons the Mercury News is an ideal Learning Newsroom partner including its innovative, forward-thinking editorial staff and the paper's longstanding commitment to staff training and development," said Andrew B. Davis, API's president and executive director.

"The addition of the Mercury News' talented editorial staff and exceptional leadership team will help propel the Learning Newsroom project forward," said J. Scott Bosley, ASNE executive director.

The Learning Newsroom builds on findings of the Readership Institute's Impact Study, which found that the majority of the newsrooms surveyed exhibited a defensive culture. In these environments, teamwork is low and the organization generally does not adapt well to change. Constructive cultures tend to have employees that are more engaged and reader-oriented.

The paper's editorial staff believes it has much to gain from becoming a Learning Newsroom. "We think we can learn a lot from this project that will help us reorganize and reinvent our newsroom to meet the challenges of the future," said Susan Goldberg, executive editor and vice president of the Mercury News.

Newsrooms already participating in the program are The Bakersfield Californian; The Citizen-Times in Asheville, N.C.; the Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times; The Hamilton Spectator in Ontario, Canada; The Herald-Times in Bloomington, Ind.; The Journal Star in Lincoln, Neb.; The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash.; and The Telegraph in Nashua, N.H.

Lessons learned will be shared by ASNE and built into API's core curriculum when the pilot programs end in 2007.

The Learning Newsroom is part of Knight's $11 million Newsroom Training Initiative. The initiative began in 2003 after 50 journalism groups nationwide called for a unified effort to increase  training and the news industry's investment in it. For details, see www.learningnewsroom.org.

About the American Press Institute

The American Press Institute is an independent educational center for providing skills-training and leadership development in the news industry, offering myriad seminars for newspaper professionals. API houses the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, which offers a nationwide forum and educational opportunities for improving the quality of American business journalism. API is also the home of the Media Center, which conducts research, educational programs and symposia and facilitates strategic conversations and planning on issues shaping the future of news, information and media. Visit API online at www.americanpressinstitute.org, or call (703) 620-3611.

About the American Society of Newspaper Editors

With about 750 members, ASNE is the principal organization of American newspaper editors. It is active in a number of areas, including open government, freedom of the press, journalism credibility and ethics, newsroom management, diversity and readership. Visit ASNE online at www.ASNE.org

About Knight Foundation

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence  worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities.  Since 1950, when Knight Foundation was created, the foundation has approved more than $260 million in journalism grants. Learn more online at www.knightfdn.org.