Society for Features Journalism

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.

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 will be announcing the winners by division throughout the day.

Here are the winners in Division 1, which features newspapers with 50 or fewer full-time editorial employees or magazines and web-only publications with a local- city-metro area 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 winners in Division 1 of our 2025 Excellence-in-Features journalism contest! First-place winners receive $300.

05/19/2025

⏳ COMING SOON: We will be announcing the winners of the 2025 Excellence-in-Features contest on Thursday, May 22!

Be sure to check back if you entered our contest!

03/31/2025

Across the country, features journalists are covering the impact of Trump administration decisions on our daily lives.

So it was wonderful to hear from nearly two dozen SFJ members who gathered last week for a virtual Show & Steal session. They shared popular local stories that can be replicated in other media markets (hence the name, Show & Steal!). The group also brainstormed ideas to pursue.

From your rights as a bystander if you see ICE agents to a local egg prices tracker to impacts at your local parks, it's clear there are a lot of stories to tell.

Click on our link to see the stories shared and watch our Zoom recording.

SFJ members gathered for a virtual Show & Steal story session on March 27 to learn what Trump administration related stories have resonated with readers and share ideas that others may want to replicate. From covering egg prices effects to tariff impacts to what to do if you see ICE agents, feat

03/06/2025

🗣️ Good news!

Due to demand, we have extended the deadline for entering our annual Excellence-in-Features journalism contest!
New deadline: March 12!

So if you procrastinated (it's ok! We get it!🙂 ) or are just finding out about this now, please enter!

03/04/2025

REMINDER! The deadline to enter our annual Excellence-in-Features contest is this Wednesday!

First-place winners get $300!

Categories include: narrative podcast, social media portfolio, utility feature portfolio, and first-person narrative/essay.

You can't win if you don't enter!

Details: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2025/1/20/2025-features-contest-new-divisions-categories