2026: Columbus
October 6th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
From Gardening to Tabletop Games — Anything Can Be a Beat
While everyone has their own passions and interests, turning them into a supportive writing career can be difficult. Freelance journalists Teresa Woodard and Stacie Overton Johnson challenged that in their SPJ 2026 panel “Freelance Workshop: Build Your Beat in 50 Minutes!,”
October 6th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Cleanup or Shortcut? Reporting on America’s Contaminated Sites
Jordan Gass-Pooré, an independent climate journalist, hosted a workshop, “Covering Contaminated Sites Under Trump,” at SPJ 2026, focusing on how journalists can cover some of the country’s most hazardous sites. In 1980, the Environmental Protection Agency created the Superfund program to help fund and manage the cleanup of these sites.
October 6th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
A Reliable Source for Journalism’s Uncertain Times
SPJ 26 attendees attended a discussion on Oct. 2 about a “unique time” in journalism history at the keynote address “A Reliable Source: CNN’s Brian Stelter Makes Sense of Our Media Moment.” Stelter, chief media analyst for CNN Worldwide, offered his perspective on the current media landscape with Eric Deggans, the Knight Professor of Journalism and Media Ethics at Washington and Lee University in Va.
October 4th, 2026 • 2024 Region 8+12 Conference: New Orleans | #2026: Columbus
Beyond ‘Low-Hanging Fruit’: Sports Coverage as Public Affairs
Sports touches everything: politics, the economy and the environment. Nicole Kraft, professor of practice at Ohio State University, hosted a panel on Oct. 2, “Sports Is a Public Affairs Beat: Covering Money, Power, Labor and Community Impact.” Joining her on the panel were Cameron Robinson of The Athletic and Matt Brown of Extra Points MB, in a discussion on how to push sports journalism beyond game coverage.
October 4th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Writing Headlines That Make Readers Stop, Click and Scroll
Headless Body in a Topless Bar is a legendary April 15, 1983, headline written by New York Post editor Vincent Musetto. Not only is it an unforgettable headline, it is the title of journalist and educator Claire Regan’s panel on how to become a good headline writer.
October 4th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Six tips for building a freelance career outside major media hubs
Freelancers don’t have to live in a major metropolitan city like New York, Los Angeles or Washington, D.C., to find meaningful work. Speakers at the SPJ 2026 panel, “How to Build a Freelance Career Outside Major Media Hubs,” shared ways journalists can use their location, relationships and expertise to build freelance careers in smaller markets.
October 4th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Americans Support a Free Press… Kind of, Says a Pew Study
More than 70 percent of Americans value the idea of a free press, says a report from the Pew Research Center. However, support shifts in practice, as concerns about national security and false information are involved, said Kirsten Eddy, a senior researcher at Pew, at the SPJ 2026 panel, “Americans’ Views on Press Freedom, 250 Years After the Nation’s Founding.”
October 4th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
How Small Chicago Newsrooms Reported on Operation Midway Blitz
When Operation Midway Blitz hit Chicago on Sept. 8, 2025, it made national headlines. Massive outlets such as the New York Times and AP News quickly descended on the city to cover it. But local newsrooms, including Block Club Chicago, were already on the ground.
October 4th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Can Constructive Journalism Win Back Local Audiences?
Let’s say five years from now, local audiences trust journalism more than ever. In one word, what made the difference? Deborah Douglas, clinical associate professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and director of Medill Solutions Journalism Hub, started the SPJ 2026 panel “The Latest on Solutions and Constructive Journalism” by polling the room with this question.
October 4th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Columbus TV Journalists Urge Young Reporters to Break the Broadcast Mold
WCMH-TV news anchor Jerod Smalley and multimedia journalist Eric Halperin with NBC4, both in Columbus, spoke about how broadcasters are getting creative outside of the studio and breaking TV news conventions to reach audiences Anchors and reporters need to adapt to an industry increasingly focused on digital and online content.
October 4th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
The Confidence Tax: Why Even Seasoned Journalists Still Doubt Themselves
The rejection email is easy to blame. So is the job posting with one qualification you don’t have, the editor who doesn’t respond to your pitch or the story you decided wasn’t good enough — only to watch another publication run it the next day.
October 4th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Why Journalists Remain Deeply Divided on AI
Ohio State University journalism professor Nicole Kraft asked a question at an SPJ 2026 panel, “AI in the Newsroom and Classroom: Practical Uses, Ethical Guardrails,” that is on the minds of many journalists: “Who does not want to use AI?” Most of the audience raised their hands.
October 4th, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Protecting the Press: Journalists Urged to Prepare for Threats Before They Happen
Journalists do not have to wait until a threat becomes a crisis to seek help, representatives from four press freedom and journalist safety organizations told SPJ 2026 attendees during a workshop on protecting the press. The session, “How to Protect the Press: A Workshop with Journalists and Press Freedom Groups,” brought together representatives from Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and Crisis Ready Media to discuss physical, digital and legal threats facing journalists.
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Campus is a City: Rethinking How Journalists Cover Colleges
Colleges and universities can be some of the most powerful institutions in a community, shaping where people live, work, study and spend their money. But journalists often overlook the stories happening beyond the classroom. That was a central message Oct. 2 during “Campus is a City: Covering Colleges as Accountability Beats,” a panel at SPJ 2026.
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
The Road to Becoming an Investigative Journalist
Investigative journalism is not an easy career; often, reporters will uncover hidden truths, corruption, or abuses of power that someone or an institution wants kept secret. Although investigative projects may take from a few months to a few years, student journalists can build these important skills early in their careers.
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Cornell Seven Investigation Shows Why Student Journalists Need Stronger Reporting Tools
This article contains mentions of rape and assault. When SPJ journalists heard about the Cornell University Chi Phi fraternity lawsuit that has received attention nationwide, none of them were surprised to hear it was student journalists at The Cornell Daily Sun who broke the story.
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
How journalists can explain data centers to their readers
As data centers expand across the country, journalists are being asked to explain a world that involves megawatts, transmission lines, utility bills and billion-dollar infrastructure projects to audiences who may have little reason to understand how the electrical grid works. Anna Staver, a reporter for the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, said the challenge is not simply learning the technical details, but figuring out how to make the details meaningful.
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
New SPJ President Nicole DeCriscio is ready to champion reporters, students and press freedom
For Nicole DeCriscio, journalism was not something she always knew she wanted to pursue. It began more quietly, with a writing class at Homestead High School in Fort Wayne, Ind., and a growing curiosity about what it meant to tell other people’s stories.
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
‘No comment’ Isn’t the End of the Story: How Journalists Address Lack of Response, Protect Credibility
Public figures responding to journalists’ inquiries with “no comment” is more common than ever, according to the results of a May 2026 survey from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism. The 2026 survey asked current and former journalists, along with members of the public their thoughts on “no comment” responses from sources.
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
First Amendment from the Inside: How Journalists Can Report on Their Protections
In the wake of President Donald Trump’s order to ban news outlets CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House, journalists are having to defend their right to report the news now more than ever, said Kirstin McCudden, chief of editorial for the nonprofit Freedom of the Press Foundation, and Dan Kubiske, chair of the Society of Professional Journalists International Community.