Society for Features Journalism

09/24/2026

It's here! The full schedule for our Oct. 22-24 conference!

Throughout the sessions, you'll see the thread that ties It all together: our theme, "Reinventing with Purpose."

From our opening reception talk about the evolution of covering food, culture, history to learning more about effective social media storytelling to hearing from Pulitzer Prize winners, our conference is jam-packed with inspiration.

Registration, which includes many meals, is $299 and it's still open!

We are so excited to unveil the full program for our 2026 Society for Features Journalism national conference in October! Speakers will include Pulitzer Prize winners Robin Givhan, Aaron Parsley and Mitchell S. Jackson, along with storytelling giants Tom Sietsema, Kurt Streeter, Mark Armstrong, Jan

09/15/2026

This will be a first for SFJ conferences: A session that will be shared as a podcast!

Nieman Storyboard editor Mark Armstrong will be in conversation with Kurt Streeter, a New York Times national correspondent, for the Nieman Storyboard podcast. Their session title: "The Fine Art of Hanging Out."

Streeter has reinvented himself throughout his career. Tennis and political science were his passions coming out of college, but working with documentary crews ignited a passion for storytelling that led to a fulfilling career at the Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times, ESPN and, currently, The New York Times.

Kurt’s self-taught reporting style involves spending time with his subjects, to build rapport so he can capture the small moments that make a big difference in his writing.

Armstrong founded Longreads, and has built a career around championing powerful storytelling in various platforms.

Don't delay in registering for our October conference — especially because the great deal on hotel on rooms is only good through Sept. 20!

LINK: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2026/5/4/sfj-2026-conference-october-phoenix-register

09/09/2026

It's true: We believe in a world where influencers and journalists can learn from and support each other! Because at the heart of it all is good storytelling.

This conference session featuring Alana Yazzie — who runs The Fancy Navajo food blog — and Grant Johnson — a Gen Z journalist — will focus on many points, including:
👉 prioritizing collaboration over competition;
👉 how to use influencer-based content to reach younger audiences; and
👉 tips and tricks for shooting visual content.

Moderated by SFJ board member Jasmine Osby, this session is designed to leave you feeling hopeful and excited about social media storytelling.

Go to our pinned post or our website to register!

09/04/2026

We are feeling fabulous about this conference session with legendary Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan! ✨

Author of "Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh," Givhan has spent her career proving that what we wear, and how we show up in the world, is a language of power, race, and identity.

The Pulitzer Prize winner's appraisal of the fashion industry and the cultural forces that shape it reveals as much about our politics and our national reckonings as any front page story.

Givhan will be in conversation with SFJ board member Margaret Myers for "Fashioning a Career in Criticism." They will discuss what it means to be one of culture’s sharpest witnesses — and how features journalists can bring that same rigor and curiosity to their own work.

REGISTER for the conference today (and bring your flair!): https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2026/5/4/sfj-2026-conference-october-phoenix-register

09/02/2026

Our October conference in Phoenix will offer a feast of inspiration! See this session on "The odyssey of covering food, culture and history."

Our panel featuring Tom Sietsema, Lauren Saria and Bahar Anooshahr will discuss the seismic shift in food writing over the last decade.

Food journalism often goes beyond the menu. A story on the wonders of a lemongrass-infused chile condiment is enhanced with an exploration of identity and heritage. A report on enchiladas stuffed with chicken, cheese, and five different chiles is an opportunity to report on immigration and labor.

So, how do food writers and critics serve multiple audiences who want everything from a list of top 10 hamburgers to the most popular cookbook creators on TikTok or a menu that acknowledges a historically Black neighborhood?

Moderated by SFJ board member Alice Short, this conversation is sure to leave you stuffed with ideas!

REGISTER for our conference here: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2026/5/4/sfj-2026-conference-october-phoenix-register

07/03/2026

🐣 Don't miss our early bird conference registration price!

Through July 6, registration for our Oct. 22-24 conference in Phoenix is $249; starting July 7, it will be $299.

