PFsummit26

Personal finance may be the only beat of interest to 100% of current and potential news audiences. Everyone wants to understand how to navigate money and life decisions in this volatile and expensive era of frayed social ties, declining trust in institutions, and existential anxiety about the future and meaning of work. So how are newsrooms approaching personal finance coverage at this moment? What are the biggest threats to people’s finances and prosperity in 2026 – and how can journalists best shed light on risks, opportunities and abuses? In our kickoff panel, leaders from top news organizations will share how they are tracking these questions, with service journalism, beat coverage, investigations and experiments.

Whether you're collaborating with a newsroom's video team or creating videos yourself, it's important to think about video from the very beginning of the reporting process. Learn how to identify visual storytelling opportunities, report and write with multiple platforms in mind, and create content that works for both traditional video and social media. Plus, we'll cover practical tips for looking and sounding better on camera, along with strategies to overcome the psychological barriers that hold journalists back from stepping in front of the lens.

As regulatory agencies shrink and enforcement priorities shift, journalists play an even more critical role in holding powerful institutions accountable. Hear from former regulators, consumer advocates and other experts about the industries and issues they're watching, where accountability gaps may develop, and practical tips for finding stories in a changing regulatory landscape.

Should you start a newsletter? A podcast? Write a book? Or stick to social media? Our panelists discuss how to make the most of various media as a personal finance journalist.

Artificial intelligence is changing the way journalists report personal finance. Learn where AI can add value, from data mining to document analysis to research -- and where human judgment, verification and sourcing remain essential. You'll leave with practical tips for using AI responsibly without sacrificing accuracy or trust.

Hone your skills as we look at a personal finance study as a group and do a round-robin to come up with unique story angles on the fly and talk about how to source stories so they don't all sound the same. Then we will workshop story ideas for intrepid volunteers.