Understanding the need for greater diversity in the local media industry, LMA and Google News Initiative have teamed up to offer 50 scholarships to Media Transformation 2018. The conference takes place September 25-27 in Kansas City and focuses on innovation, transformation and new business models that will sustain local journalism.
The 50 scholarships will be awarded to a diverse mix of under-represented candidates based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, etc. as well as those who work at smaller media companies.
Candidates must work for a media company and be nominated by their supervisor. The first 50 to apply will be granted the scholarship (a $795 value to attend the conference). Ten will be chosen to have their travel costs covered based on financial need. We are encouraging women, employees 35 years old and younger and other under-represented categories to apply. We will also make at least 15 scholarships available for people who work for small media companies or in markets outside of the top 25, regardless of their age, gender, race, etc.
“We are excited to offer scholarships for the first time in our history,” said Nancy Lane, President, LMA, “We can’t thank the Google News Initiative enough for this generous sponsorship that will provide an outstanding professional development experience to 50 people working in local media. Diversity and inclusion are one of the top priorities in the new LMA strategic plan that will be announced later this year. Initiatives like this one will go a long way in helping our industry become more diverse.”
Media Transformation features three in-depth workshops for attendees to choose from: digital subscriptions, solving our human capital problems and empowering successful sales managers. All of the five-hour workshops feature faculty members that are on the cutting-edge of these topics. The conference also features keynote addresses from executives at Google and TEGNA, a Women in Local Media Summit on day one and a robust exhibit hall featuring the industry’s most innovative R&D partners.
The Google News Initiative blogged about this today. Click here to read more.