A Gainesville philanthropist and real estate entrepreneur is backing a new national journalism training program at Columbia Journalism School in New York City aimed at strengthening business reporting.
Columbia will launch the Nathan S. Collier Business Reporting Program in October 2026, a fully funded workshop designed to help journalists better understand and report on the economic, financial and organizational forces shaping society.
Made possible by a $2.4 million gift from Collier, a Columbia Journalism Review Board of Overseers member, the program will cover participants’ transportation, lodging and meals to ensure talent and potential, not financial means, determine access to the institution’s resources and instruction.
The inaugural group will bring together up to 10 journalists for a weeklong seminar in New York City, with instruction from Columbia faculty, industry experts and veteran journalists. The program will also build a professional network among reporters on similar beats, promoting collaboration and shared learning.
“To create the greatest possible prosperity for society, business needs both accountability and intelligent regulation,” Collier said in a press release. “One path toward that is insightful coverage by the media, and for journalists to provide that, they must know enough to ask penetrating questions. They must understand finance, basic principles of accounting and economics, the mechanics of capitalism and organizational behavior. The Nathan S. Collier Business Reporting Program is designed to provide that foundational knowledge.”
The Collier Program expands on Columbia Journalism School’s long-running commitment to professional education and specialized training, including the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.
“Whether reporters are covering politics, science or the arts, they need a solid background in how businesses succeed and fail,” said Robert Smith, Director of the Knight-Bagehot Program, in a press release. “Columbia Journalism School has a long tradition of giving students the confidence and tools to follow the money and ask the hard questions. Now, the new Collier Business program will make those business skills accessible to reporters around the nation.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Collier gift funds new Columbia business reporting program
Reporting by Staff report, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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By Staff report, Gainesville Sun | USA TODAY Network
