Society of Professional Journalists
Improving and protecting journalism since 1909

SPJ is committed to bringing you training and tools in all areas of journalism.

In this day-long workshop, you'll get practical, skills-based professional development that will help you be a better journalist.

Our next installment of JournCamp will take place February 27 in Atlanta. Registration is open now, and you can find more details here.

Journcamp Recaps:
— Nashville, January 2014
— Minneapolis, November 2013
— Washington, D.C., June 2013
— Chicago, January 2012

Sigma Delta Chi Awards: The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are among the premiere prizes in the profession and recognize achievement in all forms of journalism. Entries due Feb. 6, 2015.

New America Award: SPJ's New America Award honors public service journalism that explores and exposes an issue of importance to immigrant or ethnic communities in the United States. Entries due Feb. 13, 2015.

National High School Essay Contest: SPJ wants to increase high school students’ knowledge and understanding of the importance of independent media to our lives. The top three national winners receive scholarship awards. Postmark deadline: Feb. 28, 2015.

Want to learn more about SPJ's awards? See a complete list here.

The Society of Professional Journalists, the largest and most broad-based membership association for journalists in the nation, is seeking a candidate to fill its yearlong Communications Postgraduate Internship for writing, marketing, social media and public relations efforts. The ideal candidate should be a recent college graduate (bachelor’s or master’s) with prior internship or student media experience in communications and/or journalism. We're looking for someone to help put SPJ in the media spotlight and assist in growing the organization and serving Society members.

The full-time position, based in Indianapolis, includes competitive salary, excellent benefits and paid leave.

For more information and to learn how to apply, please follow this link.

Welcome to the online version of the SPJ Freelance Community’s guide to freelancing, On Your Own: A Guide to Freelance Journalism.

This new guide, updated with new information for 2015, is available for free to all SPJ members.

(Not an SPJ member? Now you have yet another reason to be one.)

More from SPJ Freelance:
– Visit (and join!) the SPJ Freelance Community
– The Independent Journalist: SPJ’s Freelance Community blog
– On-demand video training for freelancers

You have basic HTML and CSS chops. What comes next? Learn about Twitter Bootstrap templates, what Amazon S3 is and how it will save you time and money, and see some basic JavaScript.

Watch now: Flash | HTML5

(Missed Coding 101 and Coding 102? They're available on demand as well right here.)

This webinar is available to all SPJ members at any time and is included, along with our collection of On Demand training sessions, as part of your SPJ membership.

(Not a member? Why not? Become one here!)

EIJ15 Scholarships and Fellowships: Apply today

Terry Harper Memorial Scholarships: Terry Harper passed away in 2009 after a two-year battle with brain cancer. In honor of Terry’s efforts to improve SPJ and the entire journalism community, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation set up a memorial fund following his death. With a generous outpouring of support, the Society can now proudly provide up to four scholarships to SPJ members to attend its annual convention. Applications due May 12, 2015.

Diversity Leadership Fellows Program: As we face the many challenges of an evolving industry, strengthening SPJ’s diversity efforts is more important than ever. The goal of the Diversity Leadership Fellows program, ultimately, is to increase the diversity participation of SPJ members within national committees and on the national board of directors. As part of the program, we bring fellowship recipients to the convention to begin a year-long immersion and education program. Applications due May 12, 2015.

Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award: From the generosity of the Lewis family, the award is given each year to a student SPJ member who has demonstrated outstanding service to the First Amendment through the field of journalism. The award assists a student with his/her attendance to SPJ's annual convention. Applications due May 12, 2015.

Classrooms & Newsrooms Blog: Latest Entry

The murders of 12 people at the offices of satirical publication Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 is yet another frustrating example of recent violence against journalists and media workers. The Committee to Protect Journalists has been keeping track of such incidents since 1992. It’s important that journalism educators have a continuing conversation with our students about the dangers that come with choosing journalism as a career. Deadly violence against journalists in the United States is rare, but that’s not an excuse to ignore the issue. >Continue reading Discussing Violence with our Journalism Students

More from Classrooms & Newsrooms:
– Discussing Violence with our Journalism Students
– Be a Mentor to Journalism Students and Teachers
– Adding Study Abroad to a Journalism Curriculum
– Encourage Students to Tackle Difficult Issues
– Some Advice to Ignore

Extremists feel emboldened to attack and kill journalists anywhere in the world for lampooning religion or reporting on political and governmental activities. Such outrageous attempts to silence journalists will not be tolerated or successful.

Journalists around the world work every day to report truth, enlighten the public and encourage people to think about all sides of issues important to society. This type of attack on such a basic human right — freedom of speech — is heinous and unacceptable. We urge other journalists and media organizations to stand in solidarity against this outrageous attack on press freedoms. Read the complete statement

— View/download a larger version of the 'Je Suis Charlie' graphic
[JPEG, 279 KB]

Journalism and the World: Latest Entry

The Society of Professional Journalists International Community joins the worldwide outcry against the murder of 12 journalists in Paris Tuesday. Masked gunmen entered the offices of the French weekly satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo the morning of Jan. 7, opening fire with semiautomatic weapons on staff, including prominent editors and cartoonists of the publication, according to a New York Times article. Media outlets report the attack came from Muslim extremists as a result of the paper’s satirical depictions of Prophet Muhammad. “Extremists feel emboldened to attack and kill journalists anywhere in the world for lampooning religion or reporting on political and governmental activities,” said SPJ President Dana Neuts. >Continue reading Press freedom orgs react to massacre of journalists in Paris

This free site from the Society of Professional Journalists contains thousands of links helpful for reporters, editors, educators or anyone else doing research.

Edited by former Los Angeles Times reporter and DePaul instructor Mike Reilley, the site is organized by beats and industry topics such as Public Records, Crime, Legal Issues, Science, Environment, Journalism Jobs, Sports and more.

The Toolbox is updated twice weekly and several times a day during prominent global breaking news events.