SPJ INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY GLOBAL FACT-CHECKING WEBINAR: While all good journalists know to fact-check their stories, independent fact-checking organizations have sprung up around the world to address the increased misinformation being promoted in social media and by many political figures. Join the IC for its “Fact-Checking — A Global Update” webinar at 7 p.m. EST Tuesday. Speakers will include Angie Holan, director of the International Fact Checking Network, and Dulamkhorloo Baatar, founder of NEST Mongolia, the Mongolian affiliate with the IFCN. Retired journalist and educator Jeff South will moderate the session. Registration is required.
Join the SPJ International Community and the Washington DC SPJ chapter for an online discussion with Kirstin McCudden, Vice President of Editorial at Freedom of the Press Foundation and Managing Editor at US Press Freedom Tracker, about these and other threats to press freedom in the United States.
Monday, February 10 at 6pm ET
Register HERE.
Challenges to the independence of the news media, statements designed to warn off journalists from certain stories and outright physical threats are on the rise in the United States.
There were 314 incidents of violations of press freedom in the United States during 2024, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The actions ranged from the Kansas legislature banning reporting from the House floor to a Colorado reporter being choked outside his TV station to numerous search orders against news organizations.
Things are not expected to look much better in 2025. Already Trump Administration officials have threatened increased investigations into leaks to the press; more criminal prosecution of journalists and stepped-up government surveillance of the press. A recent report from the Department of Justice Inspector General report detailed the illicit seizures of reporters records during 2020-2021.
Recent moves by the Pentagon have already taken back desk space used by long-time news organizations such as the New York Times and National Public Radio. The spaces were given to other non-traditional news groups, some of whom do not yet have a dedicated Pentagon correspondent.
The conversation facilitator will be Nerissa Young a professor of instruction in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and a 31-year member of the Society of Professional Journalists. She advises the 10-time national SPJ campus chapter of the year at Ohio University. Young teaches International Mass Media and Foreign Correspondence courses, among others. She previously taught journalism at Oklahoma State University, Shepherd University and Marshall University, where she earned her master’s degree in journalism.
What
REGISTER HERE: Eventbrite
As we recognize the 20th anniversary of national Sunshine Week, we’re organizing an in-person conference to find solutions to pressing problems in freedom of information across all disciplinary and geographic boundaries.
We are bringing together journalists, record custodians, policy makers, historians, state FOI coalitions, librarians, academics, civil society nonprofit groups, commercial data providers, and all other constituencies who care about transparency at the local, state, federal and global levels of government.
Attendees will produce an action plan to be implemented post-conference and beyond.
See a detailed schedule, with topics (to be updated as more speakers are confirmed).
Why
We want to bring requesters and the government to the same table and identify solutions for improving the public’s ability to acquire information they need to self-govern. The goal: Strengthen democracy, communities, and individuals’ lives.
When
March 19-20, 2025.
Conference early bird rate (ends March 10): $50 ($25 for students)
After March 10, increases to $75 ($30 for students)
REGISTRATION: Eventbrite.
Limited to 160 registrants (142 registered so far – 18 seats left, as of Feb. 21!). If the registration fee is a hardship or you might have difficulty being reimbursed by your employer, send an email to David Cuillier (cuillierd@ufl.edu) to obtain a waiver code to use when you register on our EventBrite page.
We are offering a limited number of travel fellowships of up to $1,000 each to help offset travel/hotel costs, not including meals or incidentals. One person per organization, first come, first served. A reimbursement will be made after receipts are submitted after the conference. Apply for a travel fellowship by Feb. 21 here.
Where
Reception, March 19
Clyde’s of Gallery Place
707 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Sunshine Fest, March 20
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center
555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
Who
Coordinated by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, the National Freedom of Information Coalition, and the Johns Hopkins University Communication Graduate Program. Support for Sunshine Fest and Sunshine Week comes from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
How
Sessions will meet the following criteria:
- Of interest and importance to both requesters and government agencies.
- Foster understanding, empathy and constructive common-sense solutions.
- Cross geographic boundaries – local, state, federal and global.
- Cross disciplines – journalism, nonprofit, history, archives, public administration, academia, commercial sector, etc.
- Break conventional boundaries – bring new ideas and new perspectives to inspire positive change through legislation, processes, research, and innovative initiatives.
Topics include the latest technologies to improve searches/redactions, how to handle voluminous requests, effective dispute resolution outside of litigation, the state of transparency under Trump and beyond, the use of FOIA for political advocacy, balancing privacy and access, and more. See schedule. Got a suggestion for future Sunshine Fests? Submit here.
