Events, Home Page, JTM News, Member News, Seattle

mind stretched open – eyes wide

Submitted by jamesian on Fri, 01/08/2010 – 3:56pm

I was the host of a session that I did not want to host.

(cue music from Twilight Zone) because someone came up to me and asked, “Will you host a session>”

First surprise.

His name is Lion, and he has a scientist’s education but a philosopher’s questions. Why do people fracture into pro and anti-science?

Because of his leadership, we had about seven people who could not stop talking. My role as facilitator was easy.. they talked and talked and talked.

Thanks to the JTM group for bringing this new process in and helping us accept that the right people are there at the right time.

I learned something new.

Second surprise.

Events, Home Page, JTM News, Member News, Seattle

Look Who’s Coming to Journalism That Matters/Pacific Northwest

Submitted by Mike Fancher on Thu, 01/07/2010 – 8:41am

More than 200 people are registered to attend Journalism That Matters/Pacific Northwest, which opens today at the University of Washington.

For fun, I arbitrarily categorized how the participants described themselves in biographies they posted on the JTM site. Nobody fits neatly in any one category, so I picked the description that seemed most central to the person’s work.

Here is a breakdown:

  1. Civic activists / Community representatives 42
  2. Educators 23
  3. Online journalists 21
  4. Students 14
  5. Newspaper 12
  6. Radio 11
  7. Television 10
  8. Technologists 9
  9. Organization representatives 8
  10. Filmmakers 7
  11. Targeted publications 7
  12. Entrepreneurs 6
  13. Freelancers 6
  14. Public and Media Relations 6
  15. Business representatives 5
  16. Photographers/visual 5
  17. Media Reformers 4

I’m delighted that the largest category is made up of people who don’t produce journalism themselves but who care about it enough to attend this gathering. After all, the convening questions for JTM/PNW include:

How can the press and the public help each other? What’s possible now? How do we activate new forms of civic and public engagement?

*******

Comment

arbitrary categorization

jamesian's picture
Submitted by jamesian on Thu, 01/07/2010 – 9:17am.

Dear Mr. Editor:

The filter you applied to this group is interesting… it is that sort of filtering that you, as a newspaper journalist, did every day. But how would someone else have labeled this crowd?

The key sentence is “I picked the description that seemed most central.”

I’m not complaining, just pointing out that style of thinking. What’s wrong with people not fitting neatly into categories? What other ways are there to filter the data?

Sally James
James Writing
http://www.nasw.org/users/sjames

Events, Home Page, JTM News, Member News, Seattle

The Right Conversation

Submitted by Mike Fancher on Mon, 01/04/2010 – 7:14amin

Journalism That Matters/Pacific Northwest is the right conversation, in the right place, at the right time, with the right people.

I say that because of work I’ve done in the past year with the Aspen Institute and the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. The Commission identified three key objectives:

  1. Maximize the availability of relevant credible information to all Americans and their communities.
  2. Strengthen the capacity of individuals to engage with information.
  3. Promote individual engagement with information and the public life of the community.

It identified these central points that resonate with JTM/PNW:

  • The information health of a community is as important as good schools, safe streets, environmental quality and economic vitality. Healthy information flows help enable all of those other desirable qualities.
  • The financial challenge facing the news media in America could become a crisis for democracy. The loss of traditional media at the local level hampers citizens’ ability to have the information they need for their personal lives and for civic engagement. It lessens their ability to hold government accountable.
  • America needs “informed communities,” in which “journalism is abundant in many forms and accessible through many convenient platforms.”
  • This will require experimentation and will include for-profit, non-profit and public models. Universities, other community institutions and the public should participate in these experiments.

I would add a point that was emphasized this summer at an Aspen Institute forum on models for preserving American journalism: Thinking of news and information as an ecosystem creates a dynamic sense of what the public needs and how those needs might be met. This is precisely the framework of Journalism That Matters/Pacific Northwest.

JTM/PNW is the right pace and time because the Pacific Northwest has seen a heart-stopping loss of traditional journalistic resources in recent years, but it also has seen an exciting rise in new journalistic enterprises and inventive collaborations among traditional and emerging news media. This region is fertile ground for even more innovation and collaboration, as well as more public engagement.

JTM/PNW will convene citizens, editors, writers, broadcasters, bloggers, digital entrepreneurs, media activists, community journalists, public advocates and public-policy experts. These are the right people to make things happen.

We will gather to understand and map the emerging Northwest news ecology, with the hope of surfacing new partnerships and innovations to make it better. Instead of focusing on what has been lost, we can explore what is needed and how to create and sustain it. We can find insights about emerging relationships among journalism, communities and democracy. This is the right conversation.

I want to personally thank Microsoft, the Knight Foundation and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Their support has made possible what I believe will be a groundbreaking gathering, as well as a model for other regions of the country.

Events, Home Page, JTM News, Seattle

Come examine the petri dish of journalism experimentation — Jan. 7-10

Submitted by Bill Densmore on Fri, 11/13/2009 – 5:24am

JTM EXAMINES PACIFIC NORTHWEST AS PETRI DISH FOR FUTURE OF
JOURNALISM AND COMMUNITY — JAN. 7-10, 2010 — JOIN US!

