Director of Programmes at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Akintunde Babatunde, has been named a Fellow in the prestigious Poynter Media Transformation Challenge (MTC) Program for 2025.
This places Akintunde among an elite cohort of 32 senior media executives worldwide selected for their outstanding contributions to journalism and their commitment to advancing media transformation and sustainability.
He is the second African to join the programme after Dapo Olorunyomi, the publisher of Premium Times who was the inaugural African fellow of the programme in 2023.
The MTC Fellowship is a year-long programme at the renowned Poynter Institute, designed to empower media leaders to tackle significant business performance challenges, foster innovation, and drive systemic change within their organisations. Since 2007, the programme has equipped more than 400 executives with critical tools and insights, building a vibrant community dedicated to strengthening journalism globally.
Akintunde joins a distinguished and diverse cohort of Fellows for 2025, including leaders from globally recognised media organisations, nonprofits, and innovative startups.
Other Fellows include:
• Clarice Bajkowski, Chief Creative Officer, The 19th
• Siobhan Bennett, Chief Revenue Officer, Amsterdam News (Knight Fellow)
• Thomas Brennan, Founder & Executive Director, The War Horse News (Knight Fellow)
• Deborah Caldwell, CEO, Religion News Foundation
• Barbara Chai, Deputy Culture Editor, The New York Times (AAJA Fellow)
• Fiona Crack, Controller, BBC World Service
• Ethar El-Katatney, Editor-in-Chief, Documented (Knight Fellow)
• Andrew Fishman, President & Co-Founder, The Intercept Brasil
• Abby Gingras, Senior Director of Consulting Services, News Revenue Hub (Knight Fellow)
• Margie Fleming Glennon, Senior Director, Nonprofit Intelligence, Chronicle of Philanthropy
• Mark Grant, Vice President, Global Safety, Risk and Resilience, The Associated Press
• Esperanza Guevara, Managing Director, Latino Media Collaborative
• Alvaro Gurdian, Publisher, La Noticia (Google News Fellow)
• Etan Horowitz, Global Innovation Programs Manager, Google News Initiative
• Joshua Hoyos, New York Bureau Chief, ABC News
• Rania Khadr, Head of Special News Events, Middle East, Turkey, Iran & Africa, The Associated Press
• Vandana Kumar, Publisher & CEO, India Currents (AAJA & Knight Fellow)
• Peter Kunz, Assistant News Director, WABC-TV
• Allison Levine, Publisher & CEO, Spotlight Delaware (Knight Fellow)
• Maple Walker Lloyd, Senior Director of Development, Block Club Chicago (Knight Fellow)
• Sheila McCann, Senior Managing Editor, Salt Lake Tribune (Knight Fellow)
• Abdelrahman Mansour, Matsadaash & Arabi Facts Hub
• Ashanti Martin, General Manager, WURD (Knight Fellow)
• Greg Mees, Senior Assistant Managing Editor, The Minneapolis Star Tribune
• Soraya Membreno, COO, Institute for Nonprofit News (Knight Fellow)
• Aparna Mukherjee, Executive Director, Society of Environmental Journalists (Knight Fellow)
• Lucy Nicholson, Director of Global Photography, The Associated Press
• James Reevell, Executive Editor for Youth Audiences, BBC
• Alex Sanz, Deputy Managing Editor & Politics Director, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Will Schick, Director of Programs & Partnerships, Asian American Journalists Association
• Nancy Yang, Senior Editor for Audience Engagement, Minneapolis Star Tribune
The Poynter MTC Fellowship is the latest in a series of prestigious fellowships that Akintunde has earned. In 2019, he was announced a UNESCO Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Ambassador for Africa. In 2020, he was awarded a UK Government Chevening Scholarship to study Media Practice for Development and Social Change at at the University of Sussex where he graduated with a distinction. Akintunde’s global reach further extended in 2022 when he was selected as a US Government Mandela Washington Fellow at the Presidential Precinct in Virginia, USA. These milestones reflect his ongoing commitment to excellence in media innovation and development for democratic accountability in Africa.
Akintunde’s selection into the MTC Fellowship further acknowledges his leadership in advancing the media landscape across Africa, particularly through his work at CJID. Since joining the organisation, Akintunde has managed more than a dozen international projects across countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Cameroon, Chad, Congo DR, Niger, Senegal, and Mozambique. Notably, he has led the centre’s DUBAWA initiative —Nigeria’s first indigenous fact-checking platform now in eight African countries.
He led the UDEME social accountability project at the centre and also pioneered the creation of the Natural Resource and Climate Change Reporting and Research Unit (NAREP) of the centre. Most recently he has been the driving force behind the Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Information Disorder Analysis arm (DAIDAC) of CJID.
Akintunde has implemented over 30 media innovation projects for CJID with funding support from the biggest donors and technology companies around the world including the MacArthur Foundation, Gates Foundation, Open Society Foundation, Luminate, UNESCO, Google, Meta and Tiktok.
A sought-after speaker and trainer, Akintunde has trained over 5,000 journalists and researchers across 13 African countries and his work, articles and commentary has been featured in notable global forums such as the European Parliament, the New York Times Climate Hub, the University of London, and the Presidential Precinct.
Speaking on his selection, Akintunde Babatunde said: “I am deeply honoured to join the Poynter Media Transformation Challenge Fellowship alongside so many accomplished leaders from around the world. This fellowship provides an incredible opportunity to strengthen the work we’re doing at CJID and to learn from the best in the field.
“As we navigate an ever-changing media landscape, I’m eager to collaborate with other fellows and leverage the tools and knowledge from this programme to drive innovation and sustainability in the journalism sector, particularly in Africa.”
Executive Director of the Media Transformation Challenge, Charlie Baum, commented: “We are thrilled to welcome Akintunde Babatunde into our MTC Fellowship. His dedication to journalism and his innovative work in the areas of fact-checking, social accountability, and climate reporting have set him apart as a leader in the media industry. Akintunde’s vision aligns perfectly with the goals of the MTC program, and we look forward to supporting him in advancing his mission and tackling the challenges facing journalism today.”
The MTC Fellowship at Poynter will allow Akintunde to further explore innovative solutions to the critical challenges facing the media landscape and equip him with the tools to expand his impact across Africa and beyond.
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