Covering a U.S. Government Shutdown: Story ideas for national and local reporters

Time is running out for congressional Democrats and Republicans to agree to how they will fund the 2024 federal budget. All signs are pointing to a federal shutdown on Oct. 1, the first day of the new fiscal year. 

What do both national and local reporters need to know about what happens next? How should they cover this story and what it means for Americans? What impact will it have on Americans’ day-to-day lives? How is this congressional disagreement different from the debt limit debate which was resolved earlier this year?

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute for a webinar with Shai Akabas, executive director, Economic Policy Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center to learn answers to these questions. Registration is open.

Participants will:

• Gain confidence in covering the government shut down 
• Obtain resources for covering this story from both a national and local perspective
• Learn what led to this year’s impasse, and how this shutdown would be different
• Get story ideas to tailor the government shutdown story to a media outlet’s community

Panelists:

• Shai Akabas, executive director, Bipartisan Policy Center’s Economic Policy Program
• Moderator: Bara Vaida, NPCJI’s director of training and a longtime Washington, D.C.-based reporter

The webinar will be interactive. Please bring your questions.

About the speaker

Shai Akabas is the executive director of the Economic Policy Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He has conducted research on a variety of economic policy issues, including the federal budget, retirement security, and the financing of higher education. Akabas joined the BPC in 2010 and staffed the Domenici-Rivlin Debt Reduction Task Force that year. He also assisted Jerome H. Powell, now Chairman of the Federal Reserve, in his work on the federal debt limit. For the past several years, Akabas has steered BPC’s Commission on Retirement Security and Personal Savings, co-chaired by former Sen. Kent Conrad and the Honorable James B. Lockhart III.

About the National Press Club Journalism Institute

The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest.

The Institute depends on grants, foundation funds, and contributions from individuals like you. Your donation today allows the Institute to offer the majority of its programming at no cost.