Newspaper Industry News

Media Alert: Online Media Campus featuring ‘Ethically Reporting on Addiction’ and ‘Covering Opioid Lawsuit Settlements’ in May

WVPA Foundation funding access to industry training webinars for all member newspapers

WV Press News Sharing

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Press Association Foundation, in conjunction with Online Media Campus, is funding access to member newspapers to the OMC industry training webinar program.

The Foundation has partnered with OMC and is paying all WVPA newspaper fees. While individual attendance for a webinar is $35 per employee, through the Foundation sponsorship, WVPA member newspapers and associates can register as many employees as needed without cost.

View the webinar site at https://onlinemediacampus.com/webinars/

If you still need the access code for these webinars or the archives, contact Don Smith at [email protected] or 304-550-0454.

May Webinars

“How to Accurately and Ethically Report on Addiction”


Addiction is a complicated disease that affects every community in America. In their work to cover this complex issue, members of the press can inadvertently perpetuate problematic narratives about drug use and addiction that can increase stigma and discrimination towards people with active addiction, in treatment, or in recovery.
In this hour-long training, Reporting on Addiction will help reporters and editors build their knowledge of the science of addiction, its medical definition and how the brain disease works. Then, we take a deeper look at how addiction stigma manifests in news publications, and translate the science into tips for better reporting – from pitch to publication – that you can use today.

Meet Our Presenters:
Jonathan JK Stoltman is co-director of Reporting on Addiction and Director of the Opioid Policy Institute. In 2019, he completed his PhD in Lifespan Developmental Psychology from West Virginia University and has worked as a researcher focusing on opioid addiction treatment for the past decade. Jonathan’s academic work has appeared in leading journals and at national conferences. Their current work focuses on addiction stigma, the media, and digital approaches to addiction treatment.

Ashton Marra is the co-director of Reporting on Addiction and the executive editor of its founding partner 100 Days in Appalachia, a 2021 national Edward R. Murrow award-winning nonprofit digital publication. There, she oversees the work of a team of editors, contributors and reporters across Appalachia to create content by Appalachians for Appalachians. Ashton is also a teaching assistant professor in the West Virginia University Reed College of Media, where she teaches news writing, video storytelling and community-focused journalism. She’s spent more than a decade working as a professional journalist for both public media and commercial news outlets, on local, statewide and national platforms, including NPR and ABC News.

LIVE WEBINAR

Thursday, May 11, 2023

1pm (central)

2pm (eastern)

Cost: $35; $45 after deadline (May 8)

(Contact your press association to find out how you can register for FREE!)

REGISTER HERE

“Covering Opioid Lawsuit Settlements in Your Community”

In 2023, one of the biggest stories journalists across the country will be covering is the millions of dollars being distributed from settlements of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies. These are dollars that city, county, and/or state policymakers will be charged with spending to mitigate the harms of the opioid epidemic in communities big and small. But this story won’t come and go. Over the next 18 years, local journalists will be tasked with covering how the money is spent and holding their community leaders accountable for their choices. In this training, journalists will be provided with a brief history of the lawsuits and the subsequent settlements from which this money is being distributed. We’ll review the resources that already exist to help you cover these stories, review the questions you should be asking now, discuss how solutions-focused stories can benefit your community and look to the future – with story ideas and sources that can help you continue to cover this developing story. Whether you’re the only reporter in your newsroom or one of many, this training will help journalists at any level tackle these critical stories today.

Meet Our Presenters:
Jonathan JK Stoltman is co-director of Reporting on Addiction and Director of the Opioid Policy Institute. In 2019, he completed his PhD in Lifespan Developmental Psychology from West Virginia University and has worked as a researcher focusing on opioid addiction treatment for the past decade. Jonathan’s academic work has appeared in leading journals and at national conferences. Their current work focuses on addiction stigma, the media, and digital approaches to addiction treatment.

Ashton Marra is the co-director of Reporting on Addiction and the executive editor of its founding partner 100 Days in Appalachia, a 2021 national Edward R. Murrow award-winning nonprofit digital publication. There, she oversees the work of a team of editors, contributors and reporters across Appalachia to create content by Appalachians for Appalachians. Ashton is also a teaching assistant professor in the West Virginia University Reed College of Media, where she teaches news writing, video storytelling and community-focused journalism. She’s spent more than a decade working as a professional journalist for both public media and commercial news outlets, on local, statewide and national platforms, including NPR and ABC News.

LIVE WEBINAR

Thursday, May 25, 2023

1pm (central)

2pm (eastern)

Cost: $35; $45 after deadline (May 22)

(Contact your press association to find out how you can register for FREE!)

REGISTER HERE

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