Just steps away from bustling Times Square, students from SCSU campus media gathered with peers on March 5-7 to attend the 2026 College Media Association’s National Convention.
Student media staff members from across the country participated in networking events, panel discussions and meetings. Journalists and field experts also spoke to students about topics including sports reporting, marketing, legal support, censorship, war reporting and more.
One of the students representing Southern at the convention was journalism major Jay’Mi Vazquez, the Editor-in-Chief of Crescent magazine and the Managing Editor of Southern News. He has been to previous CMA events, but appreciated this year’s panels on marketing yourself.
“Considering I’ve been to several conferences before, there weren’t many “new things I had learned,” but I did enjoy learning about how to market yourself post graduation. Seeing as I am graduating this semester, figuring out who you are, what your identity is, and what topics you’re interested in, allowed for engaging discussions to help me start that journey for my future self,” says Vazquez.
For other students, it was their first trip to a national convention. Draven Dabrowski is a sports writer at Southern News. He attended sessions about sports reporting, adaptable career paths, self-branding and visual storytelling.
“A lot of [the sessions] were [about how to] put yourself out there, how to be creative, how to find your audience. I feel like I learned a lot from that. And even just learning skills in sports, how to learn about sports, learning about sports I never knew about, basically the language to talk about sports and just learning how to network with people.” Says Dabrowski.
In total, 12 students from Southern News and Crescent magazine attended the convention with Professor Cindy Simoneau. Held at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, students were able to explore the resources offered by tabling organizations and schools. Learning from peers and professionals was a valuable experience for the attendees.
“I’d say it was important, and always has been important to attend these journalism conferences.” Says Vazquez. “I think the opportunity we’re given as students to learn from professionals, and meet other students is imperative to our learning, and shaping our futures and creating connections for our careers.”