The April 2026 Kansas Collegiate Media Conference (KCM) held at Wichita State University, was a two-day gathering of journalists from colleges and universities across the state. The conference gave Butler students interested in journalism a chance to meet with peers and professionals in the field.
Fay Belair, a freelance reporter exploring journalism through Butler’s newspaper The Lantern, attended the conference.
“I put myself into the position of writing for the paper sort of as a challenge to learn some of those skills and see if perhaps the journalism world is a place that some of my expressions would find a home,” Belair said.
Belair enjoyed how the conference gave aspiring reporters a chance to connect one-on-one with experts in the field.
“Consistently, I saw the professionals almost leaving ‘breadcrumbs’ for people,” Belair explained.
“The professionals would lay out a concept or lay out a vision and then draw out of the younger journalists their own answers and their own inquiries about how they might apply it. So, it was this sort of ‘give and take’ that I thought was really nice.”
One of the conference breakout sessions dealt with headline and title writing.
“When it comes to trying to get our voice heard or trying to get a story that deserves coverage - we're trying to get that out there. Knowing the time that we spend on titles, subtitles and highlights - knowing that they make that big of difference - definitely sunk in deeper. I spend a lot of time writing and editing. Admittedly, it's challenging to think about not just what my article wants to say, but 'what does somebody need to hear in order to pick it up and read the article in the first place?’” Belair said.
Josiah Rich, a Butler reporter for The Grizzly Magazine, also attended the conference.
Sitting by a group of journalists for Wichita State’s newspaper, The Sunflower, Rich heard firsthand what other reporters are facing.
“It was neat to be able to talk to them about what they do and to compare and contrast with our own [magazine]…maybe getting a more holistic picture of what the magazine and newspaper world is like,” Rich said.
Through the conference, Rich learned the importance of working quickly in journalism.
“As a magazine editor I tend to be slower on my stories, but it's important, especially with newspapers, to be able to get your story out there as quick as possible,” Rich said.
Several Butler students, including Belair and Rich, won awards for journalism.
“It felt good to be recognized for the effort, because some of [journalism] just feels like homework, and it's on to the next assignment, so to take a pause to recognize the hard work was a big deal,” Belair said.
“We changed hands going up and picking up certificates and awards for other people that weren't present. It felt good to know that even though there wasn't the whole team there - and some of the people were already graduated - that we were all part of a legacy of writers for Butler.”
By attending the conference, Belair realized the importance of networking with other journalists and hopes that more aspiring reporters will attend future KCM conferences.
“There were such a variety of subjects and different breakouts to choose from that it seemed like [in] every section there would be something for everybody,” Belair said.