April 9, 2021
Top stories
Journalist and Marine Corps captain Austin Tice has been held in Syria since 2012, when he was captured while covering conflict in the region. The Tice family needs your help now to prioritize Austin’s case for the new White House administration. Here’s how you can help: 

  • Send a message to your Members of Congress urging them to sign a letter to President Biden pressing for Austin’s safe return home. It takes less than a minute to complete using this link.
  • Spread the message: Share the above image and Austin’s story on your social networks, encouraging others to participate in the letter-writing campaign. Every voice makes a difference for Austin.
Jill Geisler, Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago and Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership, on why leaders should expect and demand diverse sources in stories, and how to begin.
Get a head start on designing graphics and other visuals on deadline — even when you aren’t a graphic designer.

In our scroll and skim culture, dynamic visuals can make the difference in whether a reader engages with a story. But not every story can attract a graphic design professional’s time in the newsroom, especially in the continuing pandemic news cycle. If you’re a reporter, editor, social media manager now handling (or who wants to handle) quick-turn graphics, get a head start with our hacks for designing visuals when it’s not usually part of your job.

Beth Francesco, National Press Club Journalism Institute senior director, will share best practices, tools you have at your disposal from home, and exercises for creating visuals regardless of your hands-on design experience.

Registration is open for this program, which will take place from 1 to 3:30 p.m. ET Friday, April 30. Tickets are $15 for National Press Club members and $25 for the general public.
Resources
This newsletter is written & edited by the National Press Club Journalism Institute staff: Beth Francesco, Holly Butcher Grant and Julie Moos. Send us your questions and suggestions for topics to cover.

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