JTM News, Projects, Seattle

JTM Pacific Northwest Latest Initiative Updates

Since their initial conference in New York City in October 2001, JTM has been bringing together journalists and increasingly, others interested in the growing and changing public information ecosphere. The aim has been to puzzle through epic changes in the news and information landscape and creatively develop new approaches, alliances and projects that strengthen bonds of community and democracy through constructive engagement. The JTM Pacific Northwest (JTM-PNW) conference at the University of Washington in Seattle drew a diverse group of current and former legacy media journalists, specialty media, new media and social media practitioners, representatives of non-profits including civic and advocacy groups, some very talented and capable students, and others. Ten initiatives have come forward as a direct result of the conference. They are at varying stages.

Two provide detailed recent reports and plans at JTM-PNW’s site. One is the Seattle Digital Literacy Initiative. More here from the UW School of Communications, which is providing funding and a home for the project for two years. This is an impressive development which reflects the valuable role JTM-PNW plays as an instigator and enabler for innovation. Another recent update is from JTM-PNW’s Building On Transparency effort, which I am helping to advance as part of my work for Countywide Community Forums (CCF), a public engagement program in King County which is underwritten by private donors, most notably the Spady family of Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants in Seattle.

CATCHING UP AND MOVING FORWARD

Another of the 10 JTM-PNW initiatives is the News Collaboratory, which meets monthly. It helps chart JTM-PNW’s overall direction, serves as a resource and connector for the initiatives. Monday July 26, the JTM-PNW News Collaboratory organized a potluck gathering at the Filipino Community Center in Southeast Seattle so a broader group of initiative leaders and interested others could connect, share news and lay plans for future face-to-face gatherings and further development of the initiatives. We were pleased to be joined by several distinguished guests who came to listen. They were Rita Brogan, CEO of PRR Inc., a public affairs and community engagement firm based in Seattle; new media maven Monica Guzman, now of Intersect; online guru Jason Preston of Parnassus Group and Eat Sleep Publish; and communicator Carrie Shaw, also a CCF colleague of mine.Unknown Object

ABUNDANT JOURNALISM

Opening the reporting session, ex-Seattle Times Executive Editor Michael Fancher emphasized his Abundant Journalism initiative is envisioned as an information clearinghouse that would grow into a role of finding funding to help start-up enterprises in the news and public information space. He is looking to get a few more core members to help him guide the initiative. Most of Fancher’s time has been focused on nationally-recognized research and report-writing work for the Knight Foundation and Aspen Institute on the future of journalism and news information. He has also maintained and updated JTM-PNW’s web site, and served as a member of JTM-PNW’s News Collaboratory.

MICRO-FINANCE

Michael Bradbury of RealScience, Inc. reported on a new JTM-PNW initiative that he said could fold nicely into Abundant Journalism: business training and micro-finance for aspiring journalism entrepreneurs. As a 501c3, JTM-PNW could become a micro-lending program, especially if paired with business skills development for emerging small business enterprises in the regional news ecosphere, Bradbury told the group. This possibility arose after Bradbury reached out to the Washington Community Alliance For Self-Help (CASH), which provides business training for immigrant populations and individuals subsisting at up to 200 percent of the poverty level, who are seeking to establish small retail businesses. Washington CASH wants to expand to include other business sectors that have been affected by economic changes, specifically including journalism, Bradbury learned. Washington CASH has offered one free training slot to an applicant recommended by JTM-PNW, and we are exploring whether that number might be able to be increased. Several applicants have already expressed interest. Additionally, JTM-PNW is discussing how it would work with journalists who complete Washington CASH training to share lessons learned and help begin raising money for micro-lending to qualified news and information business endeavors.

DIGITAL MEDIA LITERACY

Daniel Hannah, and later Jonathan Lawson of Reclaim The Media reported on the considerable success of the Seattle Digital Literacy Initiative, which was born at and after the January JTM-PNW conference. SDLI has secured two years of funding through the University of Washington Department of Communications to work with youth in community settings to help develop their critical media analysis and consumer skills as well as their media production capabilities. Project leader Sarah Stuteville, of The Common Language Project, was Back East attending a conference.

RESOURCE MAPPING

Jacob Caggiano reported that the mapping initiative funded by the Washington News Council and its Executive Director John Hamer is shaping up. This alliance also developed as a direct result of the January conference. The Google Map-based project is part of WNC’s Washington News Lab and Directory and now includes contact and Web information on 451 different entities from among legacy media, the blogosphere, and civic groups. The News Council has invested considerable capital in developing the project and so for now, will be making it available only to dues-paying members. JTM-PNW Collaboratory leaders later expressed their support for the project but also indicated they may explore facilitating the development of a similar tool that is free and open.

