September 30th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Ethical and inclusive language matters. Journalists have the power to normalize it.
The stories journalists tell matter. So does the language they use to share them. University of Southern California Annenberg Professor and Stylebot Founder and CEO Laura Davis and LAist reporter Caitlin Hernández stressed this point during Friday’s Society of Professional Journalists presentation on the importance of using ethical and inclusive language in journalism and how to get newsrooms to implement it in regular practice.
September 30th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
How to cover a mass shooting: Weighing reporters’ mental health during and after
Only a few days before the anniversary of the Oct. 1, 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, multiple journalists came together to discuss how to cover those shootings, and the aftermath of reporting on tragic events. The Society of Professional Journalists panel “Preparing to Cover a Mass Shooting” was held Friday, Sept.
September 30th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
From politics to furries: SPJ convention attendees learn how to combat misinformation
A session at the Society of Professional Journalists Convention on Friday taught attendees how fact-checking can improve reporting, hold the powerful accountable and build trust with their audiences.
September 30th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
CUNY Professors Unleash the Power of Data at SPJ Convention
Two journalism professors at the City University of New York (CUNY) introduced the use of data through a few case studies during the one-hour interactive session “Power in Numbers: Building Compelling Data-Driven Stories.” Professor Sandeep Junnarkar, who’s also a consulting newsroom trainer at Bloomberg News, started off this session with an introduction to digital journalism.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Google News: What Google Can Bring to Journalists
Aguilar began her session with an introduction to the Google News Initiatives program, which she has been actively involved in for several years.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Charting a Course: How Treasurer Candidates Plan to Navigate Financial Challenges
“As a working journalist, you were joining to support the first amendment to support the code of ethics, but that runs up against the money at some point.”
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Making a silent headline speak volumes
Society of Professional Journalists National President Claire Regan was well into her career before she mastered headline writing. At her “Headless Body In Topless Bar: Headline Writing 101” session, Regan revealed her best methods for writing a catchy and informative head.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Fight over slain journalist’s sources could set precedent nationwide
After seizing German’s devices, Metro and the district attorney’s office wanted to search them for evidence in the case against Telles. Both assured the Review-Journal from the beginning that the sources would never be shared, but they backtracked on that position as the case progressed.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
First Amendment advocates share secrets to successful FOIA requests
Speakers Richard Griffiths, Kirby Thomas West and Jason Leopold discuss federal and state level challenges to FOIA, providing journalists different ways to combat these challenges.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Journalists play a critical role in fighting misinformation
The “Media Trust and Democracy “Trustworthy” Documentary Screening and Panel Discussion,” drew a crowd of more than 100 journalists Thursday at the 2023 Society of Professional Journalists conference. Stephany Zamora, the executive producer of the film, which focuses on the American people’s trust in present-day media, hosted a panel with three journalists who appear in the 107-minute informational feature.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Learning to Care for an Aging Population
Yarbough started caring for her mother after she started having severe medical complications and could no longer live alone. The full-time journalist struggled with the everyday riggers of caring for her aging mother, from dealing with medical care, mobility and other errands.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Two longtime SPJ members vie to become the next President
With a new board of directors soon to take leadership, members are eager to see a change in the organization. Journalist Nicolle Praino has been deeply involved with SPJ. She’s held multiple positions within the organization including chair for the nominations committee in 2022, mentor for the SPJ Student News Team in 2022, and chair for the awards and honors committee in 2023.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Former NPR reporter discusses the impact of conflict reporting on journalists’ mental health
Whether it's covering war zones, natural disasters or mass shootings, a journalist’s mental health is impacted heavily—even if they do not realize it right away.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Society of Professional Journalists cancels 2024 conference
On Wednesday September 27, The Society of Professional Journalists board voted to suspend the annual 2024 journalism conference, a move that SPJ President Claire Regan confirmed was made as a cost-cutting measure. Incoming SPJ President Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins, speaks with Laura De la Garza Garcia at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino about the decision to not hold an SPJ conference in 2024.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Lisa Guerrero encourages journalists to be authentic and lead with empathy
“There are a lot of times when I've made choices that I regret now. People say you shouldn't live with regret, and I think regret is important because it informs us better about our next choices."
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
“We are having a budget crisis,” says outgoing SPJ president
Facing financial trouble due to losses in revenue, The Society of Professional Journalists works to correct the deficit and refocus goals for 2023, 2024.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
A robot wrote my article: Artificial intelligence in the newsroom and classroom
When fed bullet points of key facts, AI has the power to write a complete news story, although small details are often wrong and sentences are brimming with clichés.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Society of Professional Journalists board votes to cancel 2024 convention in Indianapolis
“If SPJ does not have a conference next year, I worry about the survival of the organization because if you fold up your tent, that is a sign to everybody else that you are in trouble."
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Journalists Learn How to Fund Their Projects through Spark
During Thursday’s “Funding Journalism Projects with Spark” session, attendees learned key strategies for funding their passion projects. Support for survivors and victims of tragedies. Mental health and suicide prevention for veterans. Fellowship programs for multimedia reporters. And more. Spark, a program under communications nonprofit, Wildfire Media, trains journalists and creatives and provides them with the tools they need to research, develop, and pitch their own fundraising campaigns.
September 29th, 2023 • 2023: Las Vegas
Gio Benitez offers an inspiring start to SPJ 2023
"If they’re watching, I just want them to smile, and maybe that will turn around their day.”