From Reaction to Readiness
Audience Intelligence as AI Infrastructure for News
Chicago, October 21–23
The Summit is the News Product Alliance’s global convening for the news leaders defining what news becomes next. It’s where the decision-makers who set priorities and ship work across product, audience, technology, revenue, and editorial come together to align on what’s changing, share what’s working, and turn strategy into execution.
At this year’s Summit, we’ll move from experimentation to preparedness as we collaborate on solutions to build the audience intelligence and AI infrastructure that modern news organizations need to operate with clarity, resilience, and control. AI is transforming how news is produced, discovered, and monetized, creating a reactive cycle where newsrooms must constantly respond to new tools, shifting platforms, and unstable audience attention. By exploring first-party audience data, insight workflows, and responsible AI systems as core infrastructure, we’ll break that cycle and empower news leaders to make smarter decisions, strengthen trust, and create sustainable models that don’t depend on any single platform or moment of attention.
Plan your Participation
There are two primary ways to get involved in this year’s NPA Summit:
Lead a Session: The Call for Session Proposals is now open! Share your expertise with the community as a speaker. Browse the guide below for more information, and submit your idea by April 6, 2026.
Attend the Event: Secure your spot as an attendee to connect with industry leaders.
Call for Session Proposals Now Open!
Each year, the NPA Summit program is shaped by the real challenges, experiments, and lessons emerging across our community. We invite you to share your work and ideas to help us build the most practical, forward-looking Summit yet, and ensure the conversations and takeaways reflect what news organizations truly need right now. Submit your pitch by April 6, 2026.
Need help refining your pitch?
Read the Session Proposal Guide: Learn what we’re looking for in sessions, how to choose a session format, and tips for polishing your proposal.
Join our Info Session: Meet us on Tuesday, March 17, at 12:00 pm ET, to brainstorm, ask questions, and get support from the NPA team. RSVP now to save your spot!
Join the Conversation on Slack: We’ve opened a Slack channel exclusively for Session Proposals. It’s the perfect space for ongoing discussion and peer feedback. Join NPA’s Slack to be part of the conversation!
About the NPA Summit
The NPA Summit is a high-impact, in-person gathering for leaders driving news product strategy and organizational execution.
Designed for leaders responsible for strategy, systems, and organizational change, the NPA Summit prioritizes depth over scale, peer-level exchange, and practical decision frameworks that can be applied inside newsrooms immediately.
Moving beyond the traditional conference format, this is a purpose-built convening for news professionals across editorial, audience, business, and technology. It is designed specifically for those who must sharpen strategic judgment, pressure-test long-term assumptions, and solve the complex challenges of modern newsroom management alongside a network of peers.
The value of the Summit lies in this concentration of expertise. In 2025, our Chicago edition hosted 400+ participants from over 300 organizations, representing the full spectrum of the industry — global publishers like The New York Times, Reuters, and Politico; national outlets such as ProPublica, USA Today, and Grupo Clarín; regional newsrooms like The Texas Tribune and Newswell; and hyperlocal organizations including The Jersey Bee and QCity Metro, serving communities at the center of democratic life.
The sold-out event demonstrated the growing strength, diversity, and strategic influence of the news product community: a majority of participants are directly shaping how news products are built, distributed, and sustained.
Reflecting the seniority of the room, 70% of attendees were professionals who directly influence or make strategy, budget, and purchasing decisions. And more than 80% of all participants were engaged in product work, ranging from early to mid-career professionals across a wide range of newsroom roles. This unique mix ensures that sessions are grounded in the practical realities of institutional change.
Recent programming has focused on critical industry shifts, including operationalizing audience insights to drive sustainable growth, redefining editorial–product collaboration for organizational impact, and navigating AI’s impact on user relationships and trust.
At its core, the NPA Summit is defined by an emphasis on strategic application and candid, high-trust discussion. It creates a unique environment where the industry’s most influential voices and decision-makers engage deeply with both the ideas and the people shaping the future of news.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The NPA Summit 2026 will take place at Venue SIX10 in Chicago, USA, on October 21-23. Tickets are on sale—you can purchase yours here.
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The NPA Summit is a high-impact, in-person gathering for leaders driving news product strategy and organizational execution. This is a purpose-built convening for news professionals across editorial, audience, business, and technology. It is designed specifically for those who must sharpen strategic judgment, pressure-test long-term assumptions, and solve the complex challenges of modern newsroom management alongside a network of peers.
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To make the NPA Summit as accessible as possible, we offer a range of ticket options. Here are the tiers for tickets (plus ticketing fees):
$575: This ticket tier reflects the actual cost for each attendee of the NPA Summit and is for people from organizations that provide full professional development budgets for employees, such as large news organizations with more than 250 employees, and nonprofits with budgets over $2 million.
$475: This tier is for people receiving partial support from their organizations, such as those from news organizations with less than 250 employees, nonprofits with budgets under $2 million, and other similar-sized organizations with reduced support for professional development.$375: This tier is for people who are paying their own way and do not receive support from their employer.
$0: A limited number of community-supported tickets are available at no cost for professionals who would not otherwise be able to attend, ensuring representatives of small and community-focused publications have the opportunity to participate and contribute to the Summit. You can apply here.
Here's the most important thing to know about these ticket prices: We want you to choose the one that makes sure you can be at the Summit. We don't review who pays what, and we won't follow up with any questions. If you work for an organization where budgets have already been set or there's no support available to you, choose a lower price and join us. By the same token, if you budgeted for some costs you no longer have to spend and are able to purchase a ticket at a higher tier, please do. In addition, if you would like to contribute to the Summit, you'll have the option to add a donation as part of the ticket-purchasing process.
We based these tiers on community feedback. Ticket funds are a huge part of what makes it possible to organize an event with costless tickets, and the support of a skilled event team in preparing sessions and constructing a schedule that lets attendees focus on learning and talking together.
If you have any questions at all about ticket pricing, please reach out.
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A limited number of community-supported tickets are available at no cost for professionals who would not otherwise be able to attend, ensuring representatives of small and community-focused publications have the opportunity to participate and contribute to the Summit. You can apply here.
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The News Product Alliance is happy to offer a number of partnership opportunities to meet sponsors' goals and budgets, including options to support accessibility, networking spaces and programming. Learn more about them by contacting feli@newsproduct.org.
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If you have any additional questions or need further clarification, please feel free to get in touch with us at summit@newsproduct.org. We are here to help and look forward to assisting you!
