The American Press Institute is an educational non-advocacy

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

nonprofit organization affiliated with the News Media Alliance (formerly the Newspaper Association of America). The institute's mission is to encourage the advancement of news media; it conducts research, training, convenes leaders and creates tools for journalism. It describes itself as advancing "an innovative and sustainable news industry by helping publishers understand and engage audiences, grow revenue, improve public-service journalism, and succeed at organizational change."

History

The institute, founded in 1946, initially was at the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

before moving in 1974 to

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City movem ...

It has been described by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' as the nation's "most venerable press-management and training organization." The institute's discussion leaders have included former Washington Post Executive Editor

Ben Bradlee Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor, then as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The New Y ...

, former New York City Mayor

David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office. Before enteri ...

, ''Washington Post'' publisher

Katharine Graham Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, ''The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, whi ...

, and

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winner and former

Poynter Institute The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Netwo ...

chairman

Eugene Patterson Eugene Corbett Patterson (October 15, 1923 – January 12, 2013), sometimes known as Gene Patterson, was an American journalist and civil rights activist. He was awarded the 1967 Pulitzer Prize, 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. Early lif ...

. However, API's fortunes declined in parallel with those of

American newspapers Newspapers in the United States have been published since the 18th century and are an integral part of the culture of the United States. Although a few newspapers including ''The New York Times'', ''USA Today'', and ''The Wall Street Journal'' ar ...

, which were once one of the most profitable businesses in the nation. The institute in early 2012 merged with the

NAA Foundation The Newspaper Association of America Foundation was established in 1961 by the Board of Directors of the American Newspaper Publishers Association. In 1992, the ANPA merged with six other newspaper associations to form the Newspaper Association ...

of the Newspaper Association of America and shuttered its landmark headquarters. Starting in 2013, API's leadership led its transformation from a training institution to an "applied think tank," producing research, programs, events and tools that facilitate learning in the news industry mostly outside a traditional training model. As of 2018, some of API's projects include: *The Media Insight Project, a joint research initiative with the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago. *Metrics for News, an analytics program and tool to help publishers understand how their audiences interact with their journalism. *Thought Leader Summits, "one-day summits on focused topics of importance in the current journalism landscape." *Programs on growing reader revenue, improving accountability journalism and succeeding at organizational change. As of January 2022, the center'
incoming executive director and CEO
is Michael D. Bolden, an editor at The San Francisco Chronicle an
former managing director
of the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford. Previously the institute was led by executive director Tom Rosentiel.

References

{{Authority control 501(c)(3) organizations Organizations established in 1946 American journalism organizations