The Society of Professional Journalists is an organization that was created in April 1909 at Depauw University, is most widely known as the "nation's most broad based journalism organization" with it being around 112 years old. Across the US it now has over 7,000 member with 300 chapters. Their moral purpose is to "Improve and Protect Journalism". Most chapters throughout the US are within a college or news business.
The Society of Professional Journalists has several different missions, one of my personal favorites includes "To encourage a climate in which journalism can be practiced freely and fully" I think this mission relies solely off of journalists having freedom of speech and this is followed by the 1st Amendment. I personally feel that it is very important for journalists to be able to have freedom of speech, although many still do not today, especially with the uprises of social media platforms. The Society of Professional Journalists is originally known as "Sigma Delta Chi", SPJ was invented to originally "Promote the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press." Comes to find out that High Point University has their own chapter of "The Society of Professional Journalists."
https://www.spj.org/spjinfo.asp
