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.
Current times mean many of our sources may fear repercussions ranging from deportation to court action to violence. How can journalists protect sensitive sources? Erica Hellerstein developed a policy to protect immigrant sources for El Timpano in the San Francisco Bay Area. Kae Petrin co-founded the Trans Journalists Association and is board president for the organization. Margaux Ewen is director of whistleblower protection at The Signals Network, which works with journalists and sources. They’ll share examples and suggest ways to work with sources while minimizing harm.
Registration is required to attend the free Zoom webinar on Wednesday, January 14 at 12 p.m. ET.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS:
- Margaux Ewen is the director of The Signals Network’s Whistleblower Protection Program. Margaux was most recently the director of Freedom House’s Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners, a major project to support journalists, human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists who are detained in retaliation for their heroic work.
- Erica Hellerstein is senior immigration, labor and economics reporter for El Tímpano in the San Francisco Bay area. She is an award-winning journalist with more than a decade of experience reporting on global human rights issues. She’s reported from Africa, Latin America, Europe and across the United States while writing about politics, gender, labor, historical memory and the ways geographies real and constructed shape popular opinion and culture.
- Kae Petrin is president of the Trans Journalists Association board, after co-founding the organization in 2020. They are on leave from their full-time job as a data and graphics reporter at Civic News Company for a 2025-26 John S. Knight fellowship at Stanford, exploring ways to improve coverage of trans communities and retention of trans journalists.
The most consequential midterm election stories — who is organizing, how money and messaging are taking shape, and which issues are reshaping voter priorities — are already unfolding, long before the first votes are cast.
Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute and OpenSecrets for a free webinar that will prepare journalists to cover the midterms with financial data top of mind. This interactive session will focus on OpenSecrets’ campaign finance tools that can support your local and regional political reporting in 2026 and beyond.
OpenSecrets launched in 2021 following a merger between the National Institute on Money in Politics and the Center for Responsive Politics, which expanded users’ access to a vast collection of campaign finance data on state and local races, as well as lobbying data.
During this one-hour, virtual session, participants will learn:
– How to find, download, and incorporate public data into their elections-focused storytelling on deadline;
– How to explore Open Secrets’ “Get Local!” donations tracker and other reliable tools; and
– Strategies to strengthen their midterms coverage in 2026 through accountability journalism.
In the spirit of transparency, this session is also open to interested members of the public.
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.
Journalists today aren’t just reporting the news — they’re becoming their own social media managers. As more people turn to social platforms as their primary news source, knowing how to promote your work strategically and thoughtfully has become a core journalism skill. Not a bonus one.
Kassy Cho, editor-in-chief of Almost, will lead this virtual workshop and share best practices for sharing your reporting on different platforms like Instagram and TikTok. That’ll include how to draw people in, visuals 101 and tips for defining goals.
This SPJ DC–requested workshop is designed to help reporters meet audiences where they already are. Bring your breakfast and questions for this early-morning session!
Register for the Zoom session here.
Editor-in-Chief of Almost, Kassy leads an independent media platform delivering social-first news for young people, helping them make sense of global events with truth, clarity and heart. Kassy’s work has reached hundreds of millions worldwide, sparking new conversations and shifting how news is understood across platforms. She is also a passionate advocate for social change through digital storytelling and education, empowering young people to understand, participate in and reshape the world around them.
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.
Please note that this session will not be recorded for security reasons.
In this webinar, hosted by Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), we’ll examine how government officials are increasingly labeling routine accountability reporting as “doxxing.” That term originally meant exposing personal information about private people to harass them. But now, government officials are extending it to publication of newsworthy information about public officials. They are intentionally confusing the American public about the role of journalism and even threatening legal action against journalists, newsrooms, and ordinary people for publishing information the public has a right to know.
Register HERE
We’ll hear from journalists who have faced these “doxxing” accusations firsthand:
– Vittoria Elliott, reporter at Wired covering platforms and power
– Gregory Royal Pratt, investigative reporter at the Chicago Tribune
– Doug Sovern, award-winning political reporter, formerly of KCBS Radio
– Charlie Kratovil, founder and editor of New Brunswick Today
– Moderated by Caitlin Vogus, senior adviser, FPF
From federal threats against reporters covering Immigration and Customs Enforcement to state laws restricting what journalists can publish about police, government officials are citing “doxxing” to threaten press freedom. When accountability is reframed as harassment, it chills reporting and limits the public’s access to information about how power is exercised.
I hope you’ll join us for this important discussion and support our work defending the First Amendment by donating at freedom.press/donate.