It’s Never too Late: How to Transition from Print to Broadcast Journalism Mid-Career
Getting Around the Gag Rule: How Journalists Can Fight for Free Speech
Before You Go: Making A Plan for Safety When Reporting in the Field
From Clicks to Commitment: How Newsrooms Can Turn Readers Into Subscribers
The Rundown on Freelancing: What It Takes to Run a Freelance Journalism Business
For Walter Robinson, the Real Story Is Never Where Reporting Begins
SPJ General Meeting Puts Ethics Code Changes, 2026 Election in Focus
From newsrooms to neighborhoods: SPJ Georgia helps journalists bring news literacy into communities
‘The Advocacy Never Stops’: Vaccaro Reflects on His SPJ Presidency
SPJ News
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
It’s Never too Late: How to Transition from Print to Broadcast Journalism Mid-Career
Journalists may feel that their choice of print or broadcast reporting is the be-all, end-all of their career, and they can never change. However, speakers Maki Becker of WKBW-TV in Buffalo, N.Y., and James Pilcher of WKRC-TV in Cincinnati showed journalists otherwise in an SPJ 2026 panel “Making the Jump: Transitioning to Broadcast News Mid-Career.”
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Don’t Let Your Beat Get You Down
For reporters managing beats with lots of ground to cover, staying on top of the news means deciding where to be, who to talk to and what can wait. At an SPJ conference panel, “How To Not Get Beat Up By Your Beat,” on Oct.
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Six Tips for Journalists on Breaking Into Academia
For journalists considering a transition into teaching, the path to the classroom is rarely straightforward. In an SPJ 2026 panel, “Your Next Beat: Teaching Journalism at the College Level,” five journalism educators shared their experiences entering academia, offering practical advice on credentials, networking, building a body of work and finding opportunities to teach.
October 3rd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
How to Build a Sustainable Freelance Journalism Business
For new and established journalists alike, breaking into freelancing can be intimidating. Sherry Beck Paprocki and Tami Kamin Meyer, both freelance journalists, shared their advice and insights at SPJ26 during a panel — Beyond the Big Byline: How Freelancers Build New Revenue Streams — moderated by fellow freelance writer Ruth E.
October 2nd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Getting Around the Gag Rule: How Journalists Can Fight for Free Speech
Gag rules may seem like a brick wall to reporters, but there are ways to access government employees to glean information that is in the public interest. Laura Bischoff, a journalist at the Columbus Dispatch, CNN Senior Counsel Frank LoMonte and retired communications professor Carolyn Carlson of Kennesaw State University gave SPJ 2026 attendees a rundown on free speech and press rights of government employees and journalists.
October 2nd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
Before You Go: Making A Plan for Safety When Reporting in the Field
Safety training from the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) typically ranges from eight hours to two weeks. But SPJ 2026 conference attendees learned essential and strategic steps they can take to work more safely in the field in a mere 50 minutes.
October 2nd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
From Clicks to Commitment: How Newsrooms Can Turn Readers Into Subscribers
Newsrooms have fewer than 10 seconds to convince a reader to become a paid subscriber, said Colleen Kimmett, a Google News Initiative trainer. The company’s AI-powered News Consumer Insights (NCI) can help. NCI offers tools and strategies to help publishers retain readers, optimize the user experience and drive newsroom loyalty for revenue models.
October 2nd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
The Rundown on Freelancing: What It Takes to Run a Freelance Journalism Business
Freelancing is serious business. From finances to legal protection, there’s a lot to juggle when you’re self-employed. The “Getting Down to the Business of Freelance Journalism” panel, held on Oct. 1, shared advice with journalists on navigating the nuts and bolts of finances and legal affairs when starting a freelance business.
October 2nd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
For Walter Robinson, the Real Story Is Never Where Reporting Begins
For more than five decades, Walter V. Robinson — one of four SPJ 2026 Fellows of the Society — has chased stories around the world. He shared one important lesson he has learned: The story is rarely what you think it is when you start reporting it.
