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The Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will host its 17th annual journalism ethics conference at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery on Friday, Oct. 30. The conference is free, open to the public and made possible by generous sponsorships from the Evjue Foundation, the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and the Wisconsin NewsMedia Association.
“Renewing Our Courage“ will gather news media professionals, media innovators, academics, students and the public to take on the urgent issues facing the practice of journalism in increasingly authoritarian times. With a mix of panel discussions, presentations and hands-on training led by experts from around the world, we will learn about emerging models of journalism that might help us better meet the formidable challenges of this moment and attract new and larger audiences. In keeping with our focus on authoritarianism, we will also hear from experts on new approaches to covering protest, unrest, and organized resistance, as well as government corruption and abuse of power.
Journalists and media makers in 2026 are working in a high-pressure context that continues to rapidly shift. The second Trump administration has brought the challenges facing media makers into even sharper relief. To address these challenges, we will provide a thoughtful forum for attendees to focus on how the media can be more active in its response to a dangerous information environment. We will focus on calls to action for ethical practice, renew the promise of journalism to a fair and functioning democracy, and explore new approaches to reaching audiences.
“Attacks on truth and democracy require common cause among citizens, journalists and public servants,” said Kathleen Bartzen Culver, James E. Burgess Chair in Journalism Ethics and director of the Center. “This requires courage, which can sometimes seem in short supply as we face media capitulation and dizzying technological advances. This conference will be a call to strengthen that courage through renewing our values and opening to new approaches.”
The Center for Journalism Ethics, housed in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UW–Madison, provides an international hub for the examination of the role of professional and personal ethics in the pursuit of fair, accurate and principled journalism. The Center offers resources for journalists, educators, students and the public, including internationally recognized annual conferences exploring key issues in journalism.
The Evjue Foundation is the charitable arm of The Capital Times newspaper. Since its founding in the 1960s, the Foundation has made grants totaling more than $70 million to worthy educational, cultural and charitable organizations in the newspaper’s circulation area.
Additional sponsors include the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and the Wisconsin NewsMedia Association.
For more information, see the conference web page and/or contact Krista Eastman, administrator and communications specialist at the Center for Journalism Ethics, at krista.eastman@wisc.edu.