We’ve announced our first pre-planned sessions, including our lunchtime keynote.
The lunchtime keynote is “Creators, Influencers and Newsrooms,” a discussion with young news creator NoShorts, influencer Pop Pop Bruce Johnson (1m+ TikTok followers) and longtime audio journalist and Proxy podcast creator Yowei Shaw.
Our pre-planned sessions include:
- “Speed Friending and Very Good Content Exchange” by independent creator Calan The Artist: A fast, fun speed-friending moment—where attendees each bring a few pieces of content (creator videos, data displays and journalism) to share and introduce themselves.. Organized by independent creator and organizer Calan The Artist, the goal is to spark ideas and meet other attendees
- The Meme-ification of the News: When It’s OK to Be Funny and Still Be Factual by Influencer Journalism CEO Adriana Lacy: Memes move faster than headlines—but they don’t have to outrun accuracy. In this fast, practical session, Adriana Lacy shows how newsrooms can use humor, memes and platform-native formats to reach new audiences without sacrificing standards. We’ll cover when wit clarifies vs. distorts, guardrails for verification and attribution, workflow tips for quick-turn visuals, and how to measure impact beyond vanity metrics.
- Empowering responsible reporting on gun violence led by Jim MacMillan, Samantha Caiola, Eric Marsh: The Association of Gun Violence Reporters helps reporters tell more nuanced, solutions-forward stories about gun violence in hopes of minimizing harm to survivors while advancing public health-informed, trauma-aware and community-centered journalism. More info: AGVR.org
- What if there’s no such thing as a journalist anymore? led by Sean Blanda, reporter turned marketer and online content guy (talking to non-traditional information providers): Is someone a “real” journalist—or not? That binary framing misses the more useful question: how do creators position themselves in today’s information ecosystem? This session introduces a 2×2 framework that compares truth-seeking vs. truth-bending and audience-centric vs. author-centric approaches.
- The Trust Test: Journalism in the Age of Creators Liz Kelly Nelson: From TikTok to Substack, who do we trust and why? Put your credibility instincts to the test in this interactive trust lab. This isn’t a lecture – it’s a chance to play, debate, and help shape a new framework for evaluating creator credibility.
- What is Media Philanthropy Anyway Nina Sachdev and Vince Stehle Media, Media Impact Forum: philanthropy gets talked about like it’s its own category, but in practice it shows up scattered across a multitude of grantmaking portfolios, such as democracy, climate, arts and culture—the list goes on. That makes it hard for practitioners to know where their work actually “lives” in the philanthropic landscape, and what expectations or constraints come with that.
- Elements of AI for Ethical Storytelling: 5 Simple Principles led by Danya Henninger: A framework to help newsrooms and creators navigate the tech without compromising their mission. Spoiler: It’s humans all the way down.