ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Poynter Institute and Investigative Reporters and Editors have been named the recipients of the 2026 Internet Archive Hero Award, for their work on preserving news organization archives through the Today’s News for Tomorrow project.
The Hero Award annually recognizes those who exhibit leadership in making information available for digital learners all over the world, according to the Internet Archive, which is also a partner in Today’s News for Tomorrow. Previous recipients of the award have included Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, the country of Aruba, public information advocate Carl Malamud, copyright expert Michelle Wu, and the Grateful Dead.
In partnership with the Internet Archive, Poynter and IRE are “helping newsrooms understand the importance of digital preservation and giving journalists the tools and training they need to protect their work for the future,” the Internet Archive said in a statement. “The program recognizes that preserving local journalism cannot be left to chance: The people creating the news need to be part of preserving it.
“Remember when we all thought that the internet was forever? Surprise. It’s not,” said Kristen Hare, Poynter’s director of craft and local news, who leads the project for Poynter. “We’ve seen billionaires shut down newsrooms and disappear their websites, newsrooms lose decades of digital archives because of tech fumbles and attempts at rewriting history by wiping that history’s first draft. Internet Archive’s work is critical in preserving what’s on the internet, including the journalism. Poynter is truly honored to share this award with our partner, IRE, and to work with the Internet Archive, which fights every day to preserve our digital record.”
Today’s News for Tomorrow set out to bring preservation and web archive training to 300 news organizations throughout 2026 and 2027. Funded by Press Forward, the national effort to strengthen local news, the initiative is designed to help preserve vital local online news content.
Instruction began in March 2026 and continues through 2027. Participating organizations receive free online and in-person training, access to tools and digital preservation services and sustained support to ensure the long-term preservation and access of their digital assets.
“Working to convince local newsrooms to start planning and preserving their digital archives is a little like telling someone whose kitchen is on fire that there’s also black mold creeping across the attic,” Hare said. “Yes, there are urgent and pressing issues facing local newsrooms, but ignoring what happens to their work long term is equally dangerous.
“The newsrooms we’re working with get that. They’re looking for community partners, including universities, libraries and museums, considering building a preservation plan and recognizing that the internet won’t necessarily save their work for them,” Hare said.
Applications are open for 2027 Today’s News for Tomorrow cohorts. Apply here.
About the Poynter Institute:
The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit working to address society’s most pressing issues by teaching journalists and journalism, covering the media and the complexities facing the industry, convening and community building, improving the capacity and sustainability of news organizations and fostering trust and reliability of information. The Institute is the gold standard in journalistic excellence and dedicated to the preservation and advancement of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, businesses, big tech corporations and citizens convene to find solutions that promote trust and transparency in news and stoke meaningful public discourse. The world’s top journalists and emerging media leaders rely on the Institute to learn new skills, adopt best practices, better serve audiences, scale operations and improve the quality of the universally shared information ecosystem.
The Newmark Ethics Center, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), MediaWise and PolitiFact are all members of the Poynter organization.
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