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Fall has arrived, and with it a new season of learning and celebration of journalists at the National Press Club Journalism Institute.
Below, you’ll find a terrific lineup of skills programs designed by the Institute’s new training director, Bara Vaida. She’s put a close eye on what journalists need to know on important topics like AI, campaign finance, and more.
You can meet Bara, along with the rest of our team, at an informal open house on Oct. 18 at the National Press Club (see below for details). We’re excited to meet you and learn more about what’s important to you as we look ahead to 2024.
Supporting journalists and press freedom is central to our work, and we are so happy to share that Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, a Mexican journalist who fled death threats, last month received asylum after 15 years. Learn more about Emilio’s case and more press freedom work below.
The Institute is able to provide training and direct support for thousands of journalists because of the generosity of this growing community. We are grateful to you.
Happy Fall from the Institute team. We’ll see you soon!
- Beth Francesco, NPCJI executive director
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AI is here to stay, but how to use the tools — and whether to — has been key to conversations taking place in newsrooms across the country.
Join Francesco Marconi, a computational journalist, and the co-founder of AI company Applied XL, for a practical look at what journalists need to know about AI tools and their applications within journalistic work. Marconi, formerly R&D Chief at The Wall Street Journal and AI Co-Lead at the Associated Press, will share best practices for using AI in the newsroom.
He will lead the National Press Club Journalism Institute’s free webinar, to take place at 11:30 a.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023.
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Participants will learn:
- How journalists are using generative AI tools like chatGPT to support their work
- Best practices — and the best tools — to enhance your workflows
- Ethical considerations in use and display of AI-supported work products
- How to stay ahead with this rapidly evolving technology
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The National Press Club Journalism Institute staff will host an informal open house from 5 to 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 18.
Come by the Eric Friedheim National Journalism Library at the National Press Club to say hello to our new Institute staff and learn about the research resources available to NPC members.
Institute staff are currently working a hybrid schedule, with staff in their library offices between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. The Institute staff includes Executive Director Beth Francesco, Training Director Bara Vaida, Operations Manager Holly Butcher Grant, and Development Manager Mitch Harle.
To RSVP for the open house, contact NPCJI Executive Director Beth Francesco.
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Political spending is expected to reach record-breaking heights in the coming year.
Journalists will play a crucial role in informing the public about who and what organizations are funding candidates, ballot measures, and policy debates in Washington, D.C., and state capitals across the country. But campaign finance and lobbying laws are complex and often opaque, posing challenges to journalists assigned with tracking money in politics and the lobbying beat.
To help you with your reporting, the National Press Club Journalism Institute and the nonpartisan research group OpenSecrets are hosting an Oct. 20 training at 11:30 a.m. ET on the basics of how to cover campaign finance and lobbying.
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Participants will:
- Learn how to use the OpenSecrets’ national and state databases to identify who and what organizations are contributing to politicians and their campaigns
- Understand the ways that money is funneled into politics, including candidate advocacy groups, political action committees, dark money, and direct donations
- Develop skills to uncover which individuals, companies, labor unions, trade associations, and other organizations spend on lobbying
- Gain story ideas for the national and state politics-in-money angle
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In our scroll and skim culture, visuals can make the difference in whether a reader engages with a story. But not every newsroom has a graphic design professional to help create a compelling image on deadline. If you’re a journalist or communication professional now handling (or who wants to handle) quick-turn graphics, get a head start with our beginner course for designing visuals when it’s not usually part of your job.
Beth Francesco, the National Press Club Journalism Institute’s executive director, will share best practices, tools you have at your disposal, and exercises for creating visuals regardless of your hands-on design experience.
This interactive session will take place at noon ET on Friday, Nov. 3. Tickets are $20 for the public and $15 NPC members.
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Participants will learn:
- Rules of thumb to guide your decisions on fonts, colors, and images
- Tools you have at your fingertips to make quick work of visuals (social cards, call-outs, basic infographics, and more) on the fly
- Exercises to help you develop your design thinking
Beth will be available for 30 minutes after the program to answer any individual questions or to troubleshoot your design issues.
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Kristen Welker, NBC News chief White House correspondent and moderator of “Meet the Press,” will receive the National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award during a gala in her honor on Nov. 28 in Washington, D.C. The award recognizes journalists who have made significant contributions to the field and is the Club’s most esteemed prize.
