About this 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.
The next gathering of the SPJ DC freelance group will be a no-host happy hour at 6 p.m., June 26 at the National Press Club. Please be sure to let me know if you plan to attend so we can have your name on the NPC list at the door.
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.
Contact Stephenie Overman if you plan to attend.
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.