Super Sessions
Note: For last-minute changes in the schedule, use the SPJ21 web app, available here.
Thursday, Sept. 2, 5:30-6:30 p.m. ET
Objectivity: Bridging the Growing Divide
After protests of George Floyd’s killing roiled the country last year, media objectivity became a hot topic as journalists of color publicly complained about how newsrooms were applying that traditional news standard. Some labeled the whole notion outdated, unfair or unrealistic. Now, as newsrooms look to hire or promote more people of color in response to the nation’s racial reckoning, conflicts about what constitutes objectivity and whether it has a place in 21st century journalism likely will grow. This session, bringing together journalists of different backgrounds and generations, aims to move beyond debate to understanding, and maybe even agreement.
Presenters:
– Shirley Carswell, Executive Director, Dow Jones News Fund
– Rod Hicks, Director of Ethics and Diversity, Society of Professional Journalists
– S. Mitra Kalita, Author, “My Two Indias,” “Suburban Sahibs”
– Maya King, Politics Reporter, Politico
– Tom Rosenstiel, Executive Director, American Press Institute
View presenter bios
Shirley Carswell, Executive Director, Dow Jones News Fund
Shirley Carswell is executive director of the Dow Jones News Fund, a nonprofit organization that promotes careers in journalism. She is former deputy managing editor of the Washington Post, where she spent most of her career, including positions as copy editor, Metro copy chief and assistant managing editor. For nearly two decades, she managed the newsroom’s budget and daily operations. Before joining the News Fund in 2021, Carswell taught journalism at Howard University.
Maya King, Politics Reporter, Politico
Maya King is a national politics reporter at POLITICO, where she covers state and national campaigns and the intersection of race and politics. In her two years at POLITICO, she has covered education, breaking news, political advertising and gubernatorial campaigns. She previously held positions at NPR, USA Today and the Democracy Fund. Maya, a graduate of Howard University, was a 2018 White House Correspondents’ Association scholar and is a 2021 Paul Miller Washington Reporting fellow.
S. Mitra Kalita, Author, “My Two Indias,” “Suburban Sahibs”
S. Mitra Kalita is a veteran journalist, media executive, prolific commentator and author. She is CEO and Publisher of Epicenter-NYC, a newsletter to help New Yorkers get through the pandemic. Mitra is also CEO and Co-Founder of URL Media, a network of Black and Brown owned media organizations that share content, distribution and revenues to increase their long-term sustainability. Mitra was most recently SVP at CNN Digital, overseeing the national news, breaking news, programming, opinion and features teams.
Tom Rosenstiel, Executive Director, American Press Institute
Tom Rosenstiel is one of the country’s most recognized thinkers on the future of journalism. He is executive director of the American Press Institute, a think tank on making news sustainable, and the author of 10 books. As a journalist, press critic and media researcher, Tom has written about politics, campaigns, journalism, media and ethics and has lectured and consulted on journalism extensively. He is a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Rod Hicks, Director of Ethics and Diversity, Society of Professional Journalists
Rod Hicks, director of ethics and diversity at the Society of Professional Journalists, has experience at numerous news organizations across the country. Most recently, he was an editor for The Associated Press at its Philadelphia-based East Regional Desk. In this role, he worked on several major stories, including the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut and the Boston Marathon bombing. Hicks previously held editing positions at newspapers in New Jersey, Alabama, Michigan and Missouri.
Friday, Sept. 3, 11:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m. ET
Eyewitness to Horror: Marking the 20th Anniversary of America’s Darkest Day
They rushed to the World Trade Center as diligent journalists, unprepared for the trauma that would unfold before their eyes.
Richard Drew, a photojournalist with The Associated Press, witnessed unspeakable horror that 9/11 morning and captured it with his images. His powerful photograph, “The Falling Man,” continues to stir controversy two decades later. Hear Drew and other heroic journalists discuss their powerful work and how the trauma of covering America’s Darkest Day impacted their lives and careers.
