Program for ISOJ 2023 now available; Register to attend virtually or in person on April 14-15

How is television news transitioning to the streaming era? Why has The New York Times become such a huge success online? What will be the impact of generative AI tools, like ChatGPT and Bard, on journalism? Are the news media lessening their dependency on social media? What lies ahead for opinion journalism with so much growth online? Is philanthropy helping to create sustainable models for local news? How are brave journalists using technology to continue covering the countries they were forced to abandon?

These are just a few questions that an impressive lineup of journalists, media executives and scholars from the United States and a dozen other countries will discuss during the 24th International Symposium on Online Journalism. You can now see the full 2023 program published by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, which organizes ISOJ – an annual conference that has analyzed the impact of the digital revolution on journalism for nearly a quarter of a century.

“We did it again! We put together another very strong program with an impressive speaker lineup and some of the most pressing issues journalism faces here, in the United States, and around the world,” said professor Rosental Alves, Knight Center’s founder and director, who created ISOJ in 1999. “I can guarantee that we all will learn a lot at ISOJ. No matter if you come to beautiful Austin for the in-person experience or if you attend online – taking advantage of our innovative features for remote engagement – you will not regret registering for ISOJ 2023.”

Registration is open for the hybrid symposium that will take place at the University of Texas at Austin on April 14 and 15, 2023. In-person registration sells out fast, so be sure to reserve your spot today. Thanks to our major sponsors, Knight Foundation and Google News Initiative, we are able to keep ISOJ registration fees at a level that is much lower than similar conferences. We will also include simultaneous interpretation to Spanish.

Here is the program:

 

24th International Symposium on Online Journalism

A program of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at The University of Texas at Austin

April 14-15, 2023

Venue: Zlotnik Family Ballroom at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, University of Texas at Austin

ISOJ SCHEDULE

All times are U.S. Central, CDT (UTC -5)

This schedule is subject to change.

 

FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2023

7:30–8:30 a.m. — Registration and Breakfast

 

8:30–8:45 a.m. — Welcome Session

ISOJ Emcee: Mallary Tenore, associate director, Knight Center

• Rosental Calmon Alves, ISOJ founder and chair, professor, School of Journalism and Media, University of Texas at Austin
• Jay Bernhardt, dean, Moody College of Communication, UT Austin
• Amy Schmitz Weiss, ISOJ research chair and professor, San Diego State University

 

8:45–9:30 a.m. — Keynote Session

• Keynote speaker: Janelle Rodriguez, executive vice president, NBC News
• Chair: David Ryfe, professor and director, School of Journalism and Media, UT Austin

 

9:30–10:45 a.m.—Panel: How can journalism incorporate AI, including generative tools like ChatGPT and Bard, to improve production and distribution of news?

• Chair: Marc Lavallee, director, Technology, Product and Strategy/Journalism, Knight Foundation
• Jeremy Gilbert, Knight Chair, Digital Media Strategy, Northwestern University
• Sam Han, director, AI/ML and Zeus Technology, The Washington Post
• Aimee Rinehart, program manager, Local News & AI, The Associated Press
• Sisi Wei, editor-in-chief, The Markup

 

10:45–11:00 a.m. — Coffee Break

 

11:00 a.m.–12:10 p.m. — Panel: The future of opinion journalism: How op-ed sections have evolved in the digital era and what lies ahead

• Chair: Michael Bolden, CEO and executive director, American Press Institute
• Nancy Ancrum, editorial page editor, Miami Herald
• James Dao, editorial page editor, The Boston Globe
• Zeba Khan, deputy editorial page editor, The San Francisco Chronicle
• Kathleen Kingsbury, opinion editor, The New York Times

 

12:10–12:15 p.m.— ICFJ Disarming Disinformation announcement

• Cristina Tardáguila, senior program director, International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)

 

12:15–1:15 p.m. — Lunch Break

 

12:20–1:10 p.m. — Lunch Workshops (To be announced)

 

1:15–2:15 p.m. — #ISOJ Journal peer-reviewed research panel (To be announced)

• Chair: Amy Schmitz Weiss, ISOJ research chair and professor, San Diego State University

 

2:15–3:00 p.m.– Keynote Session

• Keynote speaker: Jon Kelly, co-founder and editor-in-chief, Puck
• Chair: Sewell Chan, editor-in-chief, The Texas Tribune

 

3:00–3:30 p.m. — Coffee Break

 

3:30–4:45 p.m. — Global round up: Lightning presentations on the state of the news media around the world

• Chair: Ann Marie Lipinski, curator, Nieman Foundation at Harvard University
• Fahim Abed, independent journalist/former reporter for The New York Times in Kabul (Afghanistan)
• Adefemi Akinsanya, international correspondent and anchor, Arise News (Nigeria)
• Sheikh Sabiha Alam, senior reporter, Prothom Alo (Bangladesh)
• Bopha Phorn, independent journalist based in Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
• José Zamora, chief communications and impact officer, Exile Content (Guatemala)

 

4:45–6:00 p.m. — Panel: Lying in politics, weaponizing fake news and attacking journalists: What have we learned so far and how can we react to the infodemic?

