NLGJA 2026 National Convention

This panel will explore the intersection of bisexual and transgender history, advocacy issues, everyday shared life experiences and how to bring these issues to life in stories.

Independent journalists are on the rise. Even as AI and mass layoffs continue to reshape the news business, independents are building their own platforms from scratch on social media and through newsletters — and earning money while doing it. This session covers building sustainable business systems for freelancers and creator journalists, including how to determine fair rates, manage time, network with intention, and protect yourself — and your intellectual property. Learn from seasoned freelance journalists how to generate multiple revenue streams, earn consistent income, seek out new clients and prioritize emotional and financial sustainability. The Institute for Independent Journalists will share new findings from their research on freelance funding and journalism resources for independents. 

So you're looking for a job, and everyone is talking about the role that generative AI plays in the application process. This session will take job seekers behind the hiring curtain, with insights from a panel of recruiters and hiring managers, to answer the questions on many applicants' minds: How do I optimize my resume for an AI reader? When and how is it appropriate to use AI in the job search or in crafting my application? Are there AI tools that can help me navigate a career shift? Can I vibe code my way into a new job?

We’ve spent the last two years figuring out the best way to use AI for investigative reporting in ways that are scalable to the newsroom and easy-to-use for non technical reporters. This hand-drawn presentation will walk the audience through the design and testing of Cheatsheet, an AI tool built by The New York Times for investigative reporting. Instead of a "black box" chat interface, it is centered on prioritizing the primary sources. The session will explore the internal user-testing process, explaining why the Times chose to build custom tooling from scratch rather than relying on off-the-shelf products. This session is designed for investigative reporters, designers, and developers who want to see how the Times bridge-builds between editorial needs and technical implementation. Attendees will leave with a practical roadmap for building AI tools that prioritize the goals of investigative reporting (in-depth understanding, needle in a haystack, classification and mass translation of large amounts of documents), a list of "Dos and Don’ts" for AI in the newsroom, a demo of the tool, and a first look at our plans for open-sourcing Cheatsheet for broader access. 

Queer journalism is no longer centered in traditional newsrooms. Activists, creators, freelancers, and community organizers are often the first — and most trusted — sources when news breaks. This session examines what journalism looks like when it operates outside legacy institutions, and what that shift means for credibility, accountability, trust and safety. We’ll explore when amplification is more ethical than attribution, how to report alongside communities without flattening lived experience and how journalism increasingly functions as infrastructure — from bill trackers to harm-reduction reporting. This conversation challenges gatekeeping, rejects false neutrality and asks a necessary question: if we built queer journalism today, would we still call it a newsroom?

Artificial intelligence has developed swiftly and with few guardrails, often pushing the boundaries of sexuality and consent. In January, Grok, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot, created and then publicly shared at least 1.8 million sexualized images of women in just nine days. Online, some users are falling in love with chatbots, while others are using them to generate the types of intimate deepfakes that prompted governments in Britain, India, Malaysia and the United States to start investigations into whether the images violated local laws. This panel covers the rapidly evolving industry, the lures and risks for users of the technology and how journalists can protect themselves from harassment and spot the truth in an onslaught of faked imagery.

In an era of digital distraction, holding a reader’s interest across thousands of words requires a quiet superpower. The secret isn't just the strength of the reporting — it is in the rhythm of the delivery. This panel brings together narrative writers and editors who will dissect the mechanics of proper pacing. Want a meaty discussion about great writing? We will move beyond vague advice like "make it flow" to analyze the structural decisions that keep a story moving. Attendees will learn how to strategically expand and contract time, choreograph high-stakes scenes, and inject breathing room into dense, information-heavy investigations without losing momentum. Come learn how to build tension, manage transitions, and keep readers hooked for the long haul.

Every great journalist has at least one story idea that deserves more than just day-to-day coverage, but how do you scale your daily reporting skills into that beautiful 80,000-word manuscript? This panel of journalist-turned-authors and publishing insiders will demystify how you can take that leap to long-form narrative. We will break down how to evaluate your ideas for book-length viability, map out a compelling narrative arc, and help you think about how to write a non-fiction book proposal that grabs literary agents’ attention, and also talk about how to do it all while you’re balancing that 9-to-5. You’ll walk away with a practical roadmap to transform your beat reporting into a published book.

The Bay Area is one of the queerest places in the world, and KQED’s coverage reflects that — from arts and culture to politics, climate and community. But with such a vibrant and diverse LGBTQ+ population, there’s no single queer perspective. Join KQED climate reporter Ezra David Romero for a lively conversation with the journalists and editors who tell these stories, bringing their own identities and experiences to the work. Hear from a panel of reporters as they discuss how they cover queer communities, navigate differing viewpoints, and shape the stories that define the Bay Area. We will also discuss how to address LGBTQ+ issues in every beat area, from climate to culture to government to family systems.

Outsports.com has been the leader in LGBTQ+ coverage of the Olympics for nearly two decades. Its “Team LGBTQ” list of out athletes at the Olympics every two years drives coverage. We will share insights about covering out athletes in Olympic sports, just months after the 2026 Winter Olympics and two years ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. While it may be two years out, American media has already begun their coverage of these Olympics, with its massive expectations.