Presenters:
– Claire Regan (@clairemariereg1), Assistant Professor of Journalism, Wagner College
– Richard Drew, Photojournalist, Associated Press
– David Handschuh, Award-winning Photojournalist
View presenter bios
Claire Regan, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Wagner College
Claire Regan, a passionate journalist with more than 30 years of newsroom experience, is an assistant professor of journalism and faculty adviser to the student newspaper at Wagner College in New York City. Ms. Regan’s editing and design work for the Staten Island Advance, her hometown newspaper, has been honored by the Associated Press, the Society for News Design, the New York City Deadline Club and the New York Press Club. She served three consecutive years as president of the Deadline Club, SPJ’s New York chapter, and was elected to a two-year term as at-large director on SPJ’s national board. Ms. Regan completed a yearlong fellowship in journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and received the Charles O’Malley Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
Richard Drew, Photojournalist, Associated Press
Most photojournalists would consider themselves lucky to take one iconic picture during their career. Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Drew has shot dozens during five decades as a front-row witness to history. Drew is best known for taking “The Falling Man” photograph during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The powerful image has been called one of the 10 most important photographs of all time.
David Handschuh, Award-winning Photojournalist
David Handschuh is an award-winning photojournalist, writer and videographer who has captured memorable images from New York and around the world for more than 30 years. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11.
As a photographer for the New York Daily News for 27 years, Handschuh’s work has spanned the gamut from heart pounding, on-the-scene, breaking-news images to acclaimed feature photo and lively portraiture to sumptuous, mouth-watering entrees.
His work has been recognized by the National Press Photographers Association, Pictures of the Year, the New York Press Photographers Association, the New York Press Club, the Silurians Press Club’ the Deadline Club and the National Headliners.
Saturday, Sept. 4, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET
Identity, Representation and the Media
The death of George Floyd changed the landscape in journalism. Finally, news managers asked if they were doing enough to have diverse voices in the newsroom and news coverage. What is being done right? What issues still need to be addressed in the newsroom and in news coverage to bring diversity, inclusion and equity to the forefront? Panelists will discuss what journalists and students can do to bring all voices to the table in the newsroom and classroom. This panel was organized by the SPJ Diversity & Inclusion Committee.
Presenters:
– Adrienne Broaddus, Correspondent, CNN Correspondent
– Dr. Tracy Everbach, Professor, School of Journalism, University of North Texas
– Lori Lizarraga, Former Journalist, 9NEWS
– Danielle McLean, Senior Editor, Smart Cities Dive
– Ruth Nasrullah, Freelance Journalist
– Pauly Denetclaw (@Pdineclah), Indigenous Affairs reporter, Texas Observer
View presenter bios
Adrienne Broaddus, Correspondent, CNN Correspondent
Adrienne Broaddus, an Emmy award-winning journalist, joined CNN from KARE-TV in Minneapolis, where she anchored the 11 a.m. newscast and reported on a variety of topics including the spotlight on the battle for affordable insulin. She covered major stories for KARE TV and TEGNA stations nationwide, including protests following the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, who was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO. Most recently, she covered the death of George Floyd in 2020 and the police involved shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota.
Dr. Tracy Everbach, Professor, School of Journalism, University of North Texas
Tracy Everbach, Ph.D., is a professor in the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas. She teaches classes on race and gender in the media, writing and reporting, and research methods. Her academic research focuses on representations of race and gender in mass media as well as women in newsrooms. She is a former newspaper reporter.
Lori Lizarraga, Former Journalist, 9NEWS
Lori Lizarraga is an Ecuadorian-Mexican-American journalist from Texas. In 2017, she was awarded an Edward R. Murrow and Emmy award for her coverage of the earthquake in Ecuador. She has reported in newsrooms in California and Colorado. Lori got national attention in March when she published a story, "LatinXed: 9News Got Rid of Three Latina Reporters in a Year," after being terminated from a Denver TV station. As a result, reporting standards on immigration issues were changed at Tegna-owned TV stations across the country.
Danielle McLean, Senior Editor, Smart Cities Dive
Danielle McLean is a senior editor at Smart Cities Dive, a national online news publication covering the most impactful news and trends shaping smart cities. She has also worked as a reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Bangor Daily News, ThinkProgress, Somerville Journal, and The Boston Globe. She is currently the chair of the SPJ Ethics Committee and former chair of the SPJ FOI committee. Danielle is a proud trans woman who plays semi-professional women’s hockey in the DC-Maryland area.
