Fresno will be one of four host cities for the national touring workshop, NewsTrain, in 2022.

The workshop — which will be held at Fresno State on March 18 and 19 — provides affordable, digital training for newsroom editors and managers, reporters and producers, copy editors and visual journalists working on all platforms.

To get updates when registration opens and the agenda and trainers are set, please provide an email address here.

NewsTrain is unique in that it:

  • is relatively affordable in the news industry, costing early birds $75 for two full days of training.
  • brings highly-rated training delivered by marquee journalists to smaller markets.
  • offers a much-needed opportunity for in-person networking when many journalists have been working remotely and much training is delivered online.

“Loved my time here. I highly recommend this for every newsroom,” said attendee Jeffrey Schmucker, assistant city editor of The Blade in Toledo.

To plan Fresno NewsTrain, Jim Boren, executive director of the Fresno State Institute for Media and Public Trust, is leading a host committee of San Joaquin Valley journalists and journalism educators in assessing the skills that journalists most urgently need. To contribute ideas, contact jboren@mail.fresnostate.edu.

Working with the host committee, NewsTrain project director Linda Austin will develop an agenda to provide interactive and immediately usable training in those skills. For questions about the workshop, contact laustin.newstrain@gmail.com.

In addition to the overall program focused on digital skills, the agenda will include a news leadership track designed for editors, team leaders, news directors, producers and aspiring newsroom leaders.

Along with the early-bird rate of $75 ‒ a $20 savings ‒ the News Leaders Association will offer these incentives to NewsTrain registrants:

  • For a group of 10 or more from one organization, $70 registration for each person until the early-bird deadline.
  • For students, free membership in News Leaders Association; and for professional and retired journalists, half-price membership for one year.
  • For NLA members, $75 registration after the early-bird deadline.

Competitive scholarships will be offered to journalists, journalism students and journalism educators from diverse backgrounds.

To ensure participants’ safety, NewsTrain will follow all University COVID-19 protocols at the time of the event.

Since 2003, NewsTrain has brought affordable training close to home, serving 7,840 journalists in all 50 states and three Canadian provinces.

NewsTrain’s tuition remains low because it relies on generous donations to cover half its costs. Donors can include a note on the payment page to direct their tax-deductible donations to NewsTrain.

#FresnoNewsTrain will be the 95th such workshop sponsored by News Leaders Association or a predecessor organization, Associated Press Media Editors (APME). In 2019, APME merged with the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) to create News Leaders Association, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization of newsroom leaders.

The association empowers journalists at all levels with the training, support and networks they need to lead and transform diverse, sustainable newsrooms. It fosters the highest standards of trustworthy journalism, advocates for a free and independent press, and nurtures the next generation of news leaders.