Frequently Asked Questions
How does NPF decide which training to provide?
NPF senior staff stays abreast of topics in the news as well as trends in technology and the digital world. We also rely on our Board of Directors, comprised of top-notch journalists, corporate communications professionals, accomplished academics, technology executives, and experienced leaders in the legal profession to offer suggestions on trends, emerging issues and upcoming events. Our mission is to produce training that journalists cannot get elsewhere or in such depth. We often pair current issues programming with toolbox training.
How much does it cost?
NPF programs are free of charge to journalists and their organizations.
How does NPF present its training?
Training ranges from one-hour webinars to week-long in-person international seminars. NPF also offers half-day training, full-day programs and four-day boot camps. Our training takes place in Washington, in other U.S. cities, and around the world. Two things never change: Our programs are on the record, and there is plenty of time for Q&A.
What’s all that content on your website?
From each program, we produce video, audio, blog posts, speaker slides and photos that are archived as a real-time resource for journalists on our website. This content is free-of-charge to reproduce, with credit to NPF. Our programming is also distributed through social media to expand the reach of our training to tens of thousands of journalists in every corner of the world.
What is NPF’s history?
NPF conducted its first educational program in 1976 and has trained thousands of journalists in-person since then; another 150,000 have used NPF’s online resources. In 1993 NPF joined forces with the Washington Journalism Center, a training center that traced its educational programs to 1965. NPF proudly celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2016 and looks forward to “Making Good Journalists Better” for another 40.
How are speakers selected?
We research the best experts on a particular topic for each program. Speakers come from government, industry, academia, journalism. We don’t pay our speakers. On occasion we will invite a leading expert from out of town to participate in an in-person program and in some instances may pay their travel expenses.
How is NPF funded?
NPF has multiple sources of funding. We have approximately $1 million in an unrestricted investment fund from which we withdraw about 5 percent annually to support operating expenses. We have another $1 million in restricted funds and $1 million from a bequest from the Lawrence B. Taishoff Foundation for education and training of video journalists. We have an annual awards dinner, and the net proceeds from that go to general operating costs. We also apply for and receive grants from nonprofit and for-profit organizations. A list of our funders can be found here.
Where can I get more information about NPF?
You can look at our annual report. You can read our latest newsletters. And you can review our 990s.
How can I contribute to NPF?
Financial contributions are tax-deductible because NPF is registered as a 501(c)(3). Your contributions go directly to training and educating journalists, our sole mission. You can encourage journalists to apply for our ever-evolving training programs, or you can spread the word about our annual achievement awards. You can volunteer to serve on the NPF dinner committee, which solicits sponsors for our annual awards dinner, which is the largest source of unrestricted funds for NPF training. You can purchase a table or sponsorship for our dinner here.
What influence does a funder have on a program?
We have a strict set of guidelines that has been in place for more than a decade. It can be found here.