Society for Features Journalism

11/25/2025

We are thrilled to welcome Lane DeGregory and Maria Carrillo into our SFJ Hall of Fame!

We love them because they're incredible journalists and because they were helping us stuff swag bags for our conference — proof of their kindness and generosity. But don't take it just from us!

In honor of being inducted into our Hall of Fame, we invited their former colleagues to write something about each of them.

Anita Hassan, the senior news producer at HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," calls Maria the journalist whisperer. She writes:

"Whether a veteran with a Pulitzer on your resume or an intern, you could walk into her office with half an idea, trip over your own sentences and she’ll catch the thread buried inside your confusion. She’ll notice the small detail that becomes the heart of your story. She’ll follow you through every tangent, through the meandering interview notes and even the mind-numbing details. She’ll even read all 12 of your possible ledes before helping you refine the one that was hiding in plain sight all along."

Lenora LaPeter Anton, a Pulitzer prize-winning writer, calls Lane "the people's storyteller." She writes:

"Her stories sparkle. They stun. They make you cry. And ultimately, they inspire. It’s a quality found in the greatest of writers. ...
"And if you were to sit next to Lane at the Tampa Bay Times for two decades, you would come to believe she is tireless. She would inspire you over and over to keep pursuing your dreams. She lacks the ability to give anything but her best — all the time."

Please join us in congratulating Maria and Lane for being inspiring role models, caring mentors and lifelong journalists dedicated to the pursuit of stories that connect and teach us. 🙌

The Society for Features Journalism inducted Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lane DeGregory and veteran editor Maria Carrillo into the SFJ Hall of Fame at our conference in Phoenix on Nov. 6, 2025. Only 29 people, including Lane and Maria, have received this honor since 1997.

11/19/2025

What did our conference feel like? Here it is in 18 seconds, courtesy of our board member and digital chief Kathy Lu. We hope you’ll join us next year!

11/07/2025

We kicked off the conference with a fun and eventful opening reception, and also inducted two greats into our Hall of Fame: Lane DeGregory and Maria Carrillo!

10/23/2025

The theme for our comeback conference is Rewriting the Narrative. What does that mean?

The phrase can carry multitudes, so here's a short video on what it means to three board members (in order of appearance): Chief Digital Officer Kathy Lu, Chief Finance Officer Alice Short and SFJ president Laura Coffey.

At the heart of it all is our mission to guide and support features journalists through the changes ahead — because the only constant in life (and journalism) is change.

Our conference sessions will speak to, as Laura says, the “human connection that’s at the heart of the work we do as features journalists.”

And we hope that learning from one another will, as Alice says, “rewrite the negativity that’s coming at us and support and inspire our newsrooms to stand up for what is right.”

The deadline to register for the full conference package is this Saturday, Oct. 25.

But don’t worry! You can still buy day passes for Friday or Saturday — even on the day of! Full program here: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2025/9/23/sfj-2025-conference-program

We hope to see you in Phoenix!

(Credit for our graphic: Jim Haag)

10/16/2025

🛎️ Just 9 days left to register for our comeback conference in early November in lovely Phoenix!

You'll hear from brilliant writers and editors! You'll get ideas on how to elevate your audience engagement or interviewing skills! You'll brainstorm an AI idea for features! You'll meet new friends in journalism!

If you live near Phoenix and just want to come to one day, we have those ticket options, too!

See our full programming here: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2025/9/23/sfj-2025-conference-program

(Credit for our beautiful graphic: Jim Haag)

09/19/2025

Ever wondered how AI can be used for features journalism?

Well, come to our conference in November to find out!

On Saturday morning, Nov. 8, we are partnering with Arizona State University's Knight Center for the Future of News to present “The Power of AI: 9 Ideas You Can Take Home and Try.”

The session will be led by Djordje Padejski, an AI expert who serves as associate director at Stanford University’s John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships and teaches journalism classes.

It will be part presentation and part workshop. And the goal is to choose an idea or tool that can be developed into reality!

If the full conference package is not within your budget, you can join us on Saturday for a half day of programming for only $50! Due to popular demand, we have updated our conference packages to include Friday only and Saturday only prices.

So now you have even more reasons to see us in Phoenix!

SFJ is partnering with Arizona State University’s Knight Center for the Future of News to present “The Power of AI: 9 Ideas You Can Take Home and Try” at our comeback conference. The workshop will be on Saturday morning, Nov. 8, 2025, and you can now register just for that day for only $50.

09/01/2025

Today’s the last day of our early bird registration discount! (We decided to extend it through the whole day today.)

For $175, you’ll get 2 days of learning and camaraderie. It includes a reception, 2 continental breakfasts and a lunch on Friday.