Ruth Nasrullah, Freelance Journalist
Ruth Nasrullah is a freelance journalist who writes about subjects as varied as religion, civil rights, travel, nature, and the environment. She has a masters degree in journalism and an MFA in creative nonfiction. She has served five terms as the president of the Houston Pro chapter. She regularly presents workshops on writing about religion. Ruth and her husband recently created a website, covid19wallofmemories.org, which memorializes those who have passed away from COVID and provides education and information about the disease.
Pauly Denetclaw, Indigenous Affairs reporter, Texas Observer
Pauly Denetclaw is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and from Manuelito, New Mexico. She is Haltsooí (Meadow People) born for Kinyaa’áanii (Towering House People). Denetclaw is currently the Indigenous Affairs reporter for the Texas Observer. Previously, she was a staff reporter for the Navajo Times. She is a board member for the Native American Journalist Association. She was a Knight-CUNYJ Journalism Fellow in New York City, Emerging Fellow for the Journalism and Women Symposium and an Indian Country Today Tribal Media Fellow in Washington D.C. Her radio work has aired on National Native News, NPR's Latino USA and Texas Public Radio.
Presenters:
– Shirley Carswell, Executive Director, Dow Jones News Fund
– Rod Hicks, Director of Ethics and Diversity, Society of Professional Journalists
– S. Mitra Kalita, Author, “My Two Indias,” “Suburban Sahibs”
– Maya King, Politics Reporter, Politico
– Tom Rosenstiel, Executive Director, American Press Institute
Shirley Carswell, Executive Director, Dow Jones News Fund
Shirley Carswell is executive director of the Dow Jones News Fund, a nonprofit organization that promotes careers in journalism. She is former deputy managing editor of the Washington Post, where she spent most of her career, including positions as copy editor, Metro copy chief and assistant managing editor. For nearly two decades, she managed the newsroom’s budget and daily operations. Before joining the News Fund in 2021, Carswell taught journalism at Howard University.
Maya King, Politics Reporter, Politico
Maya King is a national politics reporter at POLITICO, where she covers state and national campaigns and the intersection of race and politics. In her two years at POLITICO, she has covered education, breaking news, political advertising and gubernatorial campaigns. She previously held positions at NPR, USA Today and the Democracy Fund. Maya, a graduate of Howard University, was a 2018 White House Correspondents’ Association scholar and is a 2021 Paul Miller Washington Reporting fellow.
S. Mitra Kalita, Author, “My Two Indias,” “Suburban Sahibs”
S. Mitra Kalita is a veteran journalist, media executive, prolific commentator and author. She is CEO and Publisher of Epicenter-NYC, a newsletter to help New Yorkers get through the pandemic. Mitra is also CEO and Co-Founder of URL Media, a network of Black and Brown owned media organizations that share content, distribution and revenues to increase their long-term sustainability. Mitra was most recently SVP at CNN Digital, overseeing the national news, breaking news, programming, opinion and features teams.
Tom Rosenstiel, Executive Director, American Press Institute
Tom Rosenstiel is one of the country’s most recognized thinkers on the future of journalism. He is executive director of the American Press Institute, a think tank on making news sustainable, and the author of 10 books. As a journalist, press critic and media researcher, Tom has written about politics, campaigns, journalism, media and ethics and has lectured and consulted on journalism extensively. He is a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Rod Hicks, Director of Ethics and Diversity, Society of Professional Journalists
Rod Hicks, director of ethics and diversity at the Society of Professional Journalists, has experience at numerous news organizations across the country. Most recently, he was an editor for The Associated Press at its Philadelphia-based East Regional Desk. In this role, he worked on several major stories, including the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut and the Boston Marathon bombing. Hicks previously held editing positions at newspapers in New Jersey, Alabama, Michigan and Missouri.
Eyewitness to Horror: Marking the 20th Anniversary of America’s Darkest Day
They rushed to the World Trade Center as diligent journalists, unprepared for the trauma that would unfold before their eyes.
Richard Drew, a photojournalist with The Associated Press, witnessed unspeakable horror that 9/11 morning and captured it with his images. His powerful photograph, “The Falling Man,” continues to stir controversy two decades later. Hear Drew and other heroic journalists discuss their powerful work and how the trauma of covering America’s Darkest Day impacted their lives and careers.
