Bringing power to your story
The world of news is changing and so is the way we tell our stories. The Digital News Academy equips journalists and editors with up-to-the-minute tools, techniques and insights required to succeed, now and into the future.
A powerful collaboration
News Corp Australia, Google and Melbourne Business School have joined forces to launch the Digital News Academy, the first partnership of its kind in the world to offer a curriculum dedicated to digital storytelling. Combining deep expertise in journalism, technology and education, these forward-thinking organisations will give participants unique access to a range of national leaders and global experts.
What makes digital journalism so exciting is the ability to reach readers and viewers anywhere in the world; to connect with them and inspire them with investigative journalism that transcends borders.
Sharri Markson, Investigations editor, The Australian
Journalism has evolved into digital storytelling and we need to experiment in creative ways with video and audio to engage with all audiences to build brand loyalty. This is especially important as we compete for attention and trust across myriad channels.
Lisa Muxworthy, Editor in chief, news.com.au
Digital journalism allows my colleagues and me to consistently reach local readers, where they are, with the community news they care about, as it's happening.
Eliza Barr, journalist, St George Standard
A powerful panel of experts
Each cohort of 250 journalists, editors and publishers from News Corp and other participating news organisations will attend a nine-month virtual program, split into three-month sprints. They will be mentored by leading digital media experts from Australia and around the world.
Campbell Reid
News Corp AustraliaAn experienced journalist, editor and News Corp Australia media executive, Campbell is a leader in news innovation and a key driver of News Corp's involvement with the Google News Initiative. Campbell calls on journalists and publishers to embrace the challenge to design their craft’s digital future.
Sonja Heydeman
Academy Director, Digital News AcademySonja Heydeman is a highly-respected journalist and educator with more than 30 years of experience at the ABC, SBS and commercial networks. She was an Industry Fellow at RMIT where she received multiple awards, including the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia’s Outstanding Teaching Award and the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.
Gerard Baker
Editor at Large, The Wall Street JournalFormer editor-in-chief at The Wall Street Journal and author of its “Free Expression” column, Gerry is now The WSJ’s editor-at-large and a Fox Business Network host. The veteran journalist – he was also Dow Jones’s managing editor – led the transformation of The Wall Street Journal’s newsroom for digital success. He is a fierce advocate for free speech and objective, impartial journalism.
David Dieudonné
Google News Lab and co-convenor, JournalismAIDavid Dieudonné is Google's News Lab Lead for France, Italy and Spain, and leads Google's JournalismAI partnership with the London School of Economics. Previously, he worked at Agence France-Presse, including as bureau chief in Marseilles and Washington bureau reporter. David began his career at Reporters Without Borders and has a Masters of Arts in French modern literature.
Megan Chan
Google News LabMegan H. Chan is the News Ecosystem Lead at Google where she works on building tools for journalists, local news, and evolving news business models. She previously spent a decade in journalism as Director of Digital Operations at The Washington Post, Director of Product at Politico and Online Washington Editor at USA TODAY.
A powerful curriculum
The Academy will show learners how cutting-edge technologies can be used to enhance their practice.
Ranging from multimedia, vertical storytelling, data journalism and verification to in-depth investigative reporting, participants will hear from some of the best practitioners in Australia and the world, drawn from the news industry and Google's global talent pool.
Learners will also be equipped with knowledge of how the business of journalism works, including audience engagement and ways to attract new audiences.
The Digital News Academy's commitment is to provide the toolkit, skillset and mindset that will help journalism practitioners at all levels of the profession discover what's new and what's possible, through an innovative learning approach and a supportive environment.
The program includes vibrant self-paced interactive content and the chance to learn with and from peers from newsrooms across the country.
The Digital News Academy is an exciting, world-leading approach to developing today’s journalists and fostering future industry leaders.
