Journalists’ ability to keep their sources confidential and information secure is vital to newsgathering and the public’s access to information. Because there is currently no federal reporter’s shield law, journalists are vulnerable to demands for their sources and newsgathering materials in federal court. The government can force phone and email providers to out journalists’ confidential…
Reporting live from Las Vegas
by St. Louis Pro President Elizabeth Donald Never let me be accused of burying the lead: I received this honor at the opening business meeting for the Society of Professional Journalists national conference here in Las Vegas today. In addition to this recognition of our advocacy for the First Amendment, we were also finalist for…
National is almost here!
It’s almost time for SPJ’s national convention! Believe it or not, you have up until Sept. 27 to register and join us for the fun in Las Vegas! Seriously, SPJ’s national conference is always an amazing experience, with a ton to learn and a chance to gain perspective talking to journalists from around the country…
It’s convention time!
The Society of Professional Journalists is holding a joint conference with the College Media Association and Associated Collegiate Press in Washington D.C. all this week. It’s our first in-person convention since the world ended, and I’m so pleased to be heading to Washington DC. I will be tweeting updates from the conference at @edonaldmedia and…
SPJ Shenanigans, 2022
It’s that time of year, when each SPJ chapter reports to our national organization on our activities for the past year. It’s always a good time for reflection, for reviewing the programs that worked, the ones that didn’t, and setting our goals for the coming year. I’ll skip all the boring financial and organizational stuff,…
STLSPJ Delegate Report
While all of us were disappointed to spend four days on Zoom instead of in New Orleans, the SPJ national conference was filled with a lot of incredibly useful information and workshops. Reports indicate overall that SPJ membership is down, but the biggest losses have been in student chapters. That doesn’t necessarily mean there are…
On deck: SPJ National Conference
This week begins the national conference for the Society of Professional Journalists! Originally planned to be a hybrid conference in New Orleans, the decision was made a few weeks ago to go fully virtual for another year thanks to the coronavirus (and, as it turns out, the entire area is suffering from the impact of…
Should SPJ’s national conference be virtual?
The SPJ national board of directors will be meeting soon to decide whether this year’s national conference in September will be on-ground in New Orleans as planned, a hybrid conference with some aspects taking place online, or entirely virtual, as the 2020 conference was. This is also the first year in many years that SPJ…