Presenters:
– Claire Regan (@clairemariereg1), Assistant Professor of Journalism, Wagner College
– Richard Drew, Photojournalist, Associated Press
– David Handschuh, Award-winning Photojournalist
View presenter bios
Claire Regan, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Wagner College
Claire Regan, a passionate journalist with more than 30 years of newsroom experience, is an assistant professor of journalism and faculty adviser to the student newspaper at Wagner College in New York City. Ms. Regan’s editing and design work for the Staten Island Advance, her hometown newspaper, has been honored by the Associated Press, the Society for News Design, the New York City Deadline Club and the New York Press Club. She served three consecutive years as president of the Deadline Club, SPJ’s New York chapter, and was elected to a two-year term as at-large director on SPJ’s national board. Ms. Regan completed a yearlong fellowship in journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and received the Charles O’Malley Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
Richard Drew, Photojournalist, Associated Press
Most photojournalists would consider themselves lucky to take one iconic picture during their career. Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Drew has shot dozens during five decades as a front-row witness to history. Drew is best known for taking “The Falling Man” photograph during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The powerful image has been called one of the 10 most important photographs of all time.
David Handschuh, Award-winning Photojournalist
David Handschuh is an award-winning photojournalist, writer and videographer who has captured memorable images from New York and around the world for more than 30 years. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11.
As a photographer for the New York Daily News for 27 years, Handschuh’s work has spanned the gamut from heart pounding, on-the-scene, breaking-news images to acclaimed feature photo and lively portraiture to sumptuous, mouth-watering entrees.
His work has been recognized by the National Press Photographers Association, Pictures of the Year, the New York Press Photographers Association, the New York Press Club, the Silurians Press Club’ the Deadline Club and the National Headliners.
Saturday, Sept. 4, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET
Identity, Representation and the Media
The death of George Floyd changed the landscape in journalism. Finally, news managers asked if they were doing enough to have diverse voices in the newsroom and news coverage. What is being done right? What issues still need to be addressed in the newsroom and in news coverage to bring diversity, inclusion and equity to the forefront? Panelists will discuss what journalists and students can do to bring all voices to the table in the newsroom and classroom. This panel was organized by the SPJ Diversity & Inclusion Committee.
Presenters:
– Adrienne Broaddus, Correspondent, CNN Correspondent
– Dr. Tracy Everbach, Professor, School of Journalism, University of North Texas
– Lori Lizarraga, Former Journalist, 9NEWS
– Danielle McLean, Senior Editor, Smart Cities Dive
– Ruth Nasrullah, Freelance Journalist
– Pauly Denetclaw (@Pdineclah), Indigenous Affairs reporter, Texas Observer
View presenter bios
Adrienne Broaddus, Correspondent, CNN Correspondent
Adrienne Broaddus, an Emmy award-winning journalist, joined CNN from KARE-TV in Minneapolis, where she anchored the 11 a.m. newscast and reported on a variety of topics including the spotlight on the battle for affordable insulin. She covered major stories for KARE TV and TEGNA stations nationwide, including protests following the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, who was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO. Most recently, she covered the death of George Floyd in 2020 and the police involved shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota.
Dr. Tracy Everbach, Professor, School of Journalism, University of North Texas
Tracy Everbach, Ph.D., is a professor in the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas. She teaches classes on race and gender in the media, writing and reporting, and research methods. Her academic research focuses on representations of race and gender in mass media as well as women in newsrooms. She is a former newspaper reporter.
Lori Lizarraga, Former Journalist, 9NEWS
Lori Lizarraga is an Ecuadorian-Mexican-American journalist from Texas. In 2017, she was awarded an Edward R. Murrow and Emmy award for her coverage of the earthquake in Ecuador. She has reported in newsrooms in California and Colorado. Lori got national attention in March when she published a story, "LatinXed: 9News Got Rid of Three Latina Reporters in a Year," after being terminated from a Denver TV station. As a result, reporting standards on immigration issues were changed at Tegna-owned TV stations across the country.
