From Reaction to Readiness
Audience Intelligence as AI Infrastructure for News
October 21–23 | Venue SIX10, Chicago
The NPA Summit is 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 collaborate on solutions connected to this year’s program theme, “From Reaction to Readiness: Audience Intelligence as AI Infrastructure for News” as we explore our core topics:
Audience Intelligence & First-Party Data Systems: How news organizations build, connect, and operationalize first-party audience data to turn research and signals into decisions, products, and strategy;
AI-Native News Operations: Designing newsroom workflows, tools, and governance models where AI is embedded into everyday operations—not layered on as an experiment;
Sustainable, Audience-Led Business Models: Aligning revenue strategies with audience value creation through product-led monetization, trust, loyalty, and long-term retention;
The Future of Distribution & Non-dependability: Navigating platform volatility by building direct relationships, reducing dependency on search and social, and regaining strategic control over distribution;
Product Leadership in Uncertain Times: Leading cross-functional teams through change by designing organizations, decision frameworks, and accountability systems built for uncertainty.
Sneak preview of the program
AI isn't slowing down, and neither are the pressures it's putting on newsrooms. At the Summit, we'll work together to shift the news industry from reaction to preparedness, as we explore how to build infrastructure that makes news organizations stronger from within and more powerful together.
Here are some of the confirmed sessions that approach the shift toward preparedness from different angles, and together start to paint a clearer picture of what readiness can actually look like in practice. The full program will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
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Sarah Adler Hartman
Chief Executive Officer at The Texas Tribune
In this keynote, Sarah will trace her journey from starting and selling a media business and growing through product leadership, to running a nonprofit newsroom navigating a turbulent information ecosystem. She'll talk about what it means to bridge the gap between the ambition and exploration of technology and the ethics and integrity of a newsroom — and the ultimate focus on the audience that ties it all together.
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Ziyaad Bhorat
Vice President, Imagination & Strategic Growth at Mozilla Foundation
The dominant logic of the AI era borrows from venture capital: find the secret, build the moat, own the layer. For news organizations, that logic feels both aspirational and crushing. What if the moat is the wrong model entirely? In this keynote, Ziyaad argues that news product builders are closer than they think to a model built on shared infrastructure and collective power. -
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Liesbeth Nizet
Head of Future Audiences Monetization at Mediahuis
A major challenge for news organizations right now is that 18–24 year olds are forming habits and loyalties on platforms and through creator voices outside traditional media channels. Liesbeth will explore what it takes to build the infrastructure needed to reach those audiences, own those relationships, and develop first-party data before this generation’s habits are set elsewhere.
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Paris M Brown
Publisher at The Baltimore Times
As organizations rethink audience relationships, many are also trying to figure out how to own AI technology for newsroom operations, especially with limited resources. Paris will share how her newsroom is piloting an AI-powered content ecosystem built around collaboration with independent journalists, content creators, and community organizations, and how shared infrastructure can support more sustainable local news operations.
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Freyja Balmer
Senior Vice President, Product & Engineering at Hearst Newspapers
Building new systems requires experimentation and constant learning. That’s why Freyja will lead a session on why many newsroom experiments fail to meaningfully influence decisions, and what it takes to build the shared language and cross-functional processes needed for experimentation to actually inform strategy across teams.
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Zeve Sanderson
Information Quality Lead, Trust Team at Google
When AI is generating more content than ever, how do audiences decide what to trust — and how do newsrooms prove they deserve that trust? Zevewill share what social science research tells us about how trust signals actually work, offer a practical framework for thinking about AI provenance, and walk through the real-world tools teams can use today — with honest guidance on what each one can and can't tell you.
Plan your participation
🗓 Date & Time
The NPA Summit 2026 will take place on Wednesday, October 21, Thursday, October 22, and Friday, October 23. Registration on Wednesday will begin at 3 PM, followed by a keynote session and a welcome reception. On Thursday, we’ll start at 9:00 AM and finish at 6:00 PM. We'll wrap up on Friday with programming starting at 9:00 AM and ending after lunch.
The schedule includes a mid-day break so attendees can grab lunch off-site with peers.
📍 Venue & Address
We’ll be gathering at Venue SIX10, located at 610 S Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago, IL 60605.
✈️ Travel Tips
If you're flying in, the closest airports are Midway International Airport (MDW) — about 25 minutes from downtown — and O’Hare International Airport (ORD) — about 40 minutes away.
We have secured room blocks in nearby hotels. You can explore the options here.
About the NPA Summit
The NPA Summit is a purpose-built convening for the news leaders responsible for strategy, systems, and organizational execution — across editorial, audience, business, and technology.
Unlike traditional conferences, the Summit prioritizes depth over scale: peer-level exchange, pressure-tested ideas, and practical frameworks you can apply inside your newsroom the moment you return.
400+ attendees. 300+ organizations. One room.
In 2025, our Chicago edition brought together the full spectrum of the industry — from global publishers like The New York Times, Reuters, and Politico, to national outlets like ProPublica and USA Today, to regional and hyperlocal newsrooms like The Texas Tribune, The Jersey Bee, and QCity Metro, serving the communities at the center of democratic life.
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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If you're the person in the room who has to decide what gets built, what gets cut, and how your organization adapts — the NPA Summit is built for you. We bring together Directors, VPs, Executives, and senior practitioners across editorial, audience, product, technology, and business from news organizations of every size, to think together about what news becomes next.
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We use a community-supported pricing model so that cost is never the reason someone can't be at the Summit.
$575 Full organizational support — this reflects the actual per-person cost of the Summit (large news orgs 250+ employees, nonprofits with budgets over $2M)
$475 Partial organizational support (smaller news orgs, nonprofits under $2M budget)
$375 Self-funded or no employer support
$0 Community-supported (a limited number of tickets are available at no cost to professionals who would not otherwise be able to attend — apply here)
Choose the tier that gets you in the room. We don't review who pays what and we won't follow up with questions. If your budget is tight, choose a lower tier. If you have flexibility, choosing a higher tier directly supports community-funded tickets for colleagues who couldn't otherwise attend. You can also add a donation at checkout.
Questions about pricing? Reach out at summit@newsproduct.org.
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The Call for Session Proposals is now closed. All submissions are currently being evaluated by our community review panel, a group of expert practitioners from across the news product ecosystem. Stay tuned! The full schedule will be released in June 2026.
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A limited number of community-supported tickets and travel stipends are available at no cost to 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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Yes — and it's a great way to experience the Summit while contributing to the community. Volunteers receive a complimentary ticket and meals during the event, plus real access to the senior product leaders and peers in the room.
Please note that travel, hotel, and other personal expenses are not covered.
Ready to help? Apply to volunteer here.
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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!
Support the NPA Summit
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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