Friday afternoon keynote full of energy and hope

The Friday afternoon keynote session at the JEA/NSPA Convention started out on an energetic note with a performance from local D.C. dance troupe Colours, who bounced on stage and through the crowd to the sounds of James Brown, Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson, frequently with the students in the crowd joining in.

And the optimistic tone continued when veteran newspaper reporters, and married couple, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser took the stage to speak to the crowd about the future of journalism.

Baker and Glasser have both been foreign correspondents for The Washington Post, and Baker is now the White House reporter for The New York Times.

Glasser pointed to the record turnout at this week’s convention as an amazing sign of hope, and told the young journalists not to fret about the current evolution going on within media, specifically with many newspapers going out of business.

“Don’t worry about the agony of the transition. By the time you are working, it won’t impact you,” said Glasser. “Journalism is just getting smarter, better and faster.”