“Creative nonfiction is not making something up but making the most of what you have.” John McPhee, in The New Yorker, Sept 15. 2015 —- In this one-hour webinar, award-winning author Gutkind will discuss some of the techniques journalists and nonfiction writers can use to make their work more cinematic and, in the process, more engaging to their readers. “Making the most of what you have means being creative in the approach to and structure of your stories and the details you include while communicating necessary information and ideas in a more three-dimensional manner,” says Gutkind, the founding editor of Creative Nonfiction Magazine, whose media appearances have included The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Good Morning America, National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation, and All Things Considered.
Moderator: Celia Wexler, president, SPJDC Pro Chapter
Register HERE for the Zoom event.
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.
Getting Out Is Just the First Step: What Refugees Must Go Through To Reach Safety And Then Face In Exile
September 2, 2025 at 1:00 pm ET
Register HERE.
Each year dozens, if not hundreds, of journalists are forced to flee their home countries because of threats to them and their families.
Just getting refugee status can be a demeaning and exhausting process. Once status is granted, the refugee and family face another issue: How to survive in their new country. Many countries limit the types of work allowed to people with refugee status. Too many journalists and other professionals are relegated to work that does not allow them to prosper or from the host country to benefit from their skills and talents.
Join us for an in-depth discussion that looks at what leads people to flee their home country and what issues they face once they are safely out. The panelists will also discuss what the local journalism communities can do to help these people.
PANELISTS
Taha Siddiqui is a Pakistani investigative journalist who has been living in exile in France since 2018. In Pakistan, he reported for leading international media such as the New York Times, the Guardian and France24. He had to flee his homeland after surviving a kidnapping and assassination attempt. Pakistani army officials threatened him, hoping to censor his reporting on military abuse in the country. In 2019, he was informed by French and American authorities that his name was on a Pakistani state-sanctioned kill List
In Paris he founded the DISSIDENT club, a bar where dissidents of the world meet. He recently published his first book – an autobiography as a graphic novel called Dissident Club, named after his bar which documents his journey from growing up in an Islamist family to becoming an atheist and his fight for freedom of expression and religion.
Kami Rice has been working as a freelance writer and editor for years.
She is also the co-founder of Allied Shepherd, which works to help endangered Afghans seeking safety in other countries.
Based in Europe, she travels the world widely, with a particular interest in how policies and geopolitical maneuvering affect regular people. Anthrow Circus is a mixed media collection crafted by artists and journalists working as creative anthropologists to examine culture and society.
Moderator
Jessica Jerreat is an award-winning journalist with nearly 25 years’ experience in local and international news and press freedom for organizations including the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and The Times of London. She joined the Voice of America March 2020 and currently holds the enviable title of Press Freedom Editor.
Jerreat is a plaintiff in an ongoing lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its policy of closing the US Agency for Global Media, the parent agency for VOA.
The murders of investigative journalist Regina Martínez and photojournalist Rubén Espinosa, about 10 years ago became the inspiration for “Cocodrilos,” the debut fictional feature film by director J. Xavier Velasco. The film is a thriller that looks at the cost of seeking the truth where collusion between authorities and organized crime is the main threat to people’s right to be informed.
Join the SPJ International Community on Sept. 23 at 6:00 pm ET as we talk with Velasco about his film and his views on the importance of independent and free media.
Those signing up for the webinar will receive a free link to view the movie during the week before our session.
Sign up HERE.
ZOOM EVENT. Register HERE.
In recent months, as federal mass deportation efforts have ramped up, there has been a deeply disturbing escalation of violence by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers against journalists, observers, and peaceful protesters alike. Scores of violent assaults on reporters have resulted in a growing number of serious injuries and prompted press lawsuits against DHS in Los Angeles and Chicago. Plaintiffs assert that the violence is both excessive and officially sanctioned, part of a concerted effort to silence the press and keep the American people in the dark.
Join the American Constitution Society and the Center for Media and Democracy for a briefing about the dire threat federal law enforcement violence poses to our First Amendment rights to speech, assembly, and a free press, including your right to record ICE activity and anti-ICE protests.
Speakers:
Nora Benavidez, Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights, Free Press
Alejandra Cancino, Senior Reporter, Injustice Watch
Adam Rose, Chair, Los Angeles Press Club; Deputy Director of Advocacy, Freedom of the Press Foundation
Nick Stern, Freelance Photojournalist
Matt Topic, Partner, Loevy + Loevy
Life as a journalist has its ups and downs, but let’s face it, we love it!
Eventually we will all have to step away from the profession and craft we love. But that does not mean we have just fade away and tell stories of “the good old days.”
There is indeed life after journalism!
Join us Monday, November 17 at 6:00 pm ET as we talk with Brian Noyes, the former art director of The Washington Post and Smithsonian magazines about his journey from illustrating stories to becoming a national baked goods phenomenon.
Register for the online session HERE.
Moderating the discussion will be SPJ DC Vice President Kaela Roeder.
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.