The most consequential political issues of our time are being decided in statehouses across the country. For journalists on the front lines, the stakes have never been higher, as partisan positions have only hardened with a new presidential election cycle looming in 2024. To help meet the challenge, the National Press Foundation will hold a four-day training conference in Madison, Wisconsin, Sept. 18-21.
Wisconsin, a perennial battleground state, is the ideal venue to examine a host of issues confronting state lawmakers, and the country at-large: from the politics of abortion and election integrity to redistricting and growing challenges to LGBTQ rights.
NPF has assembled a team of expert speakers and instructors to help guide journalists through the thicket that is the legislative process, where hard-ball politics makes the job of accountability and the search for the truth even tougher. NPF offers this professional development opportunity for journalists to enhance skills, increase knowledge and recharge their reporting. The foundation will cover airfare, ground transportation, hotel costs and most meals.
The training will be held from 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18 to 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21. Attendance is mandatory for all sessions, and editors must commit to freeing their reporters from daily news obligations during the conference. This is a competitive program open to U.S. journalists only.
We greatly value diversity in all our programs and particularly seek applications from local and nonprofit news organizations, journalists covering communities that have been disproportionately hurt by the pandemic; Black, Indigenous and other journalists of color; and those who do public interest reporting in and about news deserts.
This program is funded by Arnold Ventures. NPF is solely responsible for the content.