Registration is now open for “JSPA@CSPA,” the first in-person gathering of the Jewish Scholastic Press Association since 2019, set for March 15-18 in New York City.  It’s also the first-ever opportunity to hear JSPA’s program on the East Coast, and we hope you will be able to join us!

JSPA will present five workshops on Jewish journalism ethics and related topics as part of the annual spring convention of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), set for Wednesday through Friday on the campus of Columbia University, to be followed by JSPA-only programming Friday night and Saturday in synagogues on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Workshops at CSPA will be open to the entire convention and presented on Thursday, March 16. Topics will include how and why to cover religion in high school media, freedom of the press in religious high schools, and what the Torah has to say about practicing journalism today.  CSPA typically hosts some 2,500 high school journalists and teachers from all over the U.S. and offers more than 350 workshops on topics ranging from writing, page design and photojournalism to online, video and broadcasting techniques, law and ethics, and advising.

After the CSPA conference ends at 3 pm on Friday, on Friday night and Saturday we’ll hold our JSPA “Shabbaton,” with a synagogue Shabbat dinner and guest speaker on Friday night, and on Saturday, lunch hosted at a different synagogue and followed by a discussion where students will consider a real-life newsroom dilemma from the perspective of Jewish ethics.

High school journalism conventions offer a chance for your news staff to spend some journalism-focused quality time together while letting them immerse in a world of like-minded students and professionals.  JSPA adds Jewish perspective, subject matter and discussion such that journalism itself connects them to their Jewish roots and the great intellectual and ethical gifts of their faith and their history.

Now with 16 member high schools — in California, New York, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Kansas, Washington state, Illinois and Tennessee along with Jerusalem — JSPA is also building a group of Jewishly-educated student journalists and readers, whom we hope will get to know one another as they prepare to lead their communities as informed citizens of tomorrow.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE SHABBATON

JSPA staff is available to answer your questions, but in anticipation here are a few facts:

• Registration for the Wednesday-Friday CSPA conference is now open at cspa.columbia.edu, where you can read more about the conference.

• Early-bird registration for CSPA costs $169 per person this year if paid by Feb. 24; after that, it rises to $179 per person.

• JSPA registration is $50 per person, separate from CSPA and payable on this website (click link above). Shabbat dinner and lunch are included. You don’t need to be a member of JSPA to sign up, but member schools will receive a $25-per-person discount

• JSPA does not provide lodging but we’re happy to make recommendations. Hotels near Shearith Israel and Lincoln Square are located near subway stops that run straight to the convention headquarters in Columbia’s Lerner Hall.

• JSPA does not provide Shabbat or post-Shabbat programming other than the Friday night dinner and Saturday afternoon luncheon meetings.

The motto of the Jewish Scholastic Press Association is Chapter 19, Verse 16, of Leviticus (Vayikra):  Do not go about as a talebearer among your people; do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor; I am the Lord — a template for journalism practiced with scrupulous honesty and sensitivity, with attention to those who are suffering or endangered, and with an imperative to hold leadership truthfully accountable. We’re excited to share this with CSPA’s wide audience this year, and hope you’ll be able to join us.

For further information, please visit our website, jspa.us, or email Zev Hurwitz at [email protected].