Attend 2019 NABJ Region III Conference
2019 NABJ Region III Conference
April 5-6, 2019
Sheraton Hotel
Birmingham, AL
Code Switching: Reporting The Virtual Truth
More and more people are relying on digital reporting for news. Often the meta message within stories we produce create unintended biases about the people color. The disadvantaged are usually most misrepresented. We explore how the analytics shape the images we produce daily and the role digital mediums have on reader, viewers and listeners. The conference will help you understand the digital pitfalls, use that information to create stronger stories more accurate news, and give journalists the tools to take ownership of stories and become better purveyors of the truth.
Host City
Birmingham, AL, the city at the center of the struggle for civil rights, the place where four little black girls where killed in an effort to suppress progress, when Dr. King marched and children were unlawfully arrested. The unfiltered stories about the plight of blacks in the south was shaped in Birmingham and that helped frame changes in politics, economics, and education that began to create more opportunities for for the disenfranchised.
Birmingham is now considered the Magic City of the south, a community on the verge of great advances with a black mayor leading the way. Birmingham is the perfect place to reflect on the past and project into the future. It is the home of the 16th Street Baptist Church, The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Negro Southern League Museum (baseball), and a vibrant, engaged Birmingham Association of Black Journalists (BABJ).
The hard work on the ground of the BABJ, The Greater Birmingham Visitors and Convention Bureau, and the outstanding support of Alabama Power help make this opportunity possible. We are also grateful for the continued support of The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Wells Fargo, and Annie E. Casey Foundation who support our cause of promoting diversity in the media.
This Year
Our planning team rolled up their sleeves again this year to bring you the best in quality programming with the goal of hands on learning, engaging sessions, and inspiring speakers with a goal of giving you tools you can use the moment you return to the newsroom, the office, or get back on campus.
Dr. Michelle Ferrier, Florida A & M University a victim of vicious online attacks leads a special session on dealing with the disturbing problem of hate online. She will provide a personal look at online targeting and how her experience led to Trollbusters, a way to combat digital attacks.
New this year, former NABJ President Herb and wife Mira Lowe of the University of Florida bring their class to Region III. They will provide skills designed to help college and emerging journalists build the foundation to lasting careers.
We are proud to bring back Investigative Reporters and Editors, the strongest name in investigative training in the industry for another in-depth, day long session to help reporters fight through the red tape, uncover key documents, and connect with key sources. This session comes with certification as a Watchdog Journalists and a one year membership to IRE. There is an extra fee for this session.
Back by popular demand, our in depth session on using the tools in your hands to visually enhance your reporting with mobile storytelling. This is one of our most engaging sessions that includes hands on training. Participants should charge their cell phones and mobile devices for this session that explores techniques for capturing the story and producing quality content on the scene.
Attendees can have a private tour of 16th Street Baptist Church, the church targeted by those with hate in their hearts when 4 black children were killed in a bombing in 1963. This act was a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. Their loss meant to silence the demands for justice instead triggered a push for change.
View Event Gallery