Northfield, IL – CNN senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, will deliver a keynote speech focusing on her experiences as a political reporter at Media Finance Focus 2018, the 58 annual conference for MFM and its BCCA subsidiary, the media industry’s credit association. The conference will be held from May 21-23 at The Hyatt Regency Crystal City (Arlington, VA).

Henderson’s keynote, which is scheduled for Wednesday morning May 23 at 8:30 a.m. will review how covering the news has changed in the last 15 years, what is needed now to properly cover the news and what will be needed going forward. Her presentation will also address the Trump presidency’s impact on US politics and the 2018 mid-term elections.

“Political advertising totaled more than $2.8 billion in 2014, the last mid-term election and CMAG expects that number to exceed $3 billion in 2018, including as much as $2.4 billion for local broadcast, $850 million for local cable, and $600 million for digital,” said Mary M. Collins, president & CEO of MFM and BCCA. “Given its importance to the revenue outlook for media providers, Nia-Malika Henderson’s experience in covering U.S. politics and federal elections will provide our members with very helpful insights on where much of that spending is likely to occur, why and the resources necessary for compelling news coverage.”

About Nia-Malika Henderson

Nia-Malika Henderson is a senior political reporter for CNN, reporting on politics, policies, and people shaping Washington. Henderson reports for the network's digital and television platforms, and regularly appears as a panelist for CNN's Inside Politics, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, and CNN Tonight with Don Lemon. She is also a frequent fill-in anchor for Inside Politics.

Henderson joined the network in 2015 and most recently covered the 2016 election, the Presidential transition, President Donald Trump's administration and the Democratic party. During the 2016 election season, she reported on the Democratic and Republican candidates, covering Bernie Sanders' insurgent campaign, Ben Carson's unlikely bid, and Donald Trump's realignment of the Republican party.

Prior to joining CNN, Henderson was a national political reporter for The Washington Post, where she covered the White House, the 2012 presidential campaign, the 2010 mid-term elections, and anchored The Post's Election 2012 blog. She also covered the first two years of the Obama administration for Politico and was Newsday's lead reporter covering Obama's 2008 campaign, the Democratic primary race and the Democratic National Convention. In 2005, Henderson was part of the Newsday team named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting for a series on the history of hip hop. Before joining Newsday's national staff, she wrote for The Baltimore Sun.

Henderson graduated from Duke University with a bachelor's degree in literature and cultural anthropology, and earned master's degrees from Yale University in American studies and in journalism from Columbia University.

About Media Finance Focus 2018

MFM/BCCA’s annual conference is the primary source of professional education for the media industry’s business and credit management executives, including its digital media, video, games, publishing, broadcasting and broadband telecommunications enterprises. Chaired by Cindy Pekrul, SVP and deputy controller for Turner and vice chair of MFM’s board of directors, and co-chaired by Mike Lavey, SVP/corporate controller for tronc, Inc. and MFM board secretary, Media Finance Focus 2018 will feature presentations from over 150 industry experts, who will provide timely information on topics relevant to media industry finance professionals, including accounting, economic projections, valuations, M&A, taxes, legal, regulatory, and technological developments and internal audit.

BCCA, the media industry’s credit association, will provide a full track of sessions designed to meet the needs of today’s credit and collections professionals. In addition, Media Finance Focus 2018 is collaborating with the Media Industry Tax Group on offering a full track of tax-related topics of interest to the media industry’s tax professionals and the New Media Internal Auditors Association is co-locating its 2018 meeting with the conference, providing its members an opportunity to participate in sessions offered by both events. New in 2018 is a track dedicated to finance professionals working with video games and other entertainment software. The conference will also offer formal and informal networking activities to foster idea sharing and will host an exhibit hall featuring the latest in products and services for addressing the industry’s financial management and credit and collections requirements. Registered participants can earn 19 or more CPE credits. Additional information about Media Finance Focus 2018 may be found on the conference website.

About MFM and BCCA

Media Financial Management Association (MFM) is the premiere resource for financial professionals for media industry education, networking, and information sharing throughout the U.S. and Canada. More information about MFM is available on its Web site: http://www.mediafinance.org and via its updates on Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter. Its BCCA subsidiary serves as the media industry’s credit association. BCCA’s revenue management services encompass a variety of credit reports on national and local media advertisers and agencies, including Media Whys, a credit report for media businesses which offers a credit score based on industry-specific aging combined with trade data from Experian or D+B. More information about BCCA is available at http://www.bccacredit.com as well as its updates on Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter.