There are so many great opportunities to learn and network at this year’s Excellence in Journalism conference, it’s hard to pick which ones to highlight. We’ll give it a shot, but you should really check it out for yourself (and register online by August 12).
Here’s what’s new since our last EIJ update:
Boost your Skills
In addition to more than 40 leadership/management and skills sessions already announced, we’ve just added an in-depth curriculum of more than 30 additional sessions developed and presented by NAHJ trainers on digital skills, social/community engagement, emerging tech and more.

By Chip Mahaney, RTDNA Board Member
I won my first news director job twenty years into my career. My resume said I was ready. I had worked in several markets across the country, in increasing levels of oversight. I had managed large projects and excelled in breaking and major news situations. My RTDNA leadership and volunteering experience in the decade leading up to my news director job search had filled my contacts lists with excellent references. And as I interviewed around the country to find the best match for my first ND job, I talked like I was ready – strategic plans, ratings management, personnel experience.

RTDNA just announced that “60 Minutes” correspondent, former CBS Evening News Anchor and “Truth Worth Telling” author Scott Pelley will be honored Sept. 6 with the Paul White Award, so when I heard he’d be talking about his new memoir at a neighborhood DC bookstore, I knew I had to go.
I’m so glad I did.
I left inspired and reminded why what we do matters, more than ever. Here’s what Pelley, with humor and eloquence, reminded me:
Empathy is one of a journalist’s most important tools but comes with consequences.

Sidney Tompkins has been psychotherapist for more than 40 years and married to a journalist for more than 25.
Her husband, Al Tompkins, has been a journalist and journalism educator for decades. It took him decades, he says, to realize that “some things I saw and experienced as a daily news reporter deeply affected me yet I told nobody.”
With Sidney’s help and expertise, he’s learned about processing that stress and trauma.
Now, Sidney and Al Tompkins are marrying their unique areas of expertise to help more journalists experiencing traumatic stress.

The Radio Television Digital News Association is pleased to announce Scott Pelley as the winner of the 2019 Paul White Award, which recognizes a lifetime of achievement and service to the profession of broadcast and digital journalism. Pelley has been a correspondent on the CBS News program “60 Minutes” since 1999. He served as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News from 2011-2017 and is the author of a new memoir, “Truth Worth Telling.”
“In more than 30 years at CBS News, Pelley has covered the major stories of our times and interviewed the news makers who have changed our world,” said Jerry Walsh, Chair of the Radio Television Digital News Association.

RTDNA is pleased to award ABC News Anchor John Quiñones the 2019 John F. Hogan Award.
Named for the founder and first president of RTDNA, the award recognizes an individual’s contributions to the journalism profession and freedom of the press. Past recipients of the Hogan Award include Walter Cronkite, Belva Davis, Jorge Ramos and Pete Williams.
“Since the very beginning of his career as a local radio and television reporter, John Quiñones has covered key stories of national and international importance,” said RTDNA Chair Jerry Walsh.