The Society of Professional Journalists board voted Wednesday to suspend the annual 2024 journalism conference, a move that SPJ President Claire Regan confirmed was made as a cost-cutting measure.
Incoming President Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins said it is no secret that SPJ is struggling financially.
“We are trying to come up with different solutions to right the ship. One of those solutions is to take a year off from conventions,” Blaize-Hopkins said.
According to Regan, SPJ’s nine-member board members voted 7-1 Wednesday to cancel next year’s conference, with one member absent.
SPJ will instead focus on fundraising, programming, and advocacy in lieu of holding the annual conference. Blaize-Hopkins said she hopes this break could help alleviate some of the financial burdens the organization is experiencing and that it can reconvene in a joint conference with Associated College Press and College Media Association in Washington D.C. in 2025.
“This is really a way to make sure we are moving in the right direction when it comes to our finances,” she said.
Final updates to this story can be found here.
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