ETHICS

Hamer reported on the News Council’s ongoing T.A.O. of Journalism initiative to encourage practitioners to sign a pledge and post a badge of compliance on their sites to the principles of transparency, openness and accountability. The council – which focuses on journalistic best practices and ethics – has also unveiled a new Web site developed by Brian Glanz and Charlie Hamilton, and continues its own blogging initiative, assisted by writer Heidi Dietrich.

TECHNOLOGY

Charlie Hamilton of the Technology Initiative reported the new JTM-PNW Web site is nearly ready. It is expected to go live in August. JTM-PNW has contracted with Cate Montana of The Global Intelligencer to curate material for the Web site and assist in informational outreach to initiative leaders and conference attendees. As the site develops, community features will be unveiled and promoted.

INCUBATION

Peggy Holman, a JTM national co-founder and co-convenor of the January conference in Seattle reported on the Collaboratory initiative, which she leads. She said, “We’re supporting the pioneers who are shaping the news and information ecosystem, being eyes and ears, noticing what’s possible.” Holman’s new book, “Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity” is due out soon.

GLOBAL HEALTH REPORTING

Sanjay Bhatt, a reporter at the Seattle Times, and Pamela Kilborn-Miller of the Dalai Lama Center spoke about the Global Health Reporting Initiative which emerged out of the deep philanthropic support in the Seattle area for global health initiatives, and the presence of many talented health writers and reporters here. The initiative is doing a cross-sector stakeholder survey to help shape future efforts. Another initiative member present was Michael McCarthy, founder of Seattle/Local Health Guide, now a partner site with the Seattle Times. Bradbury also reported on the Seattle Happiness Index Initiative, which will seek to provide objective indices of community well-being. It isn’t really off the ground yet, he said, but will get there eventually.

OPEN GOVERNMENT

I reported on Building On Transparency, which seeks to develop community capacity for using open government and especially online government data and documents to help improve quality of life, dialog and governance. A report and detailed plan is here. I also discussed a core project in the initiative, Public Data Ferret. It is a database of blogged synopses of important public documents and databases which might otherwise go overlooked. They are indexed and searchable by topic and jurisdiction at the Ferret Hub. There is also an archive of weekly Public Data Ferret radio segments on KOMO-AM 1000 in Seattle. I expressed appreciation to JTM-PNW Collaboratory member Andrew Hart for his work as Contributing Editor at Public Data Ferret, and other work on behalf of JTM-PNW. Hart, a recent grad of the UW Communications School, was a participant in the January conference.

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

The group then heard from Rita Hibbard, a former Seattle Post-Intelligencer editor who is now Executive Editor of Investigate West, an investigative reporting project that works in partnership with major media outlets. Investigate West is not a JTM-PNW initiative per se, but Hibbard was an active participant in the January conference, leading a vigorous discussion in the Open Space setting. The assembled group last week welcomed the chance to hear Hibbard report on IW’s impressive debut. Investigate West, Hibbard said, is doing original investigative reporting work, with articles running in major media such as MSNBC, the Seattle Times, Seattle PI.com and the Spokane Spokesman-Review. The project draws financial support from foundations, membership fees and payments from media partners for content. IW is interested in finding ways to work with news consumers, Hibbard added.

CIVIC COMMUNICATIONS COMMONS

Rick Vanderknyff, Managing Editor of Microsoft Local, reported on the Civic Communications Commons Initiative, which has an active and broad steering committee – including Anne Stadler, a longtime dialog facilitator, Seattle media figure and community activist. Work to date includes a completed concept and planning document, regular planning meetings and extensive outreach to potential partners. CCC has 501c3 aims. Vanderknyff told the group that the initiative will include an online commons, a publicly-held place where people can meet; and in-person conversations around the county. The focus will be on dialog around important issues; and serving as a hub on news and information resources. A number of partnerships are expected to be explored with major players in the civic, corporate and communications sectors. Undecided yet are geographical scope (King County versus greater Puget Sound), and exactly what would be at the Web hub.

NEXT STEPS

An open discussion by the initiative leaders of JTM-PNW followed. We agreed to meet quarterly in person, and to begin scheduling monthly events around each initiative. We also discussed different types of events we could hold to promote the initiatives. Sanjay Bhatt had an inspired suggestion for Flash Mobs around mobile food carts (“hook up in Ballard for burritos and talk on transparency.”) He also shared the model used at Asian-American Journalists Association “Innovation Salons”: 30-45 minutes of meet and greet, a 60-minute program, and 45 minutes more of socializing and directed networking. Other possibilities raised were mini-conferences of up to three hours, or convening a public conversation around a cross-cutting topic.

Additional suggestions to help the initiatives gain momentum included: provide “how-to” mini-seminars with initiative leaders (or others) sharing success stories; conduct concept-vetting sessions where one initiative is critiqued by other initiative leaders; share tools such as the survey approach being used by the Global Health Initiative; form a steering committee; reach out beyond the usual suspects: and give presentations to civic, professional and community groups.

Thanks everybody for a great, productive gathering!

