For the first time in its 27 years history, the International Symposium on Journalism (ISOJ) will be held in the fall instead of the spring. Traditionally, ISOJ has been held in April, but the 2026 edition of the conference will be on Sept. 17 – 18, 2026, at the University of Texas at Austin.
For nearly three decades, ISOJ has convened leading media executives, journalists, scholars and students from around the globe to discuss the prevailing challenges and opportunities for journalism created by the transition to the digital era.
Now, it is not only the dates that are changing: ISOJ traditionally stood for “International Symposium on Online Journalism,” but from now on it stands for International Symposium on Journalism, without the word “online” in its name.
“When I created this conference in 1999, we still had to explain to many people what the internet was,” said professor Rosental Alves, founder and director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, which hosts ISOJ. “The idea of the conference was precisely to cover the transition of journalism from legacy media to online media and the emergence of digital native media. Now I believe it’s fair to say that the transition is complete. Virtually all journalism is online, even if it also lives on other platforms. So, it’s time to drop the ‘online’ and assume this is a conference on journalism.”
Alves said that, in some ways, he has déjà vu when it comes to today’s rapid changes in the media ecosystem.
“Somehow I feel like I am in 1999 again, except that instead of adapting to the digital era, journalism faces the challenge of adapting to the Artificial Intelligence Era that has just started,” he said. “As it has done for almost three decades, ISOJ will continue to be a premier global conference that helps journalists, media executives and scholars to understand what transformations will affect journalism in general in the AI Era.”
ISOJ will take place online and in person in the Shirley Bird Perry Ballroom in the Texas Union, a historic building in the heart of the University of Texas at Austin campus.
Hundreds of participants also will join the virtual experience, which goes beyond live streaming to include innovative ways to participate remotely, including exclusive live Q&As with select speakers and networking via a Slack channel open to all attendees.
ISOJ 2026 will be held in English with simultaneous interpretation to Spanish.
Following ISOJ, the 19th Iberoamerican Colloquium on Journalism, conducted in Spanish, will take place on Sept. 19. Formerly the Iberoamerican Colloquium on Digital Journalism, the name also was changed to reflect the idea that virtually all journalism today is digital.
The most recent ISOJ took place in March 2025 and attracted nearly 900 participants from 58 countries. Panelists addressed pressing issues affecting journalism, including artificial intelligence, growing authoritarianism, declines in trust and credibility, and more.
Check out the ISOJ 2025 archives at isoj.org.
Stay tuned for upcoming announcements, including the launch of registration, information about discounted hotels and preliminary programming.
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