Grady students attend annual Excellence in Journalism Conference

by Ashlyn Webb

Savannah Sicurella and I had the honor and privilege of representing the University of Georgia’s chapter of Society of Professional Journalists at the 2019 Excellence in Journalism conference in San Antonio, Texas from Sept. 5-7. 

This year, we had even more Grady representation since the Society of Professional Journalists partnered with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists for the EIJ Conference. Grady students Alex Rios and Ashley Soriano represented the UGA Chapter of NAHJ. 

It was three days packed with learning the latest and greatest about the journalism field. Industry professionals tackled issues such as how to report on immigration and the upcoming 2020 election in these sessions. 

We also left the conference with useful tools that we can bring back to Grady and incorporate into our own reporting and writing including visualizing data on digital and broadcast platforms, developing longer-form reporting into podcasts, beginning your freelancing career, writing to your audience and routinely filing open records requests. 

We even had the chance to network with journalism professionals. To name a few, we spoke to journalists from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, TEGNA, ABC News and Gray Television.

After sessions ended for the day, we had the chance to explore the beautiful city of San Antonio—-from the historic Alamo to the enchanting River Walk. We also saw John Quiñones casually walking down the street from our hotel—you know, no big deal. 

And what’s a trip to San Antonio without grabbing a bite of Tex Mex?! We stopped by Mi Tierra in the Market Square and tried some of the best Tex Mex in the city. 

What a week full of fun, adventure and learning! We’re so thankful to Grady College for giving us this amazing opportunity. 

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