We promise you’ll learn a lot, too!

Starting Sept. 2, registration will be $225. So save a little bit today!

The Society for Features Journalism is bringing back an in-person national conference from Nov. 6-8, 2025. It will be held at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix. Early bird registration is $175 until Sept. 1.

08/11/2025

One thing about SFJ conferences is that we try to host it in cities where there's a lot to do — so you can bring your family for a mini vacation or pitch a travel story.

So check out this story by member and former president Ann Maloney on the many things Phoenix has to offer — from cool museums to hot air balloon rides to beautiful hikes.

Our discounted hotel rate at Hyatt Place ($189/night) can be extended to help with your budget.

We hope to see you in November!

The Society for Features Journalism conference runs Nov. 6-8, but SFJ’s $189-a-night room block stretches from Nov. 3-11, making it easy to add vacation days to the start or end of the conference. It’s a great reason to join other talented features journalists as we reinvigorate our craft and sp...

07/28/2025

📣 We have news! The SFJ conference is back!

We're thrilled to announce we'll be hosting our first conference since the pandemic at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix.

We're so happy to be working with ASU to host this special event.

We already have some great speakers lined up, including:
⭐New York Times reporter Eli Saslow, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes as well as the 2025 Scripps Howard Award for Excellence in Narrative Human-Interest Storytelling, honoring Ernie Pyle for “America, Polarized.”
⭐ Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, author and amazing teacher Lane DeGregory of the Tampa Bay Times;
⭐ Mark Warren, winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for his Esquire story “A Death in Alabama,” who will be interviewed about his story and his reporting and writing processes by Kim Cross of Harvard’s Nieman Storyboard;
⭐ Mike Wilson, deputy editor of The Great Read feature at The New York Times.

Early bird registration is just $175! Come for inspiration and camaraderie. We hope to see you there!

DETAILS:

The Society for Features Journalism is bringing back an in-person national conference from Nov. 6-8, 2025. It will be held at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix. Early bird registration is $175 until Sept. 1.

06/26/2025

🗓️ SAVE THE DATE!

Our next free webinar is happening Tuesday, July 15 at 2 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. CT / 11 a.m. PT.

Mallary Tenore Tarpley, who teaches journalism and writing classes at the University of Texas at Austin, will be our guest for a session on “How to blend personal narrative and reportage in essays and books.”

Tarpley draws from her experience as a journalist and as the author of her soon-to-be-released book, “Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery,” which is equal parts memoir and reporting.

Please click on the story below to learn more!

You also can follow this link to directly register for the event and save it to your calendar: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/vfX6e0FRTUWuKBoy9AnOeg #/registration

https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2025/6/19/mallary-tenore-tarpley-webinar-personal-narrative-reporting-book

On July 15, 2025, Mallary Tenore Tarpley will join SFJ in a free webinar on how to blend personal narrative and reporting. Tarpley is an assistant professor of practice at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches journalism and writing classes. Her upcoming nonfiction book, “Slip: Life

05/22/2025

🎉 Congratulations 🎉 to all the winners in our 2025 Excellence-in-Features contest!

As usual, competition was tough: Our judges fielded nearly 1,000 entries this year. So the winners truly stood out!

As we have more than a dozen categories per division (except for Combined), we have been announcing the winners by division throughout the day.

Here are the winners in Division 3 — which features newspapers with 201 or more full-time editorial employees or magazines and web-only publications with a national focus — and the Combined division.

The SFJ Board of Directors would like to extend its thanks to the many judges who volunteered their time to help SFJ celebrate the craft of storytelling in words, videos, podcasts — and, for the first time, social media portfolios.

First-place winners will receive a $300 prize.

Thank you to all contest entrants for making this annual celebration of great storytelling possible!

Here are the winners in Division 3 and the Combined division of SFJ’s 2025 Excellence-in-Features journalism contest! First-place winners receive $300.

05/22/2025

🎉 Congratulations 🎉 to all the winners in our 2025 Excellence-in-Features contest!

As usual, competition was tough: Our judges fielded nearly 1,000 entries this year. So the winners truly stood out!

As we have more than a dozen categories per division (except for Combined), we are announcing them by division throughout the day. Here are the winners in Division 2, which features newspapers with between 51 and 200 full-time employees or magazines and web-only publications with a regional or statewide focus.

The SFJ Board of Directors would like to extend its thanks to the many judges who volunteered their time to help SFJ celebrate the craft of storytelling in words, videos, podcasts — and, for the first time, social media portfolios.

First-place winners will receive a $300 prize.

Thank you to all contest entrants for making this annual celebration of great storytelling possible!

Here are the Division 2 winners of our 2025 Excellence-in-Features journalism contest! First place winners receive $300.