The NJ Society of Professional Journalists, in cooperation with The Wall Street Journal, will broadcast a live panel discussing the wrongful detention in Russia of NJ-born WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich at 10 a.m. US EST on Wednesday, February 21.
The live broadcast is free to attend. Registration is required. Audience members will be able to send questions to the panel through a text chat function.
Panelists
Jessie Gomez: Jessie Gomez is a Reporter at Chalkbeat Newark covering Newark Public Schools. She is a proud Latina and first-generation college student with experience covering local communities and Black and Latino communities. Jessie was previously a reporter at The Record/Northjersey.com covering Morris and Bergen County communities in New Jersey. Before that, Jessie had a one-year fellowship at MuckRock, a non-profit news site based in Boston, focused on public records law and FOIA work. Jessie also has experience in political communications, broadcast and digital media.
Paul Beckett: Paul Beckett is Assistant Editor at The Wall Street Journal, where he focuses on the efforts supporting Evan Gershkovich, the WSJ reporter who has been wrongfully detained by Russia since March 2023. Previously, Paul was the Journal’s Washington D.C. bureau chief, responsible for news across politics and government, economics, national security, the Supreme Court, financial regulation and the intersection of business and Washington. Before taking the helm of the bureau in 2017, Paul served in multiple overseas postings, including postings in Honk Kong and India.
Born and bred in Scotland and a graduate of Edinburgh University, Paul joined Dow Jones in 1990 at the Daily News of Newburyport, Mass., then part of Dow Jones’s community newspaper chain. He joined Dow Jones Newswires in 1993 and reported from New York, London, Mexico City and Washington, D.C. He joined the Journal in 1998 in New York, where he covered banking. In 2003, he moved to London as bureau chief and European finance and markets editor.
Michael Van Itallie: Michael Van Itallie is a longtime friend of Evan, having grown up with Evan in New Jersey. Mike and Evan both went to Bowdoin College in Maine and were roommates in New York City up until Evan got his first Russia-based reporting job at The Moscow Times
The D.C. Open Government Coalition, the Society of Professional Journalists-D.C. Professional Chapter, and the D.C. Office of Open Government, invite you to
OPEN GOVERNMENT 2024 SUMMIT
WHEN: 5:30 – 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 13, 2024 American Bar Association Conference Center
WHERE: 1050 Connecticut Ave. NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC (Metrorail: Farragut North Station)
This year’s event focuses on the intersection of public safety and transparency, accountability, and trust. Speakers include:
- Niquelle Allen, , Director of the D.C. Office of Open Government
- Marcus Ellis, Executive Director, Peace For C.
- Chris Magnus, Deputy Auditor for Public Safety
- Alex Koma, Washington City Paper
Join us for light fare beginning at 5:30 p.m.
This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required at this link: https://dcopengovsummit24.eventbrite.com.
Deadline for registering is 11:59 p.m. Monday March 11.
To learn more, email info@dcogc.org, or visit www.dcogc.org.
The annual Summit takes place during national Sunshine Week—March 10-16, which celebrates the birthday of James Madison, considered the founding father of government transparency and an architect of the U.S. Constitution.
- Nadine Strossen, former head of the ACLU (Friday at 11:45 a.m. until 12:45 p.m.) – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87230676972
- Joe Kahn, executive editor of the NYT (Friday from 1:15 p.m. until 2:15 p.m.) – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83137751400
- Taylor Lorenz, Washington Post tech and internet culture columnist (Saturday from 3:45 p.m. until 4:45 p.m.) – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89953372735?pwd=Ni9uSFEwOXBIL25LSGY4em0wZC9WZz09
The SPJ Freelance Community is hosting a free webinar Thursday, July 11 at 7 p.m. ET on how journalists can and should use Artificial Intelligence. Our guest speaker on the topic is the formidable Sree Sreenivasan. We’re quite proud of organizing this and we’d love to see you there.
Sreenivasan has been teaching generative AI workshops worldwide for the past year. He was a full-time journalism professor at Columbia University for 20+ years and served as the chief digital officer at Columbia. He is the 2024 president of the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), which he co-founded in 1994.
If you’d like to attend (it’s for all SPJ members, not just freelancers), the Zoom details are below.
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89294784013?pwd=bTltbTJGQUhtRzhXQ1hPLzZMK1M2dz09
Passcode: 063800
Or One tap mobile :
+16469313860,,89294784013#,,,,*063800# US
+16468769923,,89294784013#,,,,*063800# US (New York)
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
+1 646 931 3860 US
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Webinar ID: 892 9478 4013
Passcode: 063800
International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdjdLpH023
- Zach Seward is the editorial director of AI initiatives at The New York Times.
- Loreben Tuquero is a staff writer for PolitiFact who conducts fact-checks and writes stories debunking misinformation on social media
- Moderated by SPJ Professional Standards and Ethics Committee and International Community member Eric Wishart. He is the standards and ethics editor and former editor-in-chief of Agence France-Presse.
Register here.
Annually, the Society of Professional Journalists presents the Mark of Excellence Awards, honoring the best in student journalism.
Most categories are first judged on the regional level. First-place regional winners advance to the national competition, and most are recognized at their respective regional SPJ conference. National winners will be showcased on spj.org.
Note: Some categories are national only, with all entries immediately going to national judging.
In addition to physical awards and recognition, two awards carry cash prizes. The Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best Student Newspaper, large and small divisions, each is accompanied by a $5,000 prize courtesy of the Chronicle of Higher Education.
A best in show (MOEy) award will be given for the overall best entry among all national winners. The winner will be honored at the SDX Awards dinner.
Details HERE.
The Sigma Delta Chi Awards date back to 1932, when the Society first honored six individuals for contributions to journalism. The current program began in 1939, when the organization awarded the first Distinguished Service Awards. These awards later became the Sigma Delta Chi Awards.
The awards recognize the best in professional journalism in categories covering print/online, audio, television, and more.
Recent and new additions include awards for Consumer/Retail Reporting, Tech Reporting, Crime Reporting, Regional Political Reporting and Cultural Criticism as well as Spanish-language categories that are open to all platforms. Note there are some newly expanded categories for online-only publications.
Details HERE.
Join the SPJ D.C. Pro Chapter on Monday, May 19 at 6 p.m. ET for a discussion on AI and FOIA. Alex Ebermann, President, New York Coalition for Open Government, and Irwin McCullough, Co-Founder, FOIA Friend, will discuss the pros and cons of integrating AI in the records requesting process and how journalists can use AI as a tool.
The session will be moderated by freelance journalist James Mae.
Register HERE.
The nation’s largest media convention for pros and college students is sponsored by the Associated Collegiate Press, College Media Association, and Society of Professional Journalists.
Annually, the Society of Professional Journalists presents the Mark of Excellence Awards, honoring the best in student journalism.
Categories are first judged on the regional level. First-place regional winners advance to the national competition, and most are recognized at their respective regional SPJ conference. National winners will be showcased on spj.org.
The Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best Student Newspaper carries a $5,000 prize each of the large- and small-division winners, courtesy of the Chronicle of Higher Education.
More info HERE.