23 Webinars this week about AI, Journalism & Media
/Tue, Feb 17 - The Sports Moments Shaping Marketing in 2026
What: This session will examine how brands are evolving their planning, creative, and media approaches — looking ahead to moments like the 2026 World Cup, alongside other major events such as the Winter Games, March Madness, and the NBA Playoffs and Finals — and what the broader sports calendar signals for marketers preparing for the year ahead.
Who: Bill Bradley, deputy TV, media, and sports editor at ADWEEK; Adam Azor, EVP., Global Marketing, Sportradar.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsors: SportRadar & ADWEEK
Tue, Feb 17 - Beyond the Page: Monetizing Your Writing and Editing Skills with Retreats, Workshops, and Coaching
What: In this webinar, established writers and editors share how they created wildly successful new avenues in their businesses. You’ll hear their stories and learn how they created new programs, events, and offerings that allow them to make money while helping others.
Who: Elizabeth Hanes, award-winning health journalist and content writer; AJ Harper, an editor and publishing strategist; Jennie Nash, the founder and CEO of Author Accelerator; Gwen Moran is a longtime freelance writer, editor, and content strategist.
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: American Society of Journalists and Authors
Wed, Feb 18 - Arts & Entertainment by the Numbers: A Free One-Day Data Journalism Workshop
What: The virtual workshop will cover: What “data journalism” means for arts and entertainment; Spreadsheets 101: Sorting, filtering, and summarizing basic data in Google Sheets — no math required; Cleaning Practice: How to fix messy artist names, genres, and labels — and why consistency matters; Quick Analysis: How to find simple story patterns (Patterns, Trends, Outliers); Visualization Basics: Building a visualization in Flourish, focused on storytelling; Finding Credible Data: Where to get trustworthy arts and culture data; Writing with Data: Turning your finding into a “nut graf” that connects the number to people and context; Using AI Responsibly: How to use tools like ChatGPT to speed up cleaning, analysis, and writing while staying accurate.
Who: Jill Blackman, Medill lecturer and director of data journalism.
When: 9 am – 5 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications
Wed, Feb 18 - Storytelling for Impact
What: Join us as we go through tips, techniques and tools to help the modern marketer tell better and more impactful stories to activate their audiences around ideas and actions.
Who: Kiersten Hill, Director of Nonprofit Solutions
When: 10 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Firespring
Wed, Feb 18 - Building the Skills AI Can’t Replace
What: Explore how to balance technology-driven learning with human-centered development. Learn how to build programs that prepare employees to work alongside AI, solve complex problems and lead with insight and creativity.
Who: Paul George, Facilitating Consultant, Corporate Visions; Dan Rust, Vice President, Leadership & Commercial Development, Infopro Learning; Abby Paterson, Solution Architect, Hemsley Fraser; Rick Maloney, VP of Strategic Accounts, Hemsley Fraser; Ryan Heinl, CEO, SIY Global; Sarah Plummer, Sales Engineer and Solutions Consultant, Allego Jessica Peck, Senior Sales Content Manager, Allego.
When: 11 am to 3:45 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Training Industry
Wed, Feb 18 - Disability Narrative Webinar Series: IEEE Spectrum
What: Our guest will lead us through a conversation at the intersection of disability, technology and responsible storytelling.
Who: Stephen Cass with IEEE Spectrum.
When: 11:30 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Military Veterans in Journalism
Wed, Feb 18 - Boost Your Workflow with AI: Productivity Tips and Strategies
What: Explore how generative AI can streamline your daily work tasks in this practical, hands-on session. We'll highlight the GenAI tools available to the Duke community and demonstrate how they can assist with common activities such as summarizing meeting notes, drafting emails, generating images, and brainstorming ideas. Whether you're new to AI or looking to expand your toolkit, this session will provide actionable tips and real-world examples to help you get started confidently.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Duke University
Wed, Feb 18 - AI in Student-Powered Reporting: Ethical Practices for Students and Communities
What: We will highlight AI policies and practices.
Who: Joshua Darr, associate professor at the Newhouse School of Public Communications and a senior researcher in the Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship at Syracuse University.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: University of Vermont Center for Community News
Wed, Feb 18 - AI Lessons Learned: Beyond the Hype — What It Really Takes to Deploy AI in Government
What: This event is focused on practical, hard‑earned lessons from government AI implementations — and how leaders are turning those lessons into smarter, safer, more impactful AI programs.
Who: Rebecca Cai, Chief Data Officer, State of Hawaii; Marcus Thornton, Deputy Chief Data Officer, Virginia Office of Data Governance and Analytics; Mike Gilger, Chief Technology Officer and Director of Products, Modus Operandi; Aaron Hunter, Enterprise Account Manager, Coursera; Meghan Richter, Head of Marketing, Yoonify; Rohhit Tandon, Co-Founder & CEO, Yoonify; Bryan Rosensteel Head of Public Sector Product Marketing, Wiz.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: GovLoop
Wed, Feb 18 - Digital Advertising Trends Defining 2026
What: This session explores how marketers are adapting their strategies as AI, cross-channel planning, and smarter measurement become essential for staying competitive in 2026.
Who: Ryan Joe, editor in chief at ADWEEK; Brianna Gays, Chief Marketing Officer, Smartly; Rejeesh Ramachandran, Head of Marketing Transformation, Analytics & MarTech, TD Bank.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: ADWEEK
Wed, Feb 18 - Beyond the Byline: Leveraging Events to Forge Community and Strengthen News
What: Delve into how to utilize events to foster a deep sense of community, enhance trust in journalism, and ultimately strengthen your ability to provide essential news and information. Attendees will gain practical insights and inspiration for designing and executing a diverse range of events that prioritize connection and engagement, learning how to measure their success in building a more resilient and connected audience that actively supports their news organization.
