(Photo courtesy of FORJ)
Join Us!
2025 Oregon Rural Journalism Conference
9am-4:30pm, August 14, 2025
Central Oregon Community College, Bend
Please join FORJ for our second annual Oregon Rural Journalism Conference sponsored by Roundhouse Foundation!
Last year more than 50 colleagues from around the state gathered our first rural journalism conference. It was an inspiring day! Now, we’ve got another knock-out line-up of speakers and presenters planned.
Don’t miss this event!
Announcing Our Keynote Speaker:
Penny Abernathy
Author of Saving Community Journalism: The Path to Profitability
Penelope (Penny) Muse Abernathy, a veteran journalist and media executive with over 30 years of experience, is the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at UNC. A former executive at The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Harvard Business Review, she has led innovative strategies to help traditional news organizations thrive in the digital era.
Her influential book Saving Community Journalism: The Path to Profitability and her groundbreaking report The Rise of a New Media Baron and the Emerging Threat of News Deserts have made her a leading voice on the economic sustainability of local news, particularly in rural communities. As the founding force behind UNC’s Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media, she continues to support news outlets nationwide in developing viable business models.
A North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame inductee, Abernathy combines deep editorial roots with strategic leadership to champion the future of local journalism.