We've been adding to our guest lineup, too! Look who'll be joining us:
🌟 Aaron Parsley, senior editor at Texas Monthly and winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing.
🌟 Mitchell S. Jackson, winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing and the 2021 National Magazine Award in Feature Writing. Jackson is currently the John O. Whiteman Dean’s Distinguished Professor in Arizona State University’s English Department.
🌟 Lauren Saria, San Francisco Standard’s food editor, who was formerly editor of Eater San Francisco.

More details here: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2026/5/4/sfj-2026-conference-october-phoenix-register

Hope we'll see you!

06/09/2026

🥳 The final division we feature is a combined category for narrative video, narrative podcast and social media portfolio.

We added these categories a few years ago to recognize great storytelling on various multimedia platforms. Because they are still relatively new categories, they do not receive as many entries as the more established ones, hence the combined category.

We hope this will change over time because these winners are only a taste of the truly powerful reporting and storytelling that happens in these formats, which together reach millions of people. Features is powerful! 💪

This year, we're thrilled to recognize Bloomberg, The Oregonian / OregonLive.com, NBC News, NJ.com and The Baltimore Banner among several others.

🙌 Congratulations to all!

LINK: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2026/6/8/sfj-combined-division-contest-winners

06/09/2026

🥳 Here are the Division 3 winners of our annual Excellence-in-Features journalism awards! This division features newsrooms with 201 or more full-time editorial employees and/or news outlets with a national or international focus.

This division's winners includes some of the legends of features journalism, such as The Washington Post, The New York Times Magazine, Boston Globe, Seattle Times and Los Angeles Times.

And the list also includes some mastheads that might not be as familiar, including The 19th News, The Atavist Magazine and The Forward.

We take this as a great sign that features journalism is important to global audiences and we hope to keep celebrating their works in the future!

🙌 Congratulations to all the winners! And congratulations to the sweepstakes award winners, whose honors garnered the most overall points: Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NJ.com, and San Francisco Chronicle!

LINK: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2026/6/8/sfj-features-contest-winners-division-3

06/09/2026

🥳 Here are the 2026 Excellence-in-Features journalism award winners in the Division 2 category, for newsrooms that have between 51 and 200 full-time employees and/or news outlets with a regional or statewide focus.

Looking through the winners' headlines is truly a time capsule of life in 2025.
🏆 First place: Andrew Carter and Staff, Chicago Tribune, “64 Days in Chicago: The Story of Operation Midway Blitz”
🏆 Maggie Gordon, Houston Landing, “Her Make-a-Wish Dream? Plant 1,000 Trees Across Houston and Watch Hope Grow From the Dirt.”
🏆 Third place: Veronica Nocera, The (Portland, Ore.) Oregonian, “From Brunch to Late-Night Pho, This NE Portland Vinyl Bar Is a Love Letter to Its Owners’ Vietnamese Roots”

Congratulations to all the winners! And congratulations to the sweepstakes award winners, who garnered the most points based on their honors: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Houston Chronicle, The (Portland, Ore.) Oregonian, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel!

LINK: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2026/6/8/sfj-features-contest-winners-division-2

06/09/2026

🥳 It's our big day!

We're thrilled to announce the winners of the 2026 Excellence-in-Features journalism awards!

Every year, our judges are impressed with caliber, creativity and care that journalists have put into telling the stories of their communities. We again received nearly 1,000 entries — proof of life that features journalism is still vibrant and necessary.

We will be sharing our winners lists in four separate posts as we have so many!

Here are the Division 1 winners — featuring newsrooms with 50 or fewer full-time editorial employees and/or news outlets with a local-city-metro area focus.

🙌 Congratulations to all the winners, and especially to the Division 1 sweepstakes winners who garnered the most points for winning entries — The Colorado Springs Gazette, LLC, Deseret News, Houstonia Magazine and 225 magazine!

LINK:

See the Division 1 winners of the 2026 SFJ Excellence-in-Features contest. Division 1 features newsrooms with 50 or fewer full-time editorial employees and/or news outlets with a local-city-metro area focus.