9 April Events for Journalists to Kick Off Spring
Welcome to Blogger Events, a monthly column of upcoming blogger and journalist events that we think you should know about. Plan even further ahead and bookmark our page with upcoming events for the entire year.
Spring is here and the April calendar is fresh with a variety of unique and helpful learning opportunities for journalists and bloggers. Topics covered in this month’s events include editing skills, navigating layoffs, freelancing, audience research and more.
Keep reading to find an event that matches your needs.
April 8: How to Use Our News App of Disclosures From Political Appointees
ProPublica has been requesting financial disclosures for President Trump’s political appointees and has published those it has acquired in a searchable database. This webinar will show reporters and editors how to navigate the database, cover ProPublica’s reporting process, outline the data’s limitations, and demonstrate how to use it for story development.
April 8-10: Niche Media Conference
More than 25 interactive sessions and 30 top speakers fill the calendar for this event, taking place in Orlando, Florida. The five tracks include sessions for publisher strategy, digital strategy, ad sales, audience and marketing growth, and editorial.
April 13-May 11: Edit to Elevate: Essentials for New Editors
This five-week course features 90-minute sessions each Monday. Industry experts will share tools for coaching inexperienced reporters and guiding reporters to develop stories that elevate their beat coverage. The course from Poynter is designed to help new editors “focus on the mission, mindset and roadmap required to make them indispensable to their newsrooms.”
April 14: From Fear to Focus: Navigating Your Next Move After a Layoff
Journalist and Career River creator Bridget Thoreson will lead this one-hour virtual gathering from the Online News Association. She will “outline the strategies that have helped people weather crisis moments, and offer concrete tips for approaching the job hunt as a data-driven experiment, instead of a roller coaster of rejection.” Whether you’ve recently been laid off or are worried about the possibility of cuts in your newsroom, this will be a useful session to attend.
April 15-18: International Journalism Festival
Perugia, Italy, will again host the International Journalism Festival, the largest annual media event in Europe. The schedule includes sessions covering AI, conflict reporting, creator journalism, press freedom, audience trust and more.
April 16: Develop a Walking Tour Pilot for Your Newsroom in 60 Minutes
This unique session will focus on the benefits of walking tours as a medium for local journalism. Learn how community-based tours can boost revenue and reach new audiences, and brainstorm a walking tour itinerary specific to your outlet and community.
April 20-24: ASJA 2026 Virtual Conference
This year’s conference, Freelancers’ Blueprint: Navigating a Shifting Landscape, features keynote talks, 36 sessions (three tracks—books, content marketing writing and journalism) and several opportunities for networking. ASJA professional members can add on Client Connections, the organization’s signature networking event to connect editors, content marketing agencies and literary agents with ASJA professional members.
April 23: Building buy-in and understanding of audience insights
This is the third session in the Lenfest Institute’s “Mastering qualitative audience insights” series. After covering research design and insights extraction in the first two sessions, this one will discuss “tips on getting all levels of your newsroom bought in on utilizing the research insights and building their understanding so they can apply them independently.”
April 23-25: ACES 2026: Atlanta
Editors across media, publishing and other industries are expected at ACES 2026, which will feature more than 40 sessions across four tracks: Words and Language, Core Editing Skills, Business of Editing, and Soft Skills for Editors. Sessions are available for introductory, intermediate and advanced skill levels, and will cover topics like copyediting FAQs, providing notes to writers, disclosing AI, the latest AP Style updates and more. A pre-conference session for experienced editors navigating change and growth is available for an extra fee.
Coming in May
May 6-27: AP Stylebook Workshop 101: Master the Mechanics
One of two AP Stylebook workshops this year, this one will focus on the fundamentals, including punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation, dates and times, numerals, and industry-specific rule adaptations. Attend the live Zoom sessions (2-3 p.m. Eastern on Wednesdays) or watch the recordings. Attendees will get access to the AP Stylebook Online and AP Stylebook Study Guides.
May 7-9: SABEW Annual Conference
The annual conference for the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) will be held in Philadelphia. “Whether you are a newsroom leader, early/mid-career journalist, academic, student, or PR pro, SABEW’s annual conference is an excellent opportunity to take home new ideas to use in your stories, newsrooms, or classrooms,” the site explains.
May 14-15: Collaborative Journalism Summit
The Collaborative Journalism Summit is celebrating its 10th year of “proving that journalism is stronger when we collaborate.” This year’s event takes place in Philadelphia and features keynotes, lightning talks, breakout sessions, networking opportunities and an award ceremony. The schedule includes sessions like “Fundraising for collaboratives in a tricky media environment,” “Assessing the landscape for creators in the U.S.” and “How advisory panels can drive local news.”
May 18-20: 2026 Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit
Hundreds of local news fundraising professionals from around the world will head to Philadelphia for this year’s summit. The event “offers journalism development professionals the chance to connect with peers, participate in hands-on workshops to sharpen their fundraising skills, and gain insights from inspiring keynote speakers.” The full program and schedule will be released soon.
Did we miss an event? Email the team and let us know so we can add it to our full list of upcoming events for journalists and bloggers.
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Rocky Parker is the Manager of Audience and Journalist Engagement at Cision PR Newswire. She's been with the company since 2010 and has worked with journalists and bloggers as well as PR and comms professionals. Outside of work, she can be found trying a new recipe, binging a new show, or cuddling with her pitbull, Hudson.
