Local news festival Newsapalooza set to return this week
Newsapalooza, a two-day local news festival in Pittsburgh, will return for another year on Thursday and Friday.
The event will take place at Point Park University and its Pittsburgh Playhouse theater. Presented by Point Park’s Center for Media Innovation, Newsapalooza saw its first edition last year.
Attendees can expect numerous events with national and local journalists as well as discussions and hands-on activities.
The festival will begin with a series of afternoon events on Thursday, including the “Pittsburgh Pitch” with local college students competing for a total of $1,000 for the best reporting idea.
Pittsburgh-native rapper and performance artist FRZY will emcee Thursday’s events and offer a live performance.
Many of Newsapalooza’s Friday events will focus on the role of AI and technology in reshaping journalism.
Natalie Daher, a national editor at Axios, will kick off the second day of events with a keynote discussion on the role of local journalism, emerging industry trends and audience engagement.
That discussion will be followed by a panel on AI in the news with the Texas Tribune’s Matt Adams, Pittsburgh Public Source’s Jennie Ewing Liska, the Lenfest Institute’s Tristan Loper and TribLive Executive Editor Luis Fábregas. The panel will be moderated by KDKA’s Erica Mokay.
Later in the day, attendees can expect an interactive game for audience members to guess whether images are authentic or AI-generated and a further discussion with news industry veterans on technology.
“This year we are focusing on the ways artificial intelligence both disrupts local news and creates opportunities for journalists — and everyday citizens — to be more efficient in the ways they collect and share information. Plus, as always, it will be fun. It’s Newsa, but also palooza,” said Andrew Conte, director of the Center for Media Innovation.
Pittsburgh Mayor-elect Corey O’Connor will also attend Friday’s events.
Those interested can purchase tickets at eventbrite.com.
James Engel is a TribLive staff writer. He can be reached at jengel@triblive.com
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