Join us for CSUN ‘J-Day’ 2020 on Saturday, October 17!

L.A. Times High School Insider, CSUN Journalism Department and Southern California Journalism Educators Association (SCJEA) are coming together to host our annual youth journalism conference online. Learn from virtual workshops led by professionals, test your skills in media contests and meet in small groups for roundtable chats with reporters. 

Registration has now closed.

Schedule of Events:

October 12-16: Virtual Workshops

October 17: CSUN J-Day

          9:00 AM Welcome Remarks

          9:30 – 11:00 AM Media Contests

          11:30 – 12:30 PM Reporter Roundtables

          12:30 -1: 15 PM Keynote Address

          1:15 – 1:30 PM Closing

October 19: Contest Winners Announced

Event Details:

Virtual workshops will be pre-recorded and released to registered advisers and parents one week prior to the event date. Student attendees should watch the workshops that interest them before the conference (you might even catch a tip that will help in the competitions!). 

Media contests will take place via Zoom on Saturday, October 17 in the categories below. Registration is limited to 5 students per contest per school:

• News writing
• Feature writing
• Sports writing
• Opinion writing
• Social Media
• Photography (Features)

Contest submission guidelines:

• Participants in news, features, sports and opinion will attend a live presentation, draft their pieces on Google Docs and submit their entries to their judge via a Google Form.
• Participants in the social media contest will produce their entry during a live presentation.
• Participants in the photo contest will submit photos in advance and attend a live critique. Up to three feature photos with captions must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Oct. 14 to Molly Heber at molly.heber@latimes.com. Photos should be from this semester and the photo cannot have been entered in the SCJEA state contest in the spring.

Keynote address and roundtable discussions with professional journalists will take place following the contests via Zoom.

Winners will be announced Monday, October 19.

CSUN J-Day is brought to you by:

California State University Northridge Journalism Department

Southern California Journalism Education Association

Los Angeles Times High School Insider

With additional support from: 

Los Angeles Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists

PBS Newshour Student Reporting Labs

PBS SoCal | KCET

Frequently asked questions 

When will a schedule for the day be released? 

We are finalizing the schedule and will send advisers and parents a copy one week prior to the event.

When will I have access to pre-recorded workshops?

Workshops will be released one week prior to the event to the registered advisers and parents who can share them with students.

When will Zoom links for the live events of the day be released?

An updated schedule with Zoom links for events will be released to advisers and parents two days prior to the event. Attendees do not need to register in advance for the welcome ceremony, roundtable discussions or keynote address.

Email Leonardo Ibarra at leonardo.ibarra@csun.edu or Molly Heber at molly.heber@latimes.com with any questions.