October 2nd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
SPJ General Meeting Puts Ethics Code Changes, 2026 Election in Focus
With a room full of experienced, award-winning journalists and curious journalism students, the Society of Professional Journalists held its annual general membership meeting Oct. 1 to address issues including proposed bylaws and the 2026 SPJ election. SPJ President Chris Vaccaro opened the meeting agenda and thanked attendees for their excitement about this year’s conference.
October 2nd, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
From newsrooms to neighborhoods: SPJ Georgia helps journalists bring news literacy into communities
What is media? Who is a journalist? Who decides what becomes a story? How can someone tell whether a story is factual, misleading or AI-generated? Why should someone trust a journalist? At the 2026 SPJ conference in Columbus, Ohio, journalists learned about an initiative in Georgia that helps communities understand how journalism works.
October 1st, 2026 • 2026: Columbus
‘The Advocacy Never Stops’: Vaccaro Reflects on His SPJ Presidency
Chris Vaccaro, closing out his term as the 109th president of the Society of Professional Journalists, reflects on his accomplishments as press freedom advocacy has been in the spotlight. During his term, SPJ expanded its programming, and the journalism industry continues to evolve.
October 23rd, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Outgoing SPJ President Emily Bloch reflects on tenure
As Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Emily Bloch wraps up her term as Society of Professional Journalists’ 108th president, she urges journalists to look after each other. Bloch, who covers national trending news for the Inquirer, stepped into the role just over a year ago and tied former SPJ President Lynn Walsh as the youngest female president of the organization, at 30 years old.
October 19th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Weak signal, strong connections define MediaFest 25
Amid dozens of panels and more than 1,000 participants milling around the three main floors of the Grant Hyatt convention center, there’s been one constant at MediaFest 25: complaints of weak Wi-Fi connectivity. Half a dozen MediaFest guests reported issues with internet connection, they told SPJ News.
October 17th, 2025 • 2024 Region 8+12 Conference: New Orleans | #SPJ/MediaFest25
Trusting News Strives to Restore Faith in Journalism
A recent Gallup polls finds trust in the media has reached a new low of 28%. It’s crucial now more than ever that journalists not only report the news, but also find new ways to connect with their fleeting audience Enter Trusting News, a company working to help repair the bridge between news consumers who are exhausted by endless streams of information and the journalists who tirelessly work on stories.
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
No Longer a Niche Beat: What Journalists Should Know About Immigration Reporting
Immigration and free speech laws are increasingly intertwined, advocate for Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) Dominic Coletti told a room of student journalists during his “Immigration 101” panel at MediaFest 25. Coletti, program officer for FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative, said that while immigration statutes rarely change, “the practical considerations are evolving very quickly,” especially on college campuses where visa concerns now overlap with reporting and academic freedom.
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
How to Collaborate and Maintain Flexibility in Visual Storytelling
Multimedia reporting depends on collaboration, experimentation and clear purpose, said Courtney Kan, senior editor for visuals of the Washington Post. Strong stories begin with a strong idea, she said at a panel titled Visual Storytelling at MediaFest 25. “Visuals should enhance and not distract from the narrative.
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Digital Security Tips for Journalists
Journalists can be at risk of hacking because of their prominent online presence. There are many ways this can happen: clicking on random emails, using multiple devices and logging into them and by stolen passwords. The most common way accounts can be hacked is through taking control of a computer system, also known as hijacking.
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Rethinking how journalists report on homelessness
When reporting on homelessness and poverty, journalists need to carefully examine what practices they engage with to make sure they capture a fuller picture, urged Laura Moorhead an associate professor at San Francisco State University’s journalism department. She discussed how journalistic norms and fairly reporting on homelessness are sometimes at odds during her MediaFest 25 session, “Reporting community stories on homelessness and poverty.”
October 17th, 2025 • SPJ/MediaFest25
Learning to Take Up Space as Female Journalists
Three women in professional media shared their personal experience of coming up in the industry as women and women of color during the “Women’s Work” panel at MediaFest 25. They advocated for young women who are new to the industry to believe in their worth and speak up for what they deserve in the newsroom.