Danielle McLean, Senior Editor, Smart Cities Dive
Danielle McLean is a senior editor at Smart Cities Dive, a national online news publication covering the most impactful news and trends shaping smart cities. She has also worked as a reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Bangor Daily News, ThinkProgress, Somerville Journal, and The Boston Globe. She is currently the chair of the SPJ Ethics Committee and former chair of the SPJ FOI committee. Danielle is a proud trans woman who plays semi-professional women’s hockey in the DC-Maryland area.
Ruth Nasrullah, Freelance Journalist
Ruth Nasrullah is a freelance journalist who writes about subjects as varied as religion, civil rights, travel, nature, and the environment. She has a masters degree in journalism and an MFA in creative nonfiction. She has served five terms as the president of the Houston Pro chapter. She regularly presents workshops on writing about religion. Ruth and her husband recently created a website, covid19wallofmemories.org, which memorializes those who have passed away from COVID and provides education and information about the disease.
Pauly Denetclaw, Indigenous Affairs reporter, Texas Observer
Pauly Denetclaw is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and from Manuelito, New Mexico. She is Haltsooí (Meadow People) born for Kinyaa’áanii (Towering House People). Denetclaw is currently the Indigenous Affairs reporter for the Texas Observer. Previously, she was a staff reporter for the Navajo Times. She is a board member for the Native American Journalist Association. She was a Knight-CUNYJ Journalism Fellow in New York City, Emerging Fellow for the Journalism and Women Symposium and an Indian Country Today Tribal Media Fellow in Washington D.C. Her radio work has aired on National Native News, NPR's Latino USA and Texas Public Radio.
Presenters:
– Adrienne Broaddus, Correspondent, CNN Correspondent
– Dr. Tracy Everbach, Professor, School of Journalism, University of North Texas
– Lori Lizarraga, Former Journalist, 9NEWS
– Danielle McLean, Senior Editor, Smart Cities Dive
– Ruth Nasrullah, Freelance Journalist
– Pauly Denetclaw (@Pdineclah), Indigenous Affairs reporter, Texas Observer
Adrienne Broaddus, Correspondent, CNN Correspondent
Adrienne Broaddus, an Emmy award-winning journalist, joined CNN from KARE-TV in Minneapolis, where she anchored the 11 a.m. newscast and reported on a variety of topics including the spotlight on the battle for affordable insulin. She covered major stories for KARE TV and TEGNA stations nationwide, including protests following the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, who was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO. Most recently, she covered the death of George Floyd in 2020 and the police involved shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota.
Dr. Tracy Everbach, Professor, School of Journalism, University of North Texas
Tracy Everbach, Ph.D., is a professor in the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas. She teaches classes on race and gender in the media, writing and reporting, and research methods. Her academic research focuses on representations of race and gender in mass media as well as women in newsrooms. She is a former newspaper reporter.
Lori Lizarraga, Former Journalist, 9NEWS
Lori Lizarraga is an Ecuadorian-Mexican-American journalist from Texas. In 2017, she was awarded an Edward R. Murrow and Emmy award for her coverage of the earthquake in Ecuador. She has reported in newsrooms in California and Colorado. Lori got national attention in March when she published a story, "LatinXed: 9News Got Rid of Three Latina Reporters in a Year," after being terminated from a Denver TV station. As a result, reporting standards on immigration issues were changed at Tegna-owned TV stations across the country.
Danielle McLean, Senior Editor, Smart Cities Dive
Danielle McLean is a senior editor at Smart Cities Dive, a national online news publication covering the most impactful news and trends shaping smart cities. She has also worked as a reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Bangor Daily News, ThinkProgress, Somerville Journal, and The Boston Globe. She is currently the chair of the SPJ Ethics Committee and former chair of the SPJ FOI committee. Danielle is a proud trans woman who plays semi-professional women’s hockey in the DC-Maryland area.
Ruth Nasrullah, Freelance Journalist
Ruth Nasrullah is a freelance journalist who writes about subjects as varied as religion, civil rights, travel, nature, and the environment. She has a masters degree in journalism and an MFA in creative nonfiction. She has served five terms as the president of the Houston Pro chapter. She regularly presents workshops on writing about religion. Ruth and her husband recently created a website, covid19wallofmemories.org, which memorializes those who have passed away from COVID and provides education and information about the disease.