Check out the full program of #ISOJ2017, the global conference on online journalism

The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas is proud to release the program for the 18th International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ), which is taking place in Austin from April 21 to 22, 2017.

Registration is now open. Past symposia have filled up quickly so sign up as soon as possible.

“We have done it again,” said professor Rosental Alves, who has organized this annual global conference at the University of Texas since 1999. “Once again we assembled a very strong program that focuses on the latest trends of online journalism based on the use of digital technologies, and also on contemporary issues related to accountability journalism in the United States and around the world. Our keynote sessions will emphasize digital native innovative publications, and also the digital transformations in five of the most important American metropolitan newspapers.”

Keynote speakers will be Jim VandeHei, co-founder and CEO of Axios; Lydia Polgreen, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post; and Melissa Bell, co-founder and publisher at Vox Media.

For the second time, the conference will feature a special keynote panel, this time on “The transformation of U.S. metropolitan newspapers: How newsrooms have changed from print-centric to digital-centric.” It will feature Nancy Barnes, editor and executive vice president of the Houston Chronicle; Mindy Marqués Gonzalez, executive editor and vice president at the Miami Herald; Stan Wischnowski, executive editor and senior vice president of the Philadelphia Media Network; and Kathleen Kingsbury, managing editor for digital at the Boston Globe. The panel will be chaired by Mike Wilson, editor of the Dallas Morning News.

The ISOJ will also feature panels on fact checking, accountability journalism in the Trump Era, conversational journalism with bots and artificial intelligence, innovative video formats, digital transitions of U.S. metro newspapers, the podcast boom, accountability journalism in polarized societies around the world and news startups and new business models.

Two research panels will look at the latest journalism practices in newsrooms and audience behavior. The researchers and their papers were chosen after participating in a blind review by a panel of scholars from leading universities around the world. Additionally, the official research journal of the symposium, #ISOJ, will be launched during the event, eliminating the usual gap between research presentation in conferences and publication.

Explore our Speakers page to learn more about each keynote and panelist coming to ISOJ.

During lunch on the first day of the conference, ISOJ participants can participate in the workshop “Google Tools for Journalists.” Registration is required and the links will be posted shortly. To open the second day of ISOJ, on April 22 there will be a research breakfast discussing trends in online journalism research.

Two pre-conference events will be hosted on April 19 prior to the official start of ISOJ.

The first is an international hackathon organized by Hackastory from the Netherlands, with the topic “Creating tools for accountability journalism to improve trust with readers.” All ISOJ attendees are welcome to apply, but space is limited. Journalists, developers and designers will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis so apply now.

The pre-conference seminar, “Bridging the Border: Digital perspectives from women journalists in Texas and Mexico,” will also take place on April 19. The event will bring together women in journalistic leadership roles from both sides of the border to talk about digital strategy and issues of transparency and accountability. It is organized by the Dallas Morning News Endowment at UT Austin School of Journalism, the International Women’s Media Foundation and the Knight Center. Register now.

And on the Sunday following ISOJ, we will hold the 10th Iberian American Colloquium on Digital Journalism. The seminar is open to ISOJ attendees from Latin America, Spain and Portugal and will discuss innovation and sustainability in Latin American digital journalism. The event is sponsored by Google Latin America and registration will open soon.

ISOJ is not all business; we have organized some social events where you can meet fellow attendees and network.

There will also be a Happy Hour reception on Thursday, April 20, at The Hole in the Wall across from UT Austin. At the end of Day 1, we will gather at the Rapoport Atrium of the Blanton Museum of Art for a reception.

The ISOJ takes place at the University of Texas at Austin’s Blanton Museum of Art. The event, now in its 18th year, attracts top journalists, media executives, researchers and academics from around the world.

Major support to ISOJ comes from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Other sponsors of ISOJ 2017 include Google, The Dallas Morning News, Open Society Foundations and Univision News.

On our new site, isoj.org, you can find more information about registration and accommodations while attending ISOJ. Also, explore our site to find video, transcripts, slides, research and news articles for each year of ISOJ going back to 1999.

Please also follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@ISOJ2017), and use the hashtag #ISOJ2017 to let us know if you’ll be joining us.