Essential Insights from SABEW's 2025 Annual Conference

Article Title: Insights from the SABEW Conference 2025: Redefining Journalism

The Society for Advancing Business and Edging Writing (SABEW) held its annual conference in Washington, D.C. from April 3 to April 5, 2025. Journalists, newsroom leaders, and students from across the country attended the event, sharing insights and strategies for modern journalism.

One key takeaway from the conference was the importance of maintaining a healthy and active source pipeline, especially for business stories. E.B. Solomont from The Wall Street Journal suggested checking in with old sources during slow weeks, while Emily Glazer recommended playing the long game when building relationships with sources.

Another point of discussion was the value of reporting on the richest and most influential people in a city or state. Teddy Schleifer from The New York Times noted that such reporting can have a significant local impact. Joe Miller from the Financial Times encouraged reporters to look into the media consumed, beliefs, and lifestyles of these figures to provide a more comprehensive narrative.

The conference also highlighted the advantages of pursuing alternative reporting routes like Substack or Ghost. Flexibility, autonomy, and ownership over one's stories were identified as the greatest benefits. Journalist Joseph Politano, who exclusively publishes his work on his Substack newsletter Apricitas Economic, which has over 62,000 subscribers, attributes the platform's popularity in journalism to consumers' growing mistrust of large media corporations.

Charla Freeland from The Washington Post suggested choosing social media platforms based on their feed characteristics for optimal coverage delivery. A successful news post on social media should anticipate and answer the audience's questions, provide accurate information, and be timely and consistent.

Investigating the abuse of power by local influencers was another topic of interest at the conference. While the journalist who made this recommendation was not specifically named, the advice was to scrutinize the wealthy and influential people in one's local community.

Ziva Branstetter, Senior Editor at ProPublica, emphasized the importance of being relentless when submitting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Jason Leopold, senior investigative reporter at Bloomberg News, also shared his newsletter FOIA Files as a helpful resource for obtaining new documents from government agencies and stressed the importance of preparing for the appeal process when submitting FOIA requests.

Lastly, Jade Lawson, a multimedia journalist at 7News, stressed the importance of considering a story's presentation across platforms before reporting. This approach ensures that the story is effectively communicated to audiences on various platforms.

In summary, the SABEW Conference 2025 provided valuable insights into modern journalism, emphasizing the importance of maintaining relationships with sources, investigating local influencers, leveraging alternative platforms, and delivering news effectively across various platforms.