Election season is upon us. So is horse race coverage, political punditry, and elite-focused coverage that often loses sight of how communities engage in politics well before Election Day. 

The PMJA Board unanimously voted to appoint Johnathan Reaves president of the board. He fills the vacancy created when Shula Neuman resigned her post earlier this month.  Reaves will serve as board president until June 2021, when the position will be open in the organization’s annual election. 

The latest installment in the Building Resilience webinar series was held on Tuesday, August 25 at 2 p.m. EST.  This week's topic was "The Imperative of Inclusion: Hiring and Retention"  Guests Vinnee Tong of KQED and Doug Mitchell - founder of Next Generation Radio - shared their thoughts on how statios can do a better job of both hiring and retaining a diverse workforce.   

The full recording is available to view HERE.  You will be asked to register to watch the recording.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has announced an additional $61,000 grant funding the continuation of the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) Editor Corps, which provides crucial editing assistance to public media newsrooms, including small and rural newsrooms.

PMJA Board President Shula Neuman announced today that she will resign her position with the organization in order to focus on issues within St. Louis Public Radio. Her resignation is effective immediately.

The Board of PMJA has filled the open Large Station Representative seat with Eugene Sonn from WHYY.  Gene has served as the Audio News Director at WHYY since 2010 and has been an active member of PMJA during that time.  Prior to 2010, Gene had a long history of excellent work in local public media and as a freelance reporter.  The seat to which Sonn was appointed opened up when Shula Neuman from St. Louis Public Radio was elected as the board's President in late June.

The latest installment in the Building Resilience webinar series was held on Tuesday, July 14 at 2 p.m. EST.  This week's topic was "The Imperative of Inclusion - Part II."  Guests Matt Martinez, Chief Content Officer at KNKX in Seattle/Tacoma and Bill Johnson, General Manager of WRTI in Philadelphia shared their own experiences and talked about how their stations are addressing issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.  

The latest installment in the Building Resilience webinar series was held on Tuesday, June 30 at 2 p.m. EST.  This week's topic was "The Imperative of Inclusion."  Guests Jordan Lee of Radio Milwaukee and Ju-Don Marshall of WFAE in Charlotte, North Carolina talked about how their two stations are working to improve culture - in their organizations and their communities - through some great efforts.

On Thursday, June 25th, PMJA Members came together virtually to honor award winners, bid a fond farewell to outgoing board members and welcome new board members.  But mostly, we gathered to hear from two amazing women in public media - Maria Hinojosa, the 2020 Leo C. Lee Award winner and Kate Concannon, the 2020 Editor of the Year.  

At its first ever Virtual Awards Gala, PMJA announced the stations that will be receiving PMJA awards for work done in calendar year 2019.  This year, 179 awards are being presented to 84 organizations.  The awards recognize the best work in public media journalism from across the country.  Stations compete against others with similar sized newsrooms.  Overall, judges reviewed nearly 1300 entries.