Creating and engaging in digital culture is the way to succeed in modern journalism, according to Robert Hernandez, assistant professor of professional practice at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles. Hernandez will speak at the 2015 New England Newspaper and Press Association's winter convention. The convention will be held at the Seaport Boston Hotel in South Boston Friday, Feb. 20, and Saturday, Feb. 21. "Everyone says be more digital, but no one says how," Hernandez said. "Just because you say you're digital first doesn't mean you are digital first."

It’s an increasingly dangerous world for freelance journalists today. And yet, as news organizations continue to be faced with the challenge of finite resources, they are relying on the work of freelancers now more than ever. With the execution-style murders by terrorists of journalists James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and most recently, Luke Somers, news organizations are beginning to make a necessary reassessment of the protection and support given to reporters in conflict zones...