SPJ - Washington, D.C.

Quick Summary April 18 The Learning Common in Virgina Commonwealth University in Richmond. Check in starts at 11 a.m. Lunch with keynote speaker Eric Deggans, Knight Professor of Journalism and Media Ethics at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, begins at noon. The Virginia SPJ Chapter has a great site for the conference, including a signup page and the full program itinerary. Just click HERE.

With large-scale cutbacks in newsrooms and ongoing attacks against press freedom, one can begin to feel depressed and under siege. Well, we are under siege, but that does not mean we have to be depressed. The Washington DC chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is reviving an old tradition: The Newz Schmooze. Newz Schmooze Revitalized brings journalists and media professionals together for candid conversation, practical insight and real connection.

SkillsFest 26 was a free two-day virtual program featuring hours of hands-on journalism training each day in collaboration with leading journalism organizations. In case you missed any, the national SPJ has most of the sessions posted. And if you attended any sessions, you can get a refresher. Just click the image below.

The history of this day is cloudy. In fact, not one source could provide any information as to who started it nor exactly when it started. However, there seems to be a consensus that the day got some traction in the late 1990s. Last year, a reporter from WGN in Chicago went out soliciting hugs: And KOLN in Lincoln, NE, ran a story last year about the day and the work journalists do.

A science writer covering climate change, its impacts and related politics. An editor who has led his publication to national renown as the LGBTQ community’s “newspaper of record.” An investigative journalist whose work – individually and with collaborators —  has exposed political corruption, improper conduct among Ohio prosecutors, and U.S. workers dying on the job for lack of shade and water.

March 9 marks the 62nd anniversary of the US Supreme Court deciding the Times V. Sullivan case. A State cannot, under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, award damages to a public official for defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves “actual malice” — that the statement was made with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard of whether it was true or false.

SPJ’s DC chapter is teaming up with seven journalism organizations In the DMV to host its annual job fair. The fair will be at Georgetown University’s Capitol Campus, 111 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Saturday, March 28 from 10 am- 2 pm. Georgetown University’s Master of Professional Studies in Journalism program is hosting the event.

We got a note from The Alexandria Times. They have several job opportunities as they expand their mission as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and asked us to spread the word. Here is the note from Publisher Denise Dunbar: We are expanding our sports coverage to include a weekly Sports section, and seek freelancers to write sports stories, including game coverage, reports on teams, and sports features.

The New England SPJ chapter, Muckrock and the New England First Amendment Coalition are running a national Freedom of Information contest for students. Each month students are encouraged to submit the most interesting documents they have obtained via a FOIA request, such as police reports and animal control reports.

View the Washington, D.C., Pro Chapter webinar, “How to be your own social media manager,” with social media pioneer Kassy Cho, editor-in-chief of Almost, a youth-led, social-first independent newsroom. Cho says Almost helps young people make sense of global events with truth, clarity and heart. Her work has reached hundreds of millions of people worldwide, sparking new conversations and shifting how news is understood across platforms.