Why attend #PMJA2024 & how to convince your boss
Make the case for your professional development
The PMJA Annual Conference in June. It’s an amazing opportunity for public media journalists to hone their knowledge and skills in just a few short days.
Never been before?
No problem. It’s designed as a great place for first-timers. Last year, 38% of conference attendees were new!
Think this is like other conferences?
Nope! PMJA’s gathering (now in its 39th year) is the only annual conference dedicated to public media journalism and the people who make it happen. The participants are your peers, and the sessions are focused on making newsrooms like yours better than ever.
What will I learn?
When creating the sessions, discussions and breakout sessions, PMJA leaders made sure it would help reporters, producers, digital staff, and news directors from stations of ALL sizes. This is practical training, where you’ll hear about ideas that worked in other newsrooms, and where you can share your own success stories. The schedule will be announced in January.
Who will be there?
This is a place where local station journalists are everywhere. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to develop connections that will benefit you back home. You’ll also have the opportunity to hear from and meet contacts from larger organizations like NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Worried about the cost?
Not only does PMJA work to keep registration fees as low as possible for members, we cram a robust agenda into two and a half days to make it affordable and to limit your time away from work. And we have a variety of scholarships for journalists at small stations, BIPOC journalists or those relatively new to public media. There’s also a virtual option that will provide you access to many of the sessions.
We’re certain that the 2024 PMJA Annual Conference is a great investment. Use this information above to convince your station it’s worth it. Be sure to fill them in on:
- The wide variety of sessions. Outline the highlights.
- The practical skills you will receive, such as learning how to better engage with the community or developing collaborations with outside organizations.
- How your participation will benefit your entire newsroom by sharing what you learned.
- The costs. (Remember – some scholarships are available!)
And of course, remind them who will benefit most from this training: your audience.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. We're here to help you make it to Washington, DC!
Download a template letter that you can customize to help convice your boss that your professional development is worth their investment.