The news was huge, and the expectations just as big: last August, the founder and CEO of tech titan Amazon, Jeff Bezos, announced that he would purchase one of the United States’ most revered newspapers, the Washington Post. Several months later, the news industry eagerly awaits to see what one of the most successful tech companies in the world will do to revamp one of the most trusted brands in journalism.

And Martin Baron, the executive director of the Washington Post, is optimistic – not only for his paper, but for the profession as a whole.

“Journalism is entering one of its most exciting periods in decades. New media organizations are being created, old ones are being transformed, storytelling is being reinvented, opportunities abound, and the public benefits. There is good reason for optimism about our field, and this is a good time to talk about it,” he said.

Baron will be one of the keynote speakers at the 15th International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ), to take place on April 4-5, 2014 at the University of Texas at Austin. Click here to register.

New York University professor and press critic Jay Rosen will also be a keynote speaker at ISOJ and will talk about giving advice to journalists and media companies in the digital age. Other speakers will be announced in the following weeks.

Over the last decade, one of the biggest challenges for traditional publications has been adapting their habits to the digital-first mentality needed to survive and thrive in today’s media landscape. After years of trial and error, young companies are finally having success in creating viable new business models and legacy media in reinventing theirs.

In his address, “The untold story: Why we should be optimistic about journalism,” Baron will talk about why after years of doom and gloom, journalists and media executives can be excited about the future of the profession once again.

Before becoming executive director of the Washington Post in January 2013, Baron had been the editor-in-chief of The Boston Globe since 2001. During those years the newspaper won six Pulitzer Prizes. He has also worked in top editing positions at The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Miami Herald.
For the last 15 years, ISOJ has brought together the top journalists, media executives, researchers and academics in the field to discuss the latest trends, issues and innovations in online journalism. Last year, ISOJ attracted more than 350 participants from over 30 countries and focused on discussing the disruption of the news industry’s business models, social media and mobile strategies, multimedia storytelling, data visualization, and changes in web design architecture.

ISOJ will take place at the University of Texas’ Blanton Museum of Art, located at 200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in Austin, Texas. General registration this year will cost $100. Students and faculty will receive a special rate of $40.

ISOJ is an annual conference organized by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, as part of the program of the Knight Chair in Journalism and UNESCO Chair in Communication at the Moody College of Communication’s School of Journalism of the University of Texas at Austin.

This year’s ISOJ is supported by the Knight Foundation and The Dallas Morning News.