Journalism heavyweights Melissa Bell and Mike Sager will dish on long-form journalism at the 2014 AAN Convention in Nashville.
During a Long-Form Super Panel on Saturday, July 12, they will discuss how to produce investigations that both stand out and capture the attention of the audience. Good investigations, they argue, don’t have to be dutifully boring to succeed.
On Friday, Bell will lead a session on Explanatory Journalism, and in a separate session, Sager will discuss his classic Rolling Stone feature, “The Devil and John Holmes,” which is being reissued by The Atavist (and will be available as a free download to convention atttendees).
Melissa Bell co-founded Vox.com earlier this year and became the first person at Vox Media to hold both a technology and editorial title as Senior Product Manager and Executive Editor for Vox.com. Prior to Vox, Melissa oversaw digital platforms at the Washington Post. She was also a columnist for the Style section, writing on the culture of the internet. Before joining The Post, she helped launch Mint, a Wall Street Journal subsidiary in India, where she lived for four years.
Mike Sager is a best-selling author and former Washington Post staff writer under Watergate investigator Bob Woodward. He worked closely, during his years as a contributing editor to Rolling Stone, with gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Mike is the author of four collections of non-fiction, two novels, and one biography. He has served for more than fifteen years as a writer at large for Esquire. In 2010 he won the American Society of Magazine Editors’ National Magazine Award for profile writing. He is the editor/publisher of The Sager Group, and a former intern at Atlanta’s pioneering alt weekly, Creative Loafing. Many of his stories have inspired films.
2014 AAN Convention Info
The deadline to apply for a scholarship or grant to attend the conference is Friday, June 6. Each scholarship/grant recipient will have their conference fee waived and will receive up to $500 reimbursement for travel to Nashville.
The member early registration rate is $225 per person. After June 13, the rate goes up to $350 per person. After a paper pays for four registrations, that paper may register additional staffers at no charge.
The convention will take place at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown. The AAN group rate is $179 per night for a single/double, and includes internet access. Use this link to book a room at the group rate.
