Workshop Wednesday
MediaFest’s opening day – Wednesday, Oct. 15 – is dedicated to getting your hands dirty. These workshops are free, focused, and practical. You will leave with tactics you can take back home.
SPJ & Google
Learn how Google tools can improve your journalism.
SPJ and the Google News Initiative are training journalists around the country, and the lauded program stops at MediaFest25. The SPJ trainers, who have all received GNI instruction, will teach you how to …
- using Pinpoint, a Google AI research tool developed for journalists. It finds and analyzes large collections of documents, images, and other files, letting you extract information, identity patterns, and summarize data.
- search for stories and images that have already been verified by independent fact-checking organizations.
- use Google Trends to get a real-time view of the topics people in your area are searching.
- master Advance Search to get better results faster.
- use Google Maps to build interactive maps and show what happened where
- use Google Scholar to bolster your sources and find reliable academic research and legal documents.
- and more. A lot more.
Make sure you bring your laptop to make it easier to follow along and experiment with the tools.
Dan Petty, ProPublica director of audience strategy
Jordan Wirfs-Brock, Whitman College assistant professor of computer science
1-5 pm in Penn Quarter A (1B)
TRUST or BUST
How to foster loyalty with your audience and your community.
Trust in journalism doesn’t just happen. It takes humility, listening, and transparency. Trusting News will show you the practical strategies it has successfully taught dozens of newsrooms. These hands-on activities and small-group discussions will focus on…
Perceptions of bias
You can prevent it through sourcing, word choice, and story framing. We’ll introduce you to the Trusting News Anti-Polarization Checklist and other tools. We’ll also show you how to defend your responsible journalism against claims of bias.
Educating your audience
Learn how to explain your reporting process in ways that resonate with your community. Sadly, people don’t assume we have ethics. We have to remind them.
Creator-journalists
More Americans are getting their information from newsletters and on social media, preferring to trust people who feel like friends over institutions. We’ll share research showing why people disengage with traditional news content, then we’ll discuss how journalists can thrive in this new ecosystem.
Bonus: one-on-one coaching
After the workshop, each participant will be offered a follow-up coaching session with the Trusting News team when they get back home.
These strategies work online, in print and on air. Trust us.
Lynn Walsh, Trusting News assistant director
1-5 pm in Renwick (3B)
Social Media is “gatekeeping” your news
How to recognize it and what you can do about it.
Many journalists and newsrooms rely on social media to promote their reporting. Popular platforms such as Instagram and TikTok feature new articles, and they engage audiences who might not pay attention to traditional news sources.
But social media restrictions can limit the reach of your legitimate content, rendering newsworthy reporting all but invisible.
This is a special concern for journalists and newsrooms covering controversial issues. Meta, Google, and other social media platforms have limited or even banned stories about police violence, institutional racism, LGBTQ+, and Israel/Palestine.
Project Censored’s Algorithmic Literacy for Journalists will teach you about shadow bans, advertising blocklists, and other forms of content reduction. A Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow will show you newsroom-tested practices for working around them. Bring your own challenges, and we’ll try to solve them on the spot.
Andy Lee Roth, Project Censored’s developer of Algorithmic Literacy for Journalists
1-4 pm in Latrobe (1B)
The law is on your side
How to wield it to shield yourself from harassment, censorship, and punishment.
When it comes to media law, the secret is learning only what you need to know – and then asking experts for their targeted advice. The Student Press Law Center does both of these things. For starters, you’ll hear about how these topics intersect with your life…
- censorship – stop it dead in its tracks, and even prevent it from happening in the first place.
- libel – how to protect yourself from accusations and lawsuits.
- invasion of privacy – avoid some of the most common privacy law traps faced by student media.
- copyright – Fair Use Exemption is your friend, if you can figure it out.
- access to records and meetings – how to get them and get into them.
- reporter’s privilege – what do you do if police or school officials demand to search your newsroom or computer files?
Then you’ll find out how the SPLC Hotline can help you. Bring your questions and current conundrums. While geared to college students, this workshop is also an excellent primer for pros.
Mike Hiestand, Student Press Law Center senior counsel
1-4 pm in Penn Quarter B (1B)
The Student Media Money Playbook
What’s better than free money? Free lessons for making money.
Are you a college media outlet selling as many print ads as you once did? Making money with digital? Know what OOH is and how it can support your media outlet?
If so, stop reading. This isn’t for you.
This workshop offers student media practical and tactical sales guidance…
- 5 core products you should be offering. How to get started, what to charge, and how to pitch them to your clients.
- Media kit review. Let’s dive into your media kit and discuss how it can be doing more work for you. If you don’t have one yet, you’ll see lots of great examples to create your first.
- Closing better, bigger and more deals. Prospecting, writing a better pitch email, getting out in person, sending better follow ups, and asking for the close.
- Solicit a steady stream of direct donations. Done right and carefully, you can bring in enough to cover some major expenses.
- Recruit next-gen sales reps now. Just like selling, it’s a numbers game. You should always be recruiting, just like you’re always selling.
Presented by SPJ and Flytedesk, this proven workshop has worked wonders for other universities…
- Sandy Giacobbe, business manager, Rutgers University: “This was a great success. The biggest impact was on my sales representatives, giving them a better perspective of how the sales funnel works and better routes to sell our products. In all honesty, I think it lit a fire under them to work harder.
- Tessa Bishop, sales manager, Boise State University: “My biggest takeaway is the new products we can begin to offer and the ways in which we can begin to implement those. Our visit wasn’t too long ago, but our print sales have been fully booked. We’ve also reached a lot more new clients, which has been exciting.”
Piper Jackson-Sevy, co-founder of flytedesk
Paige Ladisic Hamzik, Senior Manager, Publisher Programming & Innovation
Ashley Caudill, Publisher Development Manager
1-4 pm in Tiber (1B)
How to teach Media Literacy
A workshop for professors and advisers.
Ready to teach media literacy as a standalone course? Building out a media literacy module in an existing course? Since both are relatively new endeavors, it’s difficult to find models that fit your needs. Those who have done so successfully will offer options for…
- defining learning outcomes based the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) framework.
- developing curriculum that incorporates real-world examples and current events.
- finding the ideal guest speakers who can highlight practical applications of media literacy.
- creating media projects like videos, podcasts, or blog posts, that emphasize ethical production and accurate representation.
- designing exams, quizzes, rubrics, feedback forms, and scoring guides.
We’ll also introduce you to organizations that can assist you with specific questions and general advice. Leave this workshop with everything you need for next semester.
Kimberly R. Moffitt, NAMLE president
Stephanie Flores-Koulish, NAMLE vice president
1-4 pm in Bulfinch (3B)
mediafest25.com 