Florida Natural Disaster and Journalism Summit

When hurricanes hit our state, Florida communities turn to local journalists for clarity. We know that storms are intensifying, the information system is increasingly fragmented, and both forecasting and emergency response look different than they did even a few years ago. These shifts have reshaped how information flows during natural disasters—placing new demands on Florida journalists.

That’s why we’re bringing journalists together for the first-ever Florida Natural Disaster and Journalism Summit.

The free convening will feature presentations by experts on forecasting, misinformation, and trust building and workshops that introduce you to new tools and techniques that you can take back to the newsroom.

A mix of panels, workshops, and presentations including:

• The Effects of Climate Change on Weather Predictability, Impact, and Recovery, featuring former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate
• Social Media’s Role in Natural Disasters and the Misinformation Effect
• Lessons from North Carolina Newsrooms on Collaboration during Hurricane Helene
• How to Build Trust when Information is in Flux
• Map your Community for a Stronger Information Response
• Lessons in Partnership with Government from BEACON and FPREN, the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network

The summit begins with an evening reception on March 9th and continues with a full day of programming on March 10th. .

Who should attend:

This summit is designed for journalists and other newsroom leaders from across the state, although we welcome individuals from outside news who also play a role in their community’s disaster response.

Registration is free and you can apply for a $200 travel stipend. After you register for your ticket, you'll be prompted to fill out a short form. This is where you can indicate your interest in a stipend. We are now evaluating requests for stipends on a rolling basis.

Presented by Press Forward South Florida, Press Forward Tampa Bay, and the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.

Hotel options

We recommend the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center or the A.C. Hotel. Other hotels near the Hilton Conference Center are the Aloft Hotel Gainesville, the Hyatt Place and the Hampton Inn. There are many additional lodging options throughout Gainesville, as well.

Stipends

The initial deadline for requesting a stipend was Jan. 30. If you requested a stipend by then, you should have heard back by now. If you haven’t, please contact us at [email protected].

Going forward we are evaluating requests for a stipend on a rolling basis.

Other questions?

Email us at [email protected].

Info: Join us at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center for a buffet dinner and local art and history exhibits.

Info: Join us at the Hilton University Conference Center for breakfast before programming begins

Info: Over the last few hurricane seasons, we’ve seen a change in the development and intensity of storms. Rapid intensification has meant that storms can grow exponentially powerful, sometimes just before landfall. What do we know about how storms are changing and the implications for warnings, impact and recovery?

Info: Social media platforms are well established as a source of information about storms, with local meteorologists building large communities and emergency managers using them to reach the public. But they are also a powerful vector for misinformation before, during and particularly after storms. How do we accentuate the positive and mitigate the negative? What are the implications for smaller communities and news deserts?

Info: Four journalists from Western North Carolina join us to share their experience serving local news and information needs before, during, and after Hurricane Helene's devastation in 2024, both independently and in collaboration with each other. This session serves as a case study that will allow us to ask what they learned and what they would do differently now. In other words, “If you were telling your Florida friends what we need to know to prepare, what would you say?”

Info: Lunch provided for all summit participants

Info: Participants will learn how to map community information needs and who serves them, providing a foundation for establishing collaborations with nonprofit organizations, frontline responders, other news providers, and more.

Info: We'll hold three blocks of 50-minute breakout sessions, including sessions on how to build trust when information is in flux, building a newsroom readiness plan, climate and hurricane information needs in remote communities, psychological support in the post-disaster phase, and lessons from FRPEN in partnering with government.

Info: We’ll come back together at the end of the day to discuss takeaways from the day and identify actions going forward to better serve our communities through collaboration, trust-building efforts, and tools and techniques you learned today.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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