Top 11 CMC takeaways

The following has been adapted from the President’s Report at the all-member meeting at the Catholic Media Conference in Atlantic City, N.J., June 18, 2026.

The year since our last Catholic Media Conference has been a busy one. Many thanks to all who have been invested in our shared mission and for helping to keep Catholic media strong.

I want to highlight a few of the CMA accomplishments this year:

1. We completed a strategic plan for the next five years. Our goals are centered around education, advocacy and sustainability. Through these goals, we hope to increase the relevancy of the CMA, amplify the voices of and connections between CMA members, and diversify funding for the CMA. Please review the strategic plan and don’t hesitate to reach out to Rob DeFrancesco or myself if you would like to become a part of our new initiatives.

2. We created new scholarship opportunities. Last fall we launched the inaugural Carlo Acutis Scholarship, which helps support college-age writers interested in exploring a career in Catholic journalism or communications. Through this scholarship, these young people have the chance to develop their creative skills and professional relationships within the context of the Catholic Media Conference. This year we chose three recipients — Annette Perez of Trinity Washington University; Chloe Hanford of the University of Notre Dame; and Chloe Berwick of Rutgers University. They report that their experience was enriching and many members have reported that the attendance of the Acutis Scholars was inspiring. (See page 7.) This scholarship was made possible with funding from the Catholic Journalist Scholarship Fund, eCatholic and the Catholic Extension Society. We plan to continue the scholarship in years to come.

We were also pleased to implement the inaugural Catholic Media Conference Scholarship. This initiative expands access to the CMC for member organizations that can demonstrate financial need so they can continue to grow in professional excellence and in service to the church through media. This year we made three scholarships available to our members.

For each scholarship, recipients received full conference registration, four nights at the conference hotel, and travel reimbursement of up to $500.

3. We amended the CMA Fair Publishing Practices Code. After extensive work by the Ad Hoc Committee for AI, the board approved revisions to the CMA Fair Publishing Practices Code to include guidelines for AI. The new guidelines can be found on the CMA website and will be updated as needed.

4. We established a permanent Media Ethics Committee. This committee was created to ensure that the new AI guidelines stay relevant, and the CMA is able to adapt as technology changes. The committee will offer regular updates and advice, particularly on matters related to AI, in The Catholic Journalist, through webinars, and as needed. Mark Lombard, most recently of the Clarion Herald in New Orleans, has agreed to continue in his role as chairperson. Thank you to the many members of the CMA who have agreed to participate on this committee, many of whom were also on the Ad Hoc AI committee. We truly appreciate your ongoing efforts.

5. We reestablished the CMA Communications Committee. This previously dormant committee has been reformed with nine new members and will work to promote the efforts of the CMA to its members and beyond. Montie Chavez, communications director of the Archdiocese of Las Vegas, will serve as chairperson. That committee is working on a communications audit of the CMA. We also did some housekeeping on the website, including adding revised descriptions of each committee’s work and updating the description of the CMA member benefits to better reflect our current efforts.

“Our goals are centered around education, advocacy and sustainability ... to increase the relevancy of the CMA.”

6. We started a membership drive. Thanks to the work of James Ramos, content editor, Texas Catholic Herald of Galveston-Houston, and the tireless Membership Committee, the CMA is launching a membership drive to encourage our members to reach out to potential new members. We hope to grow our community while offering rewards for bringing in new members. (See page 2.)

7. We are in the process of establishing a board seat for Digital-Only Publications. Currently, members of these publications would only be eligible to be nominated to the CMA board as regional representatives. At the all-member meeting at the CMC, we announced a desire to establish this new role and sought your feedback. We’ve since received overwhelming support for the new board seat, and the Nominating Committee has been asked to suggest candidates.

8. We are exploring possible funding from the Porticus Foundation. In particular, we are seeking ideas regarding potential efforts to support young adult Catholics and for programs and conversations related to AI. If you have ideas for ways in which the CMA could offer more to its members in these areas, we’d be grateful for your feedback.

9. We expanded access to the sacraments at the CMC. This year, in response to some requests we received last year, we were able to offer the sacrament of reconciliation to our members during the conference. I want to thank Mike Walsh, chairperson of the National Planning Committee, and his staff in the Diocese of Camden for working hard to make this happen.

10. We are grateful to outgoing board members. We truly appreciate Pablo Kay of Angelus, Emily Sanna of U.S. Catholic, JoAnn DiNappoli of DeSales Media, and Michael La Civita of CNEWA for their service. We are grateful for their work and appreciate all they have done to advance the mission of the CMA. As a token of our gratitude, we gifted them prints of the Icon of the Parable of the Mustard Seed by Kelly Latimore, because we believe the work they have started will continue to grow and make an impact in our community and church.

11. We welcomed new board members. I would also like to offer a sincere welcome to our newest board members: Matt Gambino, Deputy Communications Officer for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, who is our new treasurer; Laura Ieraci, editor of ONE magazine, who is our new Magazine Business Staff Member; Kate DeWeese, editor of Northwest Catholic, who is the new Magazine Publisher Member, and Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP, director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies, who is our Western Region Representative. We are also delighted to welcome back Mike Walsh, communications director for the Diocese of Camden, who was reelected to continue in his role as newspaper publisher member. I look forward to working with you and appreciate your taking on these roles and responsibilities.

Kerry Weber is Executive Editor at America Media and President of the Catholic Media Association.