Events, Home Page, JTM News, Projects, Seattle

Puget Sound Civic Communication Commons initiative OPEN DISCUSSION

Journalism That Matters is pleased to announce the Puget Sound Civic Communication Commons initiative is holding an open discussion for those interested in discovering how the commons will serve as an information hub and conversation place for news topics in the Puget Sound region. The discussion, which is part of a larger three-day initiative development meeting, is sponsored by “The Next Fifty and Seattle Center Foundation.”

The question the discussion will center around is: In what ways could an online civic commons contribute to the well-being of our communities?

This is the first monthly JTM initiative meeting in a series of public meetings scheduled through July 2011. For a complete listing of initiatives and an overview of each one please go to https://journalismthatmatters.org/content/jtm-pacific-northwest-update.


Puget Sound Civic Communication Commons initiative discussion:

TIME: Friday, Sept. 24, 3 pm – 6 pm

WHERE: 3rd Floor Conference Rooms Seattle Center House (there will be signs directing to the exact room)

370 Thomas Street, Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 441-0423
PARKING: Parking lots are located  at 1st Ave N & Thomas Street or 5th Ave North and Harrison Street
RSVP: The room at the Seattle Center House holds only 50 people. Please RSVP by email to Cate Montana (see information below). For any questions about the initiative, please contact Rick VanderKnyff at rickvan@microsoft.com.
See you there!

Location

Seattle Center House

370 Thomas Street

Seattle, WA 98109

See map: Google Maps

Audience (formerly), JTM News, Projects, Seattle

Civic Communications Commons

This group proposes the development of a Civic Communications Commons (CCC) in Seattle and King County as a common civic infrastructure that connects virtual and face-to-face civic, community, and neighborhood spaces.

It’s proposal says:

“The CCC would be a common civic space in Seattle, growing from the many existing resources in neighborhoods, communities, the non-profit sector, government, and business. The Seattle Commons will be built by many hands with widespread ownership and responsibility.

“By envisioning the CCC as a ‘common civic space’ we mean, quite literally, the space in which members of a community do their work as participants in the public life of that community. This work includes:

  • The many small, informal, but important networks of everyday civic life (helping neighbors, building and maintaining community gardens, etc.) ;
  • The building and maintaining of “third-places” both on- and offline, and weaving the two together;
  • The civic work of young people, gathering and posting neighborhood and community stories, and building the commons itself;
  • The collaborative work of media: city- and county-wide, mainstream, public, and alternative; neighborhood, and micro-local to present a broad picture of the community and gather and disseminate the information necessary for public work;
  • The vital work of libraries as conveners, connectors, and providers of information and civic space;
  • Supporting grassroots participation by engaging and assisting lively community and neighborhood news and information centers.
  • Organization for a broad range of projects in urban design, arts, and culture;
  • Community members addressing and petitioning, but also collaborating with, government Continue reading
JTM News, Projects, Seattle

JTM PNW Collaboratory

Two weeks after the JTMPNW gathering, about twenty participants met to discuss ways to sustain the effort. The individuals shared thoughts about activities they were personally most interested in pursuing.

JTM Collaboratory Notes

Subsequently, nine people agreed to form a group of stewards to continue the JTMPNW Collaboratory. The invitation to potential participants said:

“Think of this as a catalyzing hub for a loose-knit network of people interested in furthering what emerged at the January conference on behalf of journalism, innovation, and civic engagement in the Northwest. We also see it as an experiment for a national model.”

The nine people who signed up each made a one-year commitment involving monthly meetings and ongoing follow up work as we invent the Collaboratory. The group also envisions a quarterly collaboratory session to re-connect, share what is happening, and continue generating connections and ideas, as well an ongoing communications effort.

The convening stewards: Continue reading

Audience (formerly), Business Models, Curriculum, Events, Home Page, JTM News, Seattle, Technology

What questions do you have?

The first full day of JTM/PNW was possibility day — a series of conversations about questions. Here are some of the topics:

  • Can open government online help sustain the new news ecology?
  • How can we create sustainable freelance in an increasingly decentralized newsroom?
  • What is possibility, solution journalism and how can I do it?
  • Do we respect the audience and, if so, how do we show it?
  • What can academia do for the “new news”?
  • How can journalists support community and remain fact-based, truth tellers?
  • How can we pay for city hall beat reporters and Olympia gavel-to-gavel coverage?
  • How can technology better serve journalism?
  • Can you survive the new “free” economy?
  • After the crash, how can we re-connect local audiences with journalism that isn’t hyper-local?
  • How is journalism different with the tool is a Wiki?
  • How do we ensure that the new news ecology is infused with diverse voices?
  • What should journalism be in the 21st Century? What should community be?
  • What aspects of traditional media journalism need to be preserved and what should be jettisoned?
  • Can issue advertising be leveraged to support new forms of issue journalism?
  • How can I sustain my local blog and sustain it as a business?

Today we move into anwsers.