Power Shift Project Resources
Freedom Forum launched the Power Shift Project in early 2018 in the aftermath of #MeToo revelations of sexual misconduct in news organizations. The project’s goal was to help create newsroom cultures free of harassment and incivility and full of opportunity for all, especially those who had been denied it.
Jill Geisler, the Bill Plante Chair in Leadership and Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago, developed the “Workplace Integrity: Train the Trainers” curriculum with Cathy Trost, Freedom Forum chief engagement officer and senior vice president. It was designed for use in media organizations and university and college classrooms. More than 600 people at 270 news companies and classrooms were trained in that groundbreaking curriculum.
The curriculum was presented at major media conferences, and the Power Shift Project hosted three summits:
Ending Silence and Changing Systems in the Media Industry
January 2018
Ending Silence and Changing Systems in the Media Industry
Watch “Assessing Where We Are Now”
Power Shift Summit 2.0: One Year Later
January 2019
Power Shift Summit 2.0: One Year Later
The Power of Allies
Geisler and Trost testified before the U.S. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace in June 2018. That testimony is available here.
The “Workplace Integrity: Train the Trainers Curriculum” was interactive and designed to teach participants how to bring the lessons of workplace integrity to their newsrooms, classrooms and beyond. The curriculum was built around four pillars: critical thinking, courageous conversations, qualifying as an ally, and cultures of respect and trust. Two key elements of that training remain available online:
- "Do You Qualify as an Ally?" webinar.
- "Inclusive Leadership" webinar and tipsheet.
Other Power Shift Project webinars for interns and others can be found on Freedom Forum’s YouTube channel.
More than 270 digital, broadcast and print media organizations and colleges and universities from coast to coast took part in the Power Shift Project. Those participants included ABC News, the Associated Press, CBS News, Chicago Tribune, Gannett/USA TODAY Network, Gray Media, The New York Times, Vox Media, The Washington Post, Boston University, the University of Missouri and San Francisco State University, to name a few.