The 2023 Fourth Estate Award Gala will take place at the National Press Club, with Welker joining us to accept her award. Guests in the Washington, D.C., area can attend in person for an elegant dinner and black-tie celebration in the historic ballroom of the National Press Club.
This year’s Fourth Estate gala will also commemorate a Club milestone: The Fourth Estate Award is now in its 50th year. The gala will begin with a reception at 6 p.m. ET followed by dinner and the awards program starting at 7 p.m. in the ballroom. Tickets for the gala are $175 for National Press Club members, and $350 for members of the public.
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The evening also will honor the winners of the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Awards:
Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who has been detained in Russia since March 29 and is accused of espionage, and Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who are currently in prison awaiting sentencing on charges related to national security, which can carry a death sentence.
Kat Stafford, Reuters’ global race and justice editor, also will be recognized as the 2023 winner of the Neil and Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism.
Thank you to our generous sponsors:
Gold Sponsor
NBC News
Silver Sponsors
The Drage Family | Robert Hastings & Associates LLC
Spirit Sponsor
Distilled Spirits Council/Responsibility.org
Patron Sponsors
Ballard Spahr | Bell Flight | CBS News | Gaylord College of Journalism, University of Oklahoma | General Dynamics Corporation | Global Situation Room | National Rural Electric Cooperative Association | Eileen and Cary O’Reilly | SKDK | Syngenta | Trip Total Media | Volunteers of America
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If you are able, please consider donating to keep the Institute’s educational programs free or low-cost. Your tax-deductible donation today directly supports the crucial training and career development for working journalists informing their communities every day. | |
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Aspiring journalists can apply now for a scholarship that provides free housing and a $4,000 stipend to support student journalists of color who plan to intern at news media outlets in Washington, D.C., in spring 2024.
Applications are open for the National Press Club’s Lewis Scholarship, which aims to improve accessibility to experiential learning opportunities in the nation’s capital for students of color. This scholarship, administered through the National Press Club Journalism Institute, extends the Lewis family’s commitment to increasing representation in Washington, D.C., to include news media, adding to their work founding and operating the Washington Intern Student Housing program and the HBCU National Center.
The deadline to apply for the Spring 2024 Lewis Scholarship is noon ET on Thursday, Nov. 30. Application instructions, including eligibility requirements, are available online.
This opportunity is awarded to one undergraduate student journalist of color each fall, spring, and summer semester.
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Journalism students are the future of media, and your tax-deductible donation today can support the student journalists who will lead the industry into tomorrow. Last year, students from Texas, California, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Florida were all awarded NPC scholarships and made impacts on their campuses and in their communities. | | | |
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A National Press Club press freedom honoree who has been battling attempts to deport him to a country where he was threatened with death finally has won asylum in the United States.
Fifteen years after coming to the U.S. legally and seeking refuge, Mexican journalist Emilio Gutiérrez Soto received word last month that the Board of Immigration Appeals has ruled him eligible for asylum.
In a five-page opinion sent to Gutiérrez’s lawyer, Eduardo Beckett, the BIA ruled that an El Paso immigration judge’s two decisions against Gutiérrez were “clearly erroneous.”
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The three-judge panel ruled that Gutiérrez, whose home was ransacked by members of the Mexican military before he fled Mexico, “has a well-founded fear of persecution in Mexico.” The judges cited Gutiérrez’s “journalistic work that was critical of the military” and the “numerous letters and extensive declarations in support” of Gutiérrez’s asylum bid.
“It has been a long journey, and these past 15 years have been difficult. But today, justice has won,” Gutiérrez, 60, said from Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he now resides.
The ruling is a victory for the National Press Club and numerous press freedom organizations. The Press Club became involved in the Gutiérrez case six years ago, after inviting him to accept the John Aubuchon Press Freedom award on behalf of journalists in Mexico.
The National Press Club Journalism Institute, represented by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, continues to press its Freedom of Information Act case seeking release of Department of Homeland Security documents and communications related to Gutiérrez.
To learn more about Gutiérrez, click here.
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The National Press Club and the Institute regularly issue press freedom statements to support press freedom around the world. Here’s a selection of recent statements:
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Your gift to the Institute can help support our press freedom initiatives at home and abroad. From making sure local journalists’ rights are protected in Kansas, working to provide asylum for Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, and keeping imprisoned journalists Austin Tice and Evan Gershkovich front and center when discussing reporters jailed abroad, donating to the Institute pushes our critical ongoing work forward. | |
The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest. The Institute's tax ID number is 52-1750908. | |
National Press Club Journalism Institute
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