• Chair: Anya Schiffrin, director, Technology, Media & Communication specialization, Columbia University
• Bill Adair, founder, PolitiFact, and Knight Professor, Duke University
• Sérgio Dávila, editor-in-chief, Folha de S.Paulo (Brazil)
• Khaya Himmelman, reporter, Grid
• Glenn Kessler, editor and chief writer, The Washington Post’s Fact Checker

 

6:15–7:45 p.m. — ISOJ Reception at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center courtyard

 

SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 2023

 

8:00–9:00 a.m. — Registration and Breakfast

 

8:00–8:50 a.m. Research Breakfast

Seats are limited and registration is required.

• Chair: Amy Schmitz Weiss, ISOJ research chair and professor, San Diego State University
• Carrie Brown, director of engagement journalism and associate professor, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY
• Celeste González de Bustamante, professor and associate dean, Moody College of Communication, UT Austin
• Alfred Hermida, professor, School of Journalism, Writing and Media, University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Sue Robinson, professor, School of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

9:00–9:45 a.m. — Keynote Session

• Keynote speaker: Joe Kahn, executive editor, The New York Times
• Chair: Evan Smith, co-founder and senior advisor, The Texas Tribune, and senior advisor, Emerson Collective

 

9:45–11:00 a.m. — Panel: How to improve the coverage of the climate crisis and avoid the “Don’t Look up” scenario

• Chair: John Schwartz, professor of practice, School of Journalism and Media, UT Austin
• Manuela Andreoni, climate reporter, The New York Times (Brazil)
• Darryl Fears, environmental justice reporter, The Washington Post
• Vernon Loeb, executive editor, Inside Climate News
• Michael Webber, Josey Centennial Professorship in Energy Resources, UT Austin

 

11:00–11:15 a.m. — Coffee Break

 

11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. — Panel: The Local News Movement: Philanthropic investments to networks and tools to create sustainable models

• Chair: Jim Brady, vice president/journalism, Knight Foundation
• Erin Millar, co-founder and CEO, Indiegraf (Canada)
• Michael Ouimette, SVP, Strategy & Startups, American Journalism Project
• Alana Rocha, Rural News Network editor, Institute for Nonprofit News
• Mary Walter-Brown, founder and CEO, News Revenue Hub

 

12:15–1:15 p.m. — Lunch Break

 

12:20–1:10 p.m.— Lunch Workshops (To be announced)

 

1:15–2:00 p.m. — Keynote Session:The future of storytelling on your face

• Keynote speakers: Yusuf Omar and Sumaiya Omar, co-founders, Seen.tv (Australia)
• Chair: Robert Hernandez, professor of professional practice, University of Southern California

 

2:00–3:00 p.m. — Panel: Newsletters, podcasts, text messages, push alerts: Are news orgs moving out of social-media dependency?

• Chair: Sara Fischer, media reporter and author of Media Trends newsletter, Axios
• David Cohn, chief strategy officer and co-founder, Subtext at Advance Publication
• Coleen O’Lear, head of curation and platforms, The Washington Post
• Zainab Shah, director of engagement and audience, THE CITY

 

3:00–3:30 p.m. — Coffee Break

 

3:30–4:45 p.m. — Panel: How to respond to news avoidance and reconnect with audiences through new approaches

• Chair: LaSharah Bunting, CEO and executive director, Online News Association (ONA)
• Talia Stroud, founder and director, Center for Media Engagement, UT Austin
• Dmitry Shishkin, independent media consultant (UK)
• Ben Toff, senior research fellow, Reuters Institute (UK)

 

4:45–6:00 p.m. — Panel: Exile journalism: Forced out of their countries, journalists use technology to report from abroad and have impact back home

• Chair: Kathleen McElroy, professor, School of Journalism and Media, UT Austin
• Olga Churakova, independent journalist and podcast host, “Hi, You’re a Foreign Agent” (Russia)
• Carlos Fernando Chamorro, founder and editor, Confidencial (Nicaragua)
• Danny Fenster ,editor-at-large, Frontier Myanmar
• Juan Luis Font, journalist and radio host, ConCriterio (Guatemala)