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Poynter Institute ends year with surplus, bolstered by real estate sale

 
Published Aug. 15, 2016

The Poynter Institute, the school that owns the Tampa Bay Times, ended 2015 with a nearly $900,000 surplus, bolstered by cost-cutting and real estate sales.

The St. Petersburg-based institute for media studies saw total revenue rise 59 percent to $7.4 million, in part tied to the sale of vacant land near its downtown campus.

Excluding the real estate gain, Poynter posted an operating deficit last year of $1.3 million. About $500,000 of that loss was connected to one-time expenses, including severance costs.

The 2015 financial statement, which was reported Monday in Poynter's annual filing to the Internal Revenue Service, shows the journalism training program has cut operating losses by 64 percent in two years. In 2014, Poynter lost $2.3 million on $4.7 million in revenue.

"These results demonstrate that Poynter is headed in a positive direction, that our new business and teaching strategies are working and that we're on a path toward financial sustainability," Poynter President Tim Franklin said in a statement.