Upcoming Events

The State of Nonprofit News

With Dan Hu, Director of Partnerships, CalMatters; Joshua Molina, Editor, Santa Barbara News-Press; and Lance Orozco, News Director, KCLU

Wednesday, May 27, Noon to 1:30 p.m., via Zoom

Free for PRSA and AWC-SB members; $20 non-members

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In a time where legacy media is fading, the nonprofit model has emerged as a viable alternative for publications to continue serving their communities without being beholden to a billionaire or government funding.
 

The panelists will discuss how the nonprofit model came to be, how it actually works, and its pros and cons within the context of larger changes in the news industry. They also reveal how communicators can best approach these outlets for collaborations and coverage, and address questions from participants.

The Gold Coast Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America co-presents this session with the Association for Women in Communications Santa Barbara (AWC-SB). The Association for Women in Communications Santa Barbara’s membership comprises professional communicators from journalism, public relations, and marketing, to writers, authors, and public information officers. Founded in 2007, AWC-SB was part of a 100-year-old national organization before becoming independent in 2023. Visit www.awcsb.org.

Panelists:

Dan Hu is Director of Partnerships at CalMatters, where he collaborates and communicates with local and national publications, nonprofits, government staff, libraries, and schools to maximize the impact of CalMatters journalism at the community level. In 2024, he spearheaded the VotingMatters in-person event series, which brought people together across California to discuss the CalMatters Voter Guide. Previously, he was the executive director of The Yappie and a fellow at The Texas Tribune.

Joshua Molina is the editor of the recently revived Santa Barbara News-Press, now an online nonprofit organization. Joining the paper as an intern in 1995 while still at Santa Barbara City College, he went on staff full-time in 1999 and was among the journalists who walked out in 2006. He has since reported for the San Jose Mercury News, Pacific Coast Business Times, and Noozhawk, among others. He has taught journalism for 15 years at SBCC and is also an adjunct professor of journalism at Cal State Northridge.

Lance Orozco has been News Director at KCLU since 2001 and developed the station’s local news coverage as it transitioned to a news/talk format. Among his many journalistic and broadcasting honors are a National Edward R. Murrow Award, 20+ regional Murrow awards, and being named AP’s small market reporter of the year for the western U.S. 13 times. He previously worked for nearly two decades as a television reporter and weathercaster for ABC, NBC, and CBS stations in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.

Dealing with Disinformation: How to Recognize and Respond to Deception

With Guest Speaker: Starshine Roshell

Moderated by: Lisa Osborn

Wednesday, June 17, Noon to 1:30 p.m. via Zoom

FREE for PRSA and AWC-SB members; $20 non-members

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The current deluge of information has made it all too easy for fiction and falsehoods to spread like wildfire, threatening your organization’s reputation and possibly its very survival.

Veteran newswoman Starshine Roshell shares how communicators can recognize and prepare for disinformation attacks on social media and in the traditional press. Discover strategies for real-time responses that cut through the noise, and join a group discussion of best practices and tactics, moderated by Lisa Osborn from KCSB.

The Gold Coast Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America co-presents this session with the Association for Women in Communications Santa Barbara (AWC-SB). The Association for Women in Communications Santa Barbara’s membership comprises professional communicators from journalism, public relations, and marketing, to writers, authors, and public information officers. Founded in 2007, AWC-SB was part of a 100-year-old national organization before becoming independent in 2023. Visit www.awcsb.org.

Guest Speaker:

Starshine Roshell is an award-winning journalist, content producer, and media literacy educator. Having spent decades as a reporter, critic, and feature writer for local and national newspapers and magazines, she’s now the California state advocate for Media Literacy Now and serves as a Newsroom-to-Classroom speaker with the News Literacy Project. Her new column, The Truth Fairy, tackles how information is created, spread, consumed, and controlled.

Lisa Osborn is the news and public affairs director at KCSB-FM 91.9, the community/campus radio station at UCSB. During a long career in broadcasting, she has anchored news at top Los Angeles stations, and hosted music shows on a national radio network. She also has a business that provides audio messaging to transit agencies and telecom systems. Lisa serves on the board of AWC-SB as past president. She and her partner have a YouTube travel channel @SBScenic.

Starshine, Lisa, and fellow AWC-SB member Amy Marie Orozco co-founded Moment of Truth, a nonprofit that teaches community members how to spot and stop misinformation.

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