RSVP Today for the 2023 Fall Conference in Portland

Fall is here, and that can only mean one thing — and no, it's not pumpkin spice-related.

It's time for a journalism conference, and this year we're teaming up with some friends. 

Register now for the 2023 SPJ-AAJA Building a Better Journalist Conference, presented by the Agora Journalism Center and the UO School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC). It is going to be a big event for journalists, so RSVP today to get your seat! 

This year's event is 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, at the University of Oregon Downtown Portland Agora Journalism Center, White Stag Block, 70 N.W. Couch Street in Portland.

	PANEL NAME	Description
Session I, 10-11 am
1	Ask a Recruiter	Hear directly from newsroom hiring managers about how to make the best possible case for yourself when you're applying for an internship or newsroom staff position.
2	Rebuilding Local News	John Schrag and Lee van der Voo are among four teams participating in the American Journalism Project’s local news incubator to strengthen and diversity local news in Oregon. Their team, Oregon News Exploration, began surveying journalists and Oregonians about news and newsroom needs in summer 2021. They'll hold an InstaPoll session in which they will report on what they've learned and demo possible solutions from news collaborations around the country. Attendees will be asked to vote on and discuss ideas.
Session II, 11am-noon
1	Managing investigations while still maintaining a beat	How do reporters handle big, time consuming projects or investigations while still managing the demands of a regular beat? Tips for time management and organizing your notes/interviews and finding smaller stories from the big projects.
2	Gun violence	How to find stories and approach sources with empathy in the aftermath of shootings.
Lunchtime	Agora panel and sandwiches for lunch, noon-1:30 pm	Join us for lunch and an interactive session where we can explore together ways to improve local news and civic information across our state. Bring your ideas and solutions as you network with fellow journalists who share the goal of providing more and better information to our communities. Facilitated by: Andrew DeVigal, Director, Agora Journalism Center; Regina Lawrence, Associate Dean, SOJC Portland; and Jody Lawrence-Turner, Executive Director, Fund for Oregon Rural Journalism
Session III, 1:30-2:30 pm
1	Public records in rural journalism	There are hundreds of small governments across Oregon and southwest Washington. All of them must comply with public records law, but they don't always have the disposition or the resources to do that consistently. A panel of of journalists experienced in rural reporting will tell you why rural public records are important, share their experiences in obtaining and using these public records and provide tips on the best ways to get public records from small governments.
2	Interviewing for Audio Storytelling	Learn best practices for interviews that will take your radio piece or podcast to the next level.
Session IV, 2:30-3:30 pm
1	Campaign finance	Oregon's 2024 election season has already started. Learn how to use publicly available state and federal databases to find candidates, identify trends and peel back the curtain on money in politics.
2	Datawrapper	Use datawrapper.de to create line charts, graphs or interactive maps that enhance your written story. April Ehrlich teaches us how to plug data from a basic spreadsheet into this site and how to incorporate it into your reporting
Session V, 3:30-4:30 pm
1	Labor reporting	Hear from journalists who have been covering Oregon's labor movement.
2	AI in Journalism	Damian Radcliffe, professor of practice at the University of Oregon, will share his recent work in this space - providing a strategic overview of these developments and their implications, as well as discussing with attendees how they are using AI and the lessons from their experiences that they can share with their fellow delegates.

General admission is $25 and student admission (for high schoolers and college students) is $15. An onsite lunch is included, sponsored by SOJC’s Agora Journalism Center. 

If you want to make a difference in Oregon journalism, consider adding a donation to your admission. For $50 or $100, you can support conference expenses and the AAJA-SPJ Oregon Emerging Northwest Journalists Internship Program, which provides summer internships in Oregon newsrooms. Find out more about this program and how it builds the future of journalism.