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 :
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+16468769923,,89294784013#,,,,*063800# US (New York)
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
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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.
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 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.