Join Freedom Forum for a free, family-friendly festival to celebrate the everyday freedoms all of us enjoy and the vital role they play in American life — all brought to you by the First Amendment.
Come for free performances and activities on The Wharf’s District Pier, including:
- An interactive journey to celebrate your First Amendment freedoms — and experience what life would look like if they were taken away.
- Fun, family-friendly activities, including a tote bag personalization station, caricatures, face painting and a balloon artist. First Amendment-themed giveaways, snacks, drinks and more.
More Details
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.
VIRGINIA is for LOVERS
OCTOBER 25th, IX Art Park in Charlottesville, 6-8:30pm
Experience what only photojournalists can reveal: that beyond breaking news and daily deadlines, they capture the joy, love, tenderness, and quiet moments that reflect the humanity of our communities. A projection of uplifting images from photojournalists from around the commonwealth. This free event is brought to you by the Virginia Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Food truck and drinks available for purchase. Come celebrate something positive.
Sure this is not a DC-area event. But you can have a nice weekend in Charlottesville.
- Visit the exhibit.
- Visit Monticello.
- Visit James Madison’s home.
- Enjoy the mountain air.
Join journalists across the country for the Austin Tice Virtual 5K—a nationwide show of support for the freelance journalist abducted in Syria in 2012.
The event, taking place Nov. 8, is sponsored by the National Press Club and Press Freedom Center to spotlight freelance journalist Austin Tice who was abducted while covering Syria’s civil war in August 2012.
And you don’t have to run! You can walk or be a part of this heartfelt event virtually and through social media. Sign up to get a T-shirt!
When Syria’s dictator Bashar Al-Assad was toppled last December, then-President Joe Biden said the U.S. government believes Tice is still alive.
Join Journalism Hall of Fame members Kojo Nnamdi and resident analyst Tom Sherwood at Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax for a live broadcast of The Politics Hour filled with sharp political insight, candid conversation, and special guests. You’ll also have the chance to ask your own questions and be part of the conversation.
Special Guest: Representative James Walkinshaw
Kojo and resident analyst Tom Sherwood will be joined by Representative James Walkinshaw (D-VA) to discuss the Virginia election results, the government reopening, redistricting, and more.
Guests are encouraged to arrive at 11:15 a.m. The live broadcast will begin at 12:00 p.m.
Come experience The Politics Hour in person and see why it’s one of the region’s most trusted political forums.
Also available as a live stream. Click HERE to join.
When the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan’s first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to the world.
More than fifty years on, the Inter-Continental is still standing. It has endured Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban. History lives within its scarred windows and walls.
Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, has been checking into the Inter-Continental since 1988. And here, she uses its story to craft a richly immersive history of modern Afghanistan.
It is the story of Hazrat, the septuagenarian housekeeper who still holds fast to his Inter-Continental training from the hotel’s 1970s glory days–an era of haute cuisine and high fashion, when Afghanistan was a kingdom and Kabul was the ‘Paris of Asia’. It is the story of Abida, who became the first female chef to cook in the Inter-Con’s famous kitchen after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. And it is the story of Malalai and Sadeq, the twenty-something staff who seized every opportunity offered by two decades of fragile democracy–only to witness the Taliban roaring back in 2021.
The result is a remarkably vivid history of how Afghans have survived a half century of destruction and disruption. It is the story of a hotel but also the story of a people.
Lyse Doucet is a Canadian journalist and the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent. In the course of a career spanning four decades, she has reported from countries around the world and was based as a correspondent in Jerusalem, Amman, Islamabad, Kabul, and Abidjan. She has led the BBC’s coverage of major events including the recent Iran-Israel war, the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, and the Syrian Civil War. She received an OBE in the Queen’s Honours list in 2014, and was admitted to the Order of Canada in 2019. Her latest awards in the U.S. include the 2024 Zenger Award for Press Freedom from the University of Arizona, and the 2018 Trailblazer Award from Georgetown University. She was a recipient of the Colombia School of Journalism Award in 2016, an Emmy in 2014 for her team’s reporting from Syria, and Peabody Awards for her work from Syria and Afghanistan. In 2021, she was nominated for a Peabody for her work as a writer and reporter on the BBC podcast Afghanistan: Documenting A Crucial Year. Doucet has twenty honorary doctorates from leading British and Canadian Universities. She has a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Toronto, and a BA Hons. from Queen’s University in Kingston. She is also a senior fellow of Massey College of the University of Toronto. Doucet has been reporting on Afghanistan since 1988. She visits the Inter-Continental whenever she is in Kabul.
Doucet will be in conversation with Eric Weiner, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Geography of Bliss and The Geography of Genius, as well as the critically acclaimed Man Seeks God, The Socrates Express and, his latest book, Ben & Me. A former foreign correspondent for NPR, his work has appeared in The Atlantic, National Geographic, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. He regularly leads writing workshops in Bhutan. He lives with his family and a menagerie of animals in Silver Spring, MD. For more information, visit: EricWeinerBooks.com.
When nearly all Pentagon journalists returned their credentials and walked out rather than accept new restrictions on coverage. Their message was clear: press freedom matters and they remain committed to keeping the public informed and the Defense Department accountable.
Join the Merrill College Journalism Alumni Network (JAN) for an inspiring virtual conversation with these outstanding journalists, moderated by Dean Emerita Lucy Dalglish, former executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Hear their firsthand accounts of courage, integrity, and the ongoing efforts to support transparency in government.
Register HERE.
Come celebrate the holiday season with your fellow members of the Washington, D.C., Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. We’ll also toast the near-arrival of the 234th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, our First Amendment birthdate.
We will provide the great New Orleans-style food — you just need to pay for anything you want to drink from the cash bar.
The Ragtime Restaurant is a 2–4-minute walk from the Court House Orange Line Metro station. You can’t get much more convenient than that.
We are aiming to grow our membership in these days when a strong, united voice from journalists committed to seeking truth and reporting it to the public is more important than ever. Bring a colleague who you think would be interested in joining.
This will be a great opportunity for chapter members to connect/re-connect, and for you to meet prospective members who may be our guests and tell them what membership means to you and why they should be part of our chapter and our mission. Spread the cheer, but also spread your enthusiasm for SPJ.
Sign up HERE to let us know you are coming.
Please note that you should respond using the form on the link above so we have your name and email address for any updates.
Freelancers of all experience levels will hear from seasoned editors, have their pitches critiqued and get advice on how to build a robust and diverse freelance portfolio.
Please register at spjgeorgia@gmail.com to receive link.
Register online HERE.
The raid of a Washington Post reporter’s home and the seizure of the reporter’s devices and newsgathering materials is an alarming escalation against the press and emphasizes the need for journalists in the U.S. to take steps to proactively protect their sensitive information.
We invite you to join us for a roundtable discussion on best practices for protecting data and devices for journalists in the U.S. Panelists from Freedom of the Press Foundation and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press will provide essential tips on safeguarding your data, protecting sources, and your legal rights during searches and seizures.
Panelists:
- Dr. Martin Shelton, Deputy Director of Digital Security, Freedom of the Press Foundation
- Harlo Holmes, Chief Information Security Officer and Director of Digital Security, Freedom of the Press Foundation
- Jen Nelson, Director of Pre-Publication Review and Journalist Support, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
- Abigail LP, Program Manager, Digital Security, Freedom of the Press Foundation (Moderator)
We encourage you to provide questions ahead of time using the prompt below for panelists to answer during the webinar.
This roundtable is being organized by the U.S. Journalist Assistance Network, a coalition of U.S. press freedom organizations specializing in journalist safety and assistance.