9-Week GenAI Course for Newsrooms

Join ONA for a nine-week immersive GenAI course alongside a cohort of your peers. Over nine sessions, we’ll explore the impacts and practical opportunities of generative AI in your role, and co-create a vision for a future evolution of your work leveraging both the capabilities of emerging technology and your unique skills and expertise.

For this pilot program, we’re offering courses for three cohorts representing different newsroom functions:

• Cohort 1: Audience Engagement Practitioners: Exploring AI tools for audience analytics, personalization, and engagement strategies.
• Cohort 2: Visual Journalists: Applying AI for data visualization, video editing, and creative workflows.
• Cohort 3: Newsroom Managers: Addressing strategic adoption, team management, and ethical considerations of AI.

Thanks to the generous support of ONA’s AI in Journalism Initiative funders, we’re able to offer this inaugural program free of charge, but space is limited.

Applications for the first set of cohorts closed on March 13. We saw overwhelming interest in this pilot round and are seeking additional funding to organize more cohorts for the course. Contact Hanaa Rifaey, Head of Strategic Partnerships, at hanaa@journalists.org to explore ways to support the AI in Journalism Initiative.

Between March 31–May 30, 2025, each small-group cohort will complete nine online sessions to learn practical uses for generative AI in their role.

Specific session dates are listed in the application form when you select which cohort you’re interested in joining. Each session will begin at 8 a.m. PDT / 10 a.m. CDT / 11 a.m. EDT and run for 90 minutes. We ask that participants commit to attending at least seven of the nine sessions.

Program sessions will include:

• AI in Journalism: The Landscape Today & Tomorrow — A forward-looking exploration of AI’s current capabilities and future impact in newsrooms.
• Mastering AI: Advanced Prompting for Newsrooms — Strategies for more effective AI interactions in journalism workflows, beyond the basics.
• AI, Revenue & Sustainability: Unlocking Value in News — How AI can drive monetization, efficiency, and ROI in journalism.
• AI & Data: Navigating Risks, Opportunities and Best Practices — Understanding how AI can be used with data for newsrooms, its ethical implications, and how to use it effectively.
• A role-specific session for each cohort exploring AI’s impacts and practical uses you can put into action right away.

Over four design sprint sessions woven through the curriculum, each cohort will also collaboratively envision the future of their newsroom function in the age of AI — leveraging AI’s capabilities combined with human skill and expertise to strengthen your role’s impact for your community.

All sessions in this program will be delivered virtually. Sessions will not be recorded to preserve a collaborative and open working environment for all cohort members, so attendees must join live to access the content.

Applications

When you select the cohort you’re interested in joining, the application will display a list of dates for that cohort’s meeting times. Be sure to confirm that you can attend at least seven of the nine sessions.

Applications for the first set of cohorts closed on March 13. Subscribe to ONA Weekly for updates on opportunities from ONA.

This course is part of ONA’s AI in Journalism Initiative, your home for resources to learn, experiment with and incorporate emerging technologies into your day-to-day. Check out our full program offerings and other upcoming AI events.