WHEN: Jan. 7-10, 2010
WHERE: Univ. of Washington, Seattle

For general information follow this link: https://journalismthatmatters.org/jtmpnw
Register now at: https://www.123signup.com/register?id=jcvkv
See who else is coming at: https://journalismthatmatters.org/jtmpnw/who-participated/

Twitter hashtag:  #jtmpnw — http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23jtmpnw

  • Program
  • Transportation and parking
  • Hotel Information

    • Across the United States, the media ecosystem is quickly evolving. Some main-stream news organizations are shrinking, as advertising decouples from journalism. Remarkable new technologies and the work of committed citizens are making it easier for us to build unique communities that share civic passion and purpose.

    In the Pacific Northwest, this evolution is proceeding rapidly. What’s starting to work? How are the information needs of communities being met? What ongoing role should legacy media be playing? How can the public and journalists collaborate?

    To find out, the Journalism That Matters collaborative is convening our first event focused on a region. And we’d like to invite you to look in on this experimental petri dish — and learn how you can replicate the experiments in your home region’s laboratories.

    So please book your travel for some or all of Jan. 7-10. Join some 150 editors, writers, broacasters, bloggers, producers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, educators, students, digital entrepreneurs, media activists, community journalists, public advocates and public-policy experts for, “Reimagining News and Community in the Pacific Northwest.”

    “Reimaging News,” is sponsored by Microsoft Corp. and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, with additional help from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism and the University of Washington.
    WHY NOW?

    The impetus for JTM-Pacific Northwest is this call to action:

    Journalism is at a crossroads.  What will support its basic values,
    while adapting its practice to new economic, social and technological
    realities?  The northwest is alive with media innovations that can
    help us understand what is happening in the nation’s traditional and
    emerging news organizations to ensure the vitality of “journalism that
    matters” that serves the public.

    ANSWERING THE CALL

    In partnership with the UW Department of Communication and its Masters
    of Communication in Digital Media program, we shall convene some of
    the best minds in the region to:

    *  Understand the promise – and pitfalls – of the emerging news
    ecology – the information exchange among the public, government, and
    institutions that informs, inspires, engages, and activates

    *  Foster lasting connections among regional journalists and the
    communities they serve

    *  Surface new partnerships and innovations for a healthy northwest
    and national ecosystem

    WHAT WE’LL ACHIEVE

    *  Greater clarity and commitment to the many projects and ideas
    participants bring with them

    *  New and unexpected partnerships between participants

    *  Journalism innovations seeded throughout the northwest

    *  Deeper understanding of emerging relationships among journalism,
    communities, and democracy

    *  Beginnings of a community of practice among people in the northwest
    who care about journalism and civic engagement

    CONFERENCE PROGRAM

    The opening day includes a “News and Information Commons”, with tables
    hosted by people from the wide range of Northwest media
    organizations.  Following dinner, we’ll have 3 “conversation
    catalysts” talk briefly:

    For the people: Norman Rice, former Seattle mayor and current president and CEO of the Seattle Foundation

    For the press: Tracy Record, co-publisher and editor, www.WestSeattleBlog.com

    And a “shape-shifter”, putting a twist on what’s possible: Chris
    Jordan, artist, currently showing at the Pacific Science Center – http://www.pacsci.org/runningthenumbers

    We’ll follow the talks with a “World Café” conversation among
    participants.

    The rest of the confab uses JTM’s signature process mode – Open Space
    Technology. They key goal of this process — blur the lines between participants and presenters. We acknowledge that every participant brings know that will can make them a presenter.

    Whether you plan to attend or not, follow the work of Journalism that Matters at our website, http://www.journalismthatmatters.org or via our Twitter feed — @jtmstream . . . . .

    — Bill Densmore, Peggy Holman, Stephen Silha, Mike Fancher, Chris Peck and the entire JTM community

    ————————————-
    Bill Densmore, director/editor
    The Media Giraffe Project
    Univ. of Massachusetts
    OFF: 413-577-4370 / CELL: 413-458-8001
    densmore@journ.umass.edu
    ************************************************************
    http://www.circlabs.com . . . Hyperpersonalized news and information for consumers
    ************************************************************

    Business Models, Home Page, JTM News, Member News

    Demystifying Advertising in Hyperlocal News Communities

    Submitted by Michelle Ferrier on Thu, 10/01/2009 – 11:21am

    Two hyperlocal efforts described their advertising strategies in a recent conversation sponsored by the Journalism That Matters collaborative. Tracy Record of WestSeattleBlog.com and Barry Parr of Coastsider.com discussed the advantages of ad servers, pricing, and some do’s and don’ts of ad sales in the hyperlocal space.

    Do
    •    Publish awhile before selling ads. WestSeattleBlog.com ran for two years before it took ads. Coastsider.com didn’t start selling ads for four years. Having another revenue stream (like a job) helps during the startup phase.

    •    Develop a page design/platform that accommodates ads…even if you don’t have any yet. That means building in multiple positions – leaderboards, banners, buttons, text ads. The challenge is a design that has enough ad positions…more