The attendees of the 2019 PRNDI conference were welcomed by President Alicia Zuckerman and NPR's VP of News and Editorial Director Nancy Barnes before being treated to keynote speaker Jill Geisler of Loyola University, who was joined by a panel of journalists to address inclusivity in the newsroom, how to effectively change work culture and why traditional HR techniques need serious updates.

The PRNDI 2019 conference began with opening remarks from Alicia Zuckerman, PRNDI's Board President, who discussed a possible name change for the organization, and  Nancy Barnes, NPR's Senior Vice President of News, who covered the role of public media and newsroom collaboration.

Zuckerman, who is also the Editorial Director for WLRN in Miami, highlighted the history of PRNDI during her speech. Last year the organization hired its first full-time employees after being lead almost entirely by volunteers throughout its history.

If you just can't make it to every session that interests you at the conference this year, be sure to check this website for highlights. 

Megan Manata, Raymon Troncoso and Chloe Weber were selected by the PRNDI board to be this year's press corps, and they'll be reporting and posting throughout the conference.  The recent graduates won the honor, which includes free attendance at the conference, for their essays addressing "what public radio means to me." 

For the last few years, PRNDI has awarded two scholarships for early career journalists to attend the annual PRNDI Conference. This year, we had over 20 applicants for these two scholarships, and the decision wasn’t an easy one.  Please join us in congratulating our two winners - Daisy Contreras and Andrea Gutierrez.

Dominique Jack is a 23-year-old Brooklyn College graduate whose high school-obsession with Korean K-Pop music opened the door to a career in radio journalism. Dominique, a Brooklyn-born first-generation American whose parents emigrated from Trinidad, recently completed an internship at New York Public Radio station WNYC.

The station’s New Jersey reporter, Karen Rouse, interviewed her about her experience.

Super Shuttle has offered PRNDI Conference attendees a discount on ground transportation when coming to the PRNDI Conference in Washington, DC.  If you book your Super Shuttle transportation using this LINK, you will receive the following discounts:

-        10% off one-way and 10% off round-trip SuperShuttle shared rides;

-        10% off one-way and 10% off round-trip ExecuCar private sedans; and

-        10% off one-way and 10% off round-trip ExecuCar private SUVs

Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI) has joined with 11 other journalism organizations in signing a resolution in support of global press freedom. The resolution is being released on World Press Freedom Day.  

PRNDI (Public Radio News Directors Inc.) is excited to announce the 2019 Editor of the Year, Karen Frillmann, executive producer of the Narrative Unit at WNYC in New York. Karen was nominated by the journalists of WNYC, who call her the “audio soul of our newsroom.” She has worked off and on at WNYC for more than 30 years. A native of Queens, New York, Karen’s career also includes working as a reporter, senior producer at Simon & Schuster Audio, and a producer and editor for a wide range of programs, series, podcasts and documentaries.

New to our awards this contest year, PRNDI is implementing Newscast days.  We'll have one of these days each calendar quarter during 2019.  Only newscasts from these specific dates will be eligible for entry into the newscast category for the annual PRNDI Awards Competition.

Tomorrow, April 25, 2019 is the second of those four days (the first day was February 19, 2019).  We'll notify you of subsequent newscast days one day before the scheduled date.

From PRNDA Newsletter April 1992

By Morgan Holm, News Director for Oregon Public Broadcasting Radio, Portland, OR