2021 Holiday Message from NLA President, George Stanley
Dear NLA members and supporters,
It was another challenging pandemic year for our News Leaders Association, but thanks to our committed membership and dedicated staff, we've been able to take big strides forward -- and that's great news for journalism.
We resumed our Emerging Leaders Institute with 30 exceptional fellows who started a six-month program in September. We'll launch a continuing mentorship program for these fellows (and other rising news leaders) in 2022 and begin another Emerging Leaders class in early fall.
We offered an excellent virtual News Leaders Conference in October, focusing on helping news leaders succeed by sharing best practices on everything from growing digital subscriptions, to better informing under-served communities, to reaching new audiences, to fighting misinformation, to recruiting and retaining diverse teams of leaders and journalists, to supporting First Amendment freedoms.
We celebrated the most outstanding journalism of an extraordinary 2020 news year in June, and named our first News Leader of the Year.
We launched the Transformative Transparency Exchange, a monthly series of programs that shine a light on tactics that genuinely work to help diversify leadership, staff and coverage.
We increased our membership by more than 240%, back up to 400 strong and growing.
We've listened to news leaders around the country and are in position to safely leap out of the pandemic restrictions with a strong slate of helpful, practical programs in 2022. This includes:
We'll come together for our first in-person national conference since 2019, scheduled for Nashville on May 19-20. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for details -- our conference committee started its planning work two months ago. This is sure to be one of the best programs ever staged by NLA or its predecessors, ASNE and APME. (This hybrid conference will also be available virtually to members who can't make it, but we really hope to see you there.)
We'll hold our first in-person regional NewsTrain sessions since the pandemic started, starting March 18-19 in Fresno. More regional training sessions will be held later in the fall in Bloomington, IL, Rochester, NY, and Kent, Ohio.
Our 2022 NLA Journalism Awards portal is already open, too, with a deadline of Jan. 28.
I can't say enough about the work this year by our new NLA staff, led by Executive Director Myriam Marquez, or about the contributions by my colleagues on the executive committee and board of directors. It has never been more clear how important evidence-based, truth-seeking journalism is to our democracy. Our staff and board has worked tirelessly to help the leaders of America's newsrooms succeed in their mission of informing the public.
I ask you to consider contributing to this cause by becoming an active NLA committee member if you are not already. Members can review and sign up for our restructured committees here.
Please also consider making a tax-deductible donation to the cause through the non-profit NLA Foundation. Donations can be made online here. Check donations can be mailed to:
NLA Foundation
209 Reynolds Journalism Institute
Missouri School of Journalism
Columbia, MO 65211
Thank you so much for the privilege of being NLA President for the past year. NLA will be in the best of hands with incoming President Manny Garcia, editor of the Austin American-Statesman.
I wish you and your loved ones all the best this Holiday Season.
George Stanley
NLA President
Editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel &
Regional Editor, USA TODAY Network, Wisconsin