Please join us for the 2024 SPJ Region 4 and 5 Conference
Reconnect with colleagues and attend cutting-edge panel discussions that cover a variety of topics -- from the latest technology and tools for journalists and working in a newsroom today to sharpening your skills, and more.
SPJ Region 4 and Region 5 Conference
Fri., April 12 and Sat., April 13, 2024
Northern Kentucky University (NKU) - Griffin Hall 500 Louie B. Nunn Drive, Highland Heights, KY 41099 with a Friday night opening reception at The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Plum Street, Cincinnati, OH 45201 (downtown Cincinnati.)
Wonder where the future of journalism is headed? What are the latest tools that will help you capture stories? How will journalists thrive in the future? These are only a few of the topics we’ll cover during the Society of Professional Journalists Region 4 and 5 Conference on Fri., Apr. 12 and Sat., Apr. 13, 2024. The event will also recognize some of the best work from students at an afternoon MOE Awards celebration on Saturday.
2024 SPJ Region 4 and Region
5 Conference
Greater
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
April 12-13, 2024
Schedule:
Friday, April 12
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Opening reception,
Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Plum St., Cincinnati, OH 45201
·
Beryl Love, executive editor, Cincinnati Enquirer
Saturday, April 13
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Location: Griffin Hall at Northern Kentucky University, 500 Louie B Nunn
Dr, Highland Heights, Kentucky, 41099.
8:30-9:15 a.m. – Breakfast
– sponsored by E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio
University
9:15-9:30 a.m. – Welcome and
opening remarks
Region 4 Director Ginny
McCabe and Region 5 Director Nicole DeCriscio
- SPJ President Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins, via video
9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. –
Super Session
What’s Ahead for the
Future of the Industry: Clicks are king, revenue is soft,
layoffs and consolidation continue. What buoys and dashes the hopes of top news
managers in 2024?
Featured speakers/panelists include
- Beryl Love,
executive editor, Cincinnati Enquirer
- Kyle Nagel,
editor, Dayton Daily News
- Maryanne
Zeleznik, news director, Cincinnati NPR affiliate WVXU-FM
- Jeff Brogan,
Vice-President/General Manager, WCPO-TV
- Tim Geraghty,
News Director WKRC-TV
- Moderator -
Duane Pohlman, WKRC-TV
10:45-11:45 a.m.
Concurrent Session I
Covering Trans Issues:
Ohio lawmakers have lots of opinions about trans kids. And lots of ideas about
what laws should apply to them.
Pike County Murders: Ohio
media will be back on the state’s largest mass murder story this spring with
another trial in the 2016 eight-victim case from Pike County. Daily media find
themselves up against documentary makers.
Noon-1 p.m.: Lunch
with Keynote:
SPJ
executive director remarks
- Beryl Love to introduce keynoter
and provide an overview of Gannett’s “Kids Behind Bars.”
- Laura Bischoff on “Kids Behind
Bars,” Gannett’s investigation into horrific outcomes in Ohio’s four
juvenile jail institutions.
- Patti Newberry will serve as
coordinator.
1:15-2:15 p.m. –
Concurrent Sessions II
Sports of All Sorts: In
markets with popular college or professional teams, sports always used to get
the clicks. This panel explores why that’s still the case for print/online
reporters, but less true these days for TV stations.
- Melanie Laughman, Cincinnati
Enquirer and more
- Moderator: Perry Farrell, Wayne State
University, Detroit
Food for
All: The art of review is in steep decline – except when it
comes to food. In Detroit, Lyndsay Green was a 2023 Pulitzer finalist. In
Cincinnati Keith Pandolfi carries on the tradition of high-level food writing. Here
more on the topic and why food continues to be popular.
- Cincinnati magazine food critic
Brandon Wusk
·
Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer
- Moderator: Marty Fischhoff, Detroit
Public Television
Grant Writing: A how-to
workshop for journalists on writing grants. Find out tips and what it takes to
draft a grant proposal.
·
Nicole DeCriscio
2:30-3:30 p.m. –
Concurrent Sessions III
Politics and Ethics: How do
the hot election stories of 2024 test journalists’ ethics? We’ll look to the
SPJ Code of Ethics for examples of stories that challenge journalists to stay
on the straight and narrow.
Speakers/panelists will include:
·
Howard Wilkinson, Becca Costello, WVXU political reporters; Laura Bischoff, Gannett; and more
- Moderator: Tom McKee
Non-Profit News: What’s
new in the non-profit news ecosystem as they aim to fill the Region 4-5 news
deserts.
·
Nicole DeCriscio, The Owen News Project, Founder and others
3:30-4:30
p.m. – Saturday will conclude with the MOE Awards celebration.
*Note:
final schedule is subject to change.
Get tickets for the conference here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/spj-regional-conference-2024-region-4-and-5-at-nku-griffin-hall-tickets-850327130337?aff=oddtdtcreator
HOTEL INFO:
Embassy Suites by Hilton Rivercenter.
Attendees can reserve rooms within the room block using your exclusive group rate of $179
Attendee website: https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/cincinnatisocietyprofessionaljournalists91o/
Group Name: Greater Cincinnati Society of Professional Journalists
Group Code: 91O
Central Reservations Number: 866.344.7548
RESERVATION DEADLINE is Friday, March 22nd @11:59:59 PM.
Holiday Inn - Cincinnati Riverfront
Rate $119 - check in April 12 and check out April 13
Click the link to start bookng. The deadline to reserve a room is Mar. 29.
