Women media leaders have taken over the narrative in an unprecedented way this past year, from the #MeToo movement to “The Post.” We will continue leading the conversation at the Journalism & Women Symposium’s annual CAMP in Welches, Oregon, this fall where we will master new skills, make lasting connections and rejuvenate after another busy news year.

Many of our JAWS members are hungry for more resources and connections in audio journalism. And more than half of AIR’s members identify as women; now, they can access JAWS’ extensive network of resources and connections for women journalists at a special rate.

ESPN correspondent Jemele Hill and NPR Seoul bureau chief Elise Hu will be keynote speakers at Journalism and Women Symposium’s Conference and Mentoring Project (CAMP) this year. Both women have covered and commented on two of the biggest stories of the year — the Trump administration and North Korea.

Michele Lent Hirsch knew she couldn't be the only woman who's faced serious health issues at a young age, as well as the resulting effects on her career, her relationships, and her sense of self. What she found while researching Invisible was a surprisingly large and overlooked population with important stories to tell.

Journalism and Women Symposium sent a letter to Sinclair Broadcast Group Executive Chairman David Smith this week to express our concern regarding the "must-read" statement local news anchors employed by the group were recently required to read on air.

Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) is concerned about Sinclair Broadcast Group’s decision to require local news stations to present a “must-read” statement without revealing the compulsory nature of the announcement, which characterized other news outlets as being biased and pushing an agenda of fake news.

Peggy began the interview talking about when she decided to be a journalist, saying "As a teenager in the 1950s, I listened every night to Pauline Frederick reporting from the United Nations - there might have been barriers for women, but as a kid, I didn't see it, because there was Pauline Frederick." As a sophomore in college, Peggy began writing for the college newspaper, and was picketed by people who didn't like what she wrote -- which she thought was great. She says, "After college, I didn't think that there were barriers, I just couldn't get a job."

Kay Mills, a historian of women in journalism and civil rights and an inspirational member of the Journalism and Women Symposium's founding board of directors, died Thursday, January 13, 2011, after a sudden heart attack in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 69. Kay's sudden death shocked and saddened her JAWS friends, who considered themselves Kay's extended family, often housing her on her research trips.

Maria Hinojosa is the President of the Futuro Media Group. In addition, she is the Senior Correspondent for the acclaimed series NOW on PBS, the anchor and managing editor of NPR’s Latino USA, and the anchor of her own Emmy Award winning talk show One on One with Maria Hinojosa from WGBH/La Plaza.

An impressive group of nearly 70 women representing the best of journalism gathered at the Poynter Institute in May to talk about the past, present and future of women in the profession. The focus of the gathering was a new book, The Edge of Change: Women in the 21st  JAWS was well represented at the conference. Past president Dawn Garcia and I attended, as did Geneva, Arlene and Peg; membership director Kat Rowlands; and members Jo-Ann Huff Albers and Jill Geisler.

When Kathy Bonk sent out the word to Washington Jaws members that Edie Lederer and Linda Deutsch were coming to town for the Gridiron dinner and would love to see their JAWS sisters, she got a great response. She and her husband then graciously offered to host a brunch at their lovely apartment above the Newseum. It was last-minute notice and she said she had no idea who would show up. It turned out to be a bonanza. A dozen of the faithful came including Margie Freivogel and husband Bill who arrived from St. Louis for the Gridiron event and came to brunch with their suitcases direct from the airport.

Nancy Hicks Maynard, who helped bring enormous changes for diversity within the media, died Sept. 21, 2008, in Los Angeles. She was 61. Her family said that she had been ill for several months and that her death resulted from the failure of several major organs, according to the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

Launching the St. Louis Beacon has been thrilling and terrifying, meaningful and confusing. Every day, I’m grateful to be part of this nonprofit online-only regional news adventure. We’re casting a stone into the pond of the future of journalism. You should throw some, too. Mike Miner of the Chicago Reader captured why this is so much fun when he asked me, “Doesn’t it feel good to be on the right side of history for a change?” Yes, it does.

Frances Lewine, pioneering journalist and longtime Journalism and Women Symposium member, died on January 19, the day before she would have celebrated her 87th birthday by going to the races. She had a long and groundbreaking career, which included covering the administrations of six presidents from Eisenhower to Carter. She was a leader among women journalists from the 1950s onward, protesting discrimination against women in jobs and assignments; her efforts helped lead such groups as the National Press Club to open their membership to women.

Tad Bartimus was the Associated Press' first female bureau chief and its first female special correspondent, a rare title only a few reporters earn (including JAWS member Linda Deutsch). Tad received the Washington Press Club's Lifetime Achievement Award Feb. 13, 2008, at the annual Congressional Dinner. As a young woman, Tad was one of the few female war correspondents in Vietnam (and contributed to a book about that experience, "War Torn: Stories of War by the Women Who Reported the Vietnam War."

Dawn Garcia, deputy director of the John S. Knight Fellowships for Professional Journalists, has become president of the Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS), a national organization of women journalists. Garcia, who spent 18 years as a newspaper reporter and editor before being appointed to her current position at Stanford University in 2000, will serve as the organization's first two-year president. She succeeds Julie Dunlap, a freelance editor in Santa Fe, N.M.

Journalists today know that they must innovate for their print, broadcast and online media outlets to survive. Key to developing those innovations will be the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, headed by executive director (and JAWS member) Pam Johnson. In the institute's journalism futures laboratory, teams of students, faculty and visitors will develop prototype innovations for delivery to media audiences.

The Journalism & Women Symposium joins the National Association of Black Journalists and others who have expressed disgust and outrage at the racist and misogynist remarks made by radio personality Don Imus. Last week, Imus called members of the Rutgers basketball team - who had just played for the national championship - "nappy-headed hos."

The first time I met Molly Ivins was in Houston back before half of you were born. A college friend of mine was working for one of the newspapers there (and they had two then, by golly) and so several of us got together and swilled down more bottles of Lone Star beer than I care to remember.

Joan Cook, who died of breast cancer in 1995 in New York, was a founding director of JAWS, a journalist, a union leader, a moral leader and generous friend to three generations of people engaged in the work of making the world a more just place. She was one of seven named plaintiffs -- and a moving force -- in a class action sex discrimination suit against the New York Times filed in 1974.