In an effort to teach journalists innovative new ways to tell stories for the next generation of news consumers, VICE Media and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will each contribute $250,000 to establish a training fund at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
Announcement of the new $500,000 fund came Dec. 1 at the Knight Innovation Awards and Summit, where VICE Media co-founder Shane Smith received the Knight Foundation’s second annual Innovation Award for bringing fresh perspectives and voices to journalism. The event was hosted by the CUNY J-School and the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism.
“To engage the next generation of news consumers on important issues around the world, we need to tell stories in new ways while maintaining a commitment to strong, quality reporting,” said Jennifer Preston, vice president of journalism for the Knight Foundation. “VICE’s immersive, adaptive style has created a model for a style of storytelling that should spread. With CUNY’s help, we hope to do just that through this new initiative.”
Smith is the second individual to receive the Knight Innovation Award. As part of the honor, he received $25,000 for himself and another $25,000 to present to a startup of his choosing.
He selected Payk, a nonprofit investigative reporting media organization based in Afghanistan, as his choice of an outstanding news and information innovator to receive the second prize.