SPJ/MediaFest25
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Journalists are encouraged to seek out faith and prayer at MediaFest 25
Two speakers invited journalists to pause and pray about times of global unrest during a small, intimate gathering during MediaFest 25. Led by Naomi Balk, assistant director of World News Group and the World Journalism Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Laura Janelle Downey, executive editor of Atlanta-based WebMD Magazine, offered a moment of quiet reflection amid the fast pace of journalism.
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Nikole Hannah-Jones, other Black, female journalists discuss young reporters impacting today’s industry
After acknowledging the difficulties facing journalists trying to enter the industry right now, Pulitzer Prize-winning and MacArthur genius grant journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones asked a room full of budding journalists attending MediaFest 25 a simple question. “What else would you rather be doing at this moment?”
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
How to cover events as a photojournalist
Photographers and photojournalists operate in similar ways, but there is a critical difference — talking to people. Greg A. Cooper, assistant professor of photojournalism and photo editor at Eastern Illinois University, delivered a panel full of technical information for the different types of news coverage titled “Best Practices: Photojournalism” at MediaFest 25.
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Safety in international reporting: overlooked but critical
Safety is a hot topic in international reporting, but for freelance international reporters, safety is especially critical. Jessica Jerreat, Voice of America’s (VOA) press freedom editor and Eric Philips, former safety adviser for VOA, dissected the importance of safe international reporting during a MediaFest 25 panel “Writing Beyond Borders: How to break into international publications.”
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Truth and empathy guide photojournalism ethics
As protests continue and technology evolves, where do photojournalism ethics stand? With more than 20 years of photography experience, Augusta University professor Dylan Wilson discussed growing ethical challenges during his “Photojournalism Ethics” session at MediaFest 25. From staging photos and manipulating images in Photoshop to deciding when to shoot — or when to put the camera down — Wilson encouraged attendees to think critically about truth and empathy in visual storytelling.
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Behind the Scoreboard: Finding the Human Story in Sports Journalism
Sports stories are about much more than who wins the game. Behind every competition is a journey of preparation, discipline, and determination from the athlete or team. However those stories can sometimes be hard to find, but it is the reporter’s job to look past the scoreboard and find the human story.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
It’s easy to infringe on someone’s copyright without realizing it. Student Press Law Center is here to help
You just finished your article. Then you realize that you forgot to snap a photo. Don’t try and pull something off the internet, experts say, to avoid lawsuits and heavy fines. One unnamed student media group mentioned in a Student Press Law Center (SPLC) post how they faced repercussions after using a Creative Commons image of a medical syringe in a COVID-19 story.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Student Newsrooms are the Key to Covering News Deserts
MediaFest 25 panelists Richard Watts, Chris Whitley and Barbara Allen introduced the Student Media Map, a national database designed to organize and visualize data on college news organizations. The website is helping to collect data on the growing impact of student journalists in communities without local news.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Behind the Scenes at the Washington Post Rapid-Response Investigative Unit
Dozens of MediaFest 25 attendees crowded into a room to listen to Washington Post editor Shawn Boburg spotlight his team’s investigative work. Attendees at the 1 p.m. panel lined the perimeter of the room, flowed into the hallway and sat on the floor, craning their heads to hear Boburg’s account of the rapid-response investigations unit, asking lingering questions about the latest breaking news.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
‘Every number is a person’: How the AP calls elections
In a packed session to end the first full day of MediaFest 25, Associated Press elections and democracy reporter Robert Yoon took attendees “under the hood” of his organization’s election reporting and result calling. Yoon focused on four key questions about election reporting and calling: whose job it is to decide who won an election, where election results come from, why news organizations count and call races and how news outlets call them.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Students Share Advice for Creating Podcasts and Curating a Voice
In a packed conference room, two students and an advisor from Mako News at Nova Southeastern University in South Florida presented on how to produce a quality podcast to MediaFest 25 attendees. “I really don’t understand why podcasts got so popular, but I think the really popular ones, like ‘Call Her Daddy,’ really made people want to go into podcasts,” said Jonesia Martimbor, Mako’s radio station manager.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Closing Gaps in Women’s Sports Coverage
From Lisa Leslie to Ilona Maher, the women’s sports movement — particularly its media coverage — has flourished in recent years with help from social media, sports networks and hit television shows like “Dancing with the Stars.” The MediaFest 25 session “Student journalists, community partners: covering the women’s sports movement” first turned its focus to attendees, asking them where they worked and if they had an interest in covering women’s sports.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Empowering Young Journalists to Conquer Fear and Burnout
Young journalists were encouraged to not let intimidation and burnout stop them from starting their careers during a MediaFest 25 session on the realities of working in media. Alyvia Taylor, a lifestyle reporter and producer from KTTC-TV in Rochester, Minn., shared her experience juggling multiple roles before becoming a reporter in her current job.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Journalists Need to Approach Antisemitism Coverage with Precision and Accuracy
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine has complicated how reporters cover Jewish issues, including antisemitism. Arno Rosenfeld, an enterprise reporter at The Forward, a Jewish-focused newspaper, spoke on how journalists can navigate these challenges during a panel on writing about antisemitism at MediaFest 25.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Inside the Art of Building a Fashion Photo Shoot
In a crowded room with attendees watching beyond the entrance, previous fashion editor of Indulge magazine Jenny Davis’ fashion advice was in high demand. She is one of the advisors of the SMU Look, a student-led editorial magazine at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Higher Education Reporters Break Down Covering College in the Crosshairs
As the Trump administration takes aim at higher education nationwide, student journalists have been thrown in the middle of drastic changes and controversy. With the relentless pace of federal policy adjustments targeting research funding, diversity, equity and inclusion programs and international students’ ability to remain in the United States, panelists at MediaFest25 broke down how they have navigated reporting on today’s higher education landscape.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
The Legal Limits of News Influencers: What They Can and Can’t Do
News influencers working outside of traditional media outlets often don’t have journalism training but they take on the role of an entire newsroom. That can come with legal and copyright issues they need to be aware of. A “news influencer” is a creator who consistently shares breaking insights on current events and civic issues across social media platforms, said Jonathan Gaston-Falk, a staff attorney with the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) during a MediaFest 25 panel.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Rule With An Iron Fist, Wear a Velvet Glove: Advice From an Editor
Editors-in-chief usually have a lot on their to-do list: assigning reporters, editing stories and participating in day-to-day newsroom operations. They need to have eyes on all the articles, especially ones that have missing information or other elements that prevent them from being published.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Building Skills to Become a Legal Reporter
Covering the law can provide valuable information to the public but you need certain skills to be successful. It would help if you channel your inner Liam Neeson, according to Katelyn Polantz from CNN. At a panel on “Covering Courts: Trial and Error” at MediaFest 25 the audience learned to tap into their own particular set of skills by learning what happened behind-the-scenes of some of the biggest stories in Polantz’ career.
October 16th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Media-savvy legal associate encourages student journalists to report boldly — but know the law
Marie McMullan, a student press legal associate at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), wants students to feel confident covering contentious topics. McMullan wanted her session, titled “Don’t Get Sued” at MediaFest 25, to help students navigate legal anxieties while maintaining a sense of purpose in their reporting.