Who: Executive Director Jake Hylton, Lookout.
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Online News Association
Thu, Feb 19 – Covering Climate Across Beats
What: How to make the climate connection across beats. We’ll share practical tips for identifying climate angles in everyday stories, explore examples from newsrooms around the world, and show you how even one sentence can transform your reporting. No science background required, just a willingness to connect the dots!
When: 6 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Covering Climate Now
Thu, Feb 19 – Science Journalism in a Polarised World: entry barriers, online abuse and how to tackle them
What: A discussion as to how aspiring journalists and writers can be better supported at the start of their careers - and cope with some of the challenges of working in it.
Who: Andy Ridgway, UWE; Vera Novais, ABSW.
When: 10:30 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free to Members
Sponsors: Association of British Science Writers and the Science Communication Unit at the University of the West of England, UK
Thu, Feb 19 - Trauma Reporting: Best Practices in Turbulent Times
What: This session will explore ethical challenges, interviewing victims and survivors, informed consent, verification and corroboration, and how to balance compassion with rigorous reporting.
Who: Bruce Shapiro, Executive Director, The Global Center for Journalism and Trauma.
When: 11 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsors: The Global Center for Journalism and Trauma & The Virginia Press Association
Thu, Feb 19 - Ethical Use of AI in Teaching
What: In this webinar, we will decode the rise of AI in the classroom, discuss the challenges it presents, and brainstorm effective strategies for educators to respond to these challenges. We will collaboratively discuss whether there exists a possibility for the ethical use of AI, and what its future looks like in the classroom.
Who: Akshay Sharan, Claremont Graduate University.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Claremont Graduate University
Thu, Feb 19 - AI & Copyright Licensing – A New Frontier
What: This webinar will help journalists make sense of the evolving AI licensing landscape and report on it with clarity and confidence. We’ll unpack what “AI licensing” really means, how early one-off deals are turning into structured revenue-sharing systems, and why recent agreements in media and entertainment could shift the conversation from conflict to cooperation.
Who: Jonathan Barnett, University of Southern California School of Law professor and director of its Media, Entertainment and Technology Law Program; Sara Guaglione, a senior media reporter at Digiday; Michael D. Smith, Carnegie Mellon University professor of information technology and public policy; co-director of the Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: National Press Foundation
Thu, Feb 19 - Best Practices for Attracting and Hiring a Student Intern
What: You’ll learn simple, effective strategies for building a strong internship opportunity that appeals to today’s students. We’ll cover where to find qualified candidates, how to create compelling internship roles, and what steps to take to ensure a smooth and successful hiring process. Whether you’re offering your first internship or improving an existing program, this session will give you practical tools you can use right away.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Small Business Development Center, PennWest University
Thu, Feb 19 - Trump and Higher Ed: The Latest
What: We will ll unpack the most pressing issues in higher-ed policy, helping you stay informed and prepared for the year ahead.
Who: Sarah Brown, The Chronicle’s news editor; Rick Seltzer, author of the subscriber-only Daily Briefing newsletter.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Chronicle of Higher Ed
Thu, Feb 19 - Ask Me Anything: Local News, Trusted Messengers and History
What: Takeaways from recent API Local News Summits on local identity and history and civic discourse across generations. Panelists will situate those practical takeaways in the context of a rising trend: collaborations between local media and local influencers.
Who: Samantha Ragland of the American Press Institute; Kwasi Hope, an historian and award-winning speaker.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsors: American Press Institute & the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship
Thu, Feb 19 - How AI Policies Are Impacting Gov IT
What: A rapid‑fire briefing on the top data and AI trends shaping federal strategy. Industry and government experts will break down how budget compression, national AI standards, and new security requirements are accelerating the rise of secure “AI enclaves” across U.S. government cloud regions.
Who: Jennifer Franks Director, Center for Enhanced Cybersecurity, Government Accountability Office; Natalie Buda Smith Director of Digital Strategy, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Library of Congress; Amy R. Ritualo Acting Chief Data and AI Officer, Dept. of State; Stephen Moon CTO, Public Sector, Snowflake.
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: GovLoop
Thu, Feb 19 - Marketing with Ethical AI: Ensuring Fairness & Inclusivity
What: This webinar for marketing will explore how ethical AI principles are reshaping marketing at Microsoft. Expect to learn how to create marketing campaigns that resonate with diverse audiences while upholding ethical standards.
Who: Nia Joseph, AI Products & Systems Lead Microsoft; Ray Sims, Senior Responsible AI Manager Microsoft.
When: 3 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The Association of National Advertisers
Fri, Feb 20 - Covering Protest and Controversial Topics: Understanding the Risks and Staying Safe
Who: Lauren Walsh, managing director of journalist safety initiatives at the Foley Foundation; Tom Durkin, director of safety education at the Foley Foundation.
When: 11 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: University of Vermont
Fri, Feb 20 - Learn about Data Liberation Project
What: The Data Liberation Project is an initiative to identify, obtain, reformat, clean, document, publish, and disseminate government datasets of public interest. We’ll answer any questions, take your feedback and show you the newest tools on our platform. We’ll also feature case studies on how to use our services, new user orientations, showcasing new MuckRock features and more.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: MuckRock