Medill partners with Media Transformation Challenge
Program will help support media executives
EVANSTON, ILL. -- Media Transformation Challenge (MTC) is proud to announce a new partnership with Medill effective for the 2026 cohort – MTC’s 20th.
The move marks a strategic alignment of mission, expertise and purpose: Medill’s century-long reputation for combining rigorous journalism values with innovation and MTC’s performance-based leadership fellowship for media executives. MTC will now operate as MTC @ Medill.
MTC’s core value proposition is to support media leaders in driving measurable, outcome-oriented transformation enabling them to “increase the odds” of success for their organizations in a rapidly changing news ecosystem. MTC offers Fellows structured tools and frameworks for innovation, strategy, personal leadership, and change – all applied to deliver outcomes against the most significant performance challenge Fellows face in the program year.
Medill’s mission emphasizes that “enduring values meet innovation” and that “compelling stories join forces with powerful data.” Its curriculum blends foundational journalism practice with new media, audience analytics, business models, and leadership in digital news. In particular, Medill’s specialization in Media Management and Leadership is explicitly designed to equip journalists and media professionals to “design business models that align mission with sustainability, and lead teams through change, experimentation and innovation.”
By joining forces, MTC and Medill are positioning themselves at the intersection of leadership development, journalistic mission, entrepreneurial media strategy and audience-centric transformation. Medill provides the academic, research and innovation ecosystem; MTC contributes a high-performance fellowship model, practitioner network and measurable results orientation.
For MTC fellows, the partnership provides access to Medill’s faculty, research centers, global reach, alumni network, and the University’s extensive resources in media innovation. For Medill, it enriches the school’s executive education ecosystem with MTC’s high-impact, year-long cohort model and industry-focused performance framework. And for the broader media field, the collaboration signals a shared commitment to not only teach journalism, but to lead systemic transformation – operational, organizational, financial, and mission-driven – in real time.
“As MTC moves beyond our core program to additional service delivery modes and sharing learnings with the industry, Medill offers a great partner for curriculum, analysis, and reach,” MTC Executive Director Charlie Baum said. “We already have partnered with Medill’s Local News Initiative to deliver MTC tools and concepts to the local Chicago news ecosystem, and look forward to many more possibilities.”
“MTC has a proven track record of helping drive transformation across the media ecosystem, not only in the United States, but around the world,” said Mackenzie Warren, interim executive director of Medill’s Local News Initiative. “This partnership will help the LNI extend its impact to new corners of the United States and beyond.” Warren is an MTC alumnus.
“We also would like to thank the Poynter Institute for its support during MTC’s evolution and growth since 2020,” Baum concluded. “As we look forward to possibilities for collaboration as the industry moves ahead.”
About Media Transformation Challenge
Media Transformation Challenge (MTC) is a year-long executive leadership fellowship and alumni network designed to help media organizations and leaders navigate the disruption of the news industry, build sustainable business models, engage underserved audiences, and strengthen democratic information ecosystems. MTC Fellows have achieved hundreds of millions of dollars of performance gain, and innovations adopted across the industry.
About Medill
The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University is a leading journalism school offering undergraduate and graduate programs that combine enduring journalistic values with innovation, data-driven strategies and global perspectives. Founded in 1921, Medill emphasizes real-world reporting, media entrepreneurship, and leadership in media’s digital transformation.