JTM facilitates fresh, inclusive thinking and unexpected ideas in an atmosphere of professional intimacy and respect. We use interactive communication practices (including Open Space Technology, World Café, Appreciative Inquiry, Bohm Dialogue and others) which challenge individuals and groups to take responsibility for what matters to them. An overall convening starts with several hundred people, then quickly self-organizes into a series of smaller interest groups which report out ideas and action steps to the whole.
News organizations, groups and foundations have supported the convenings because of their dynamic, “open” circle format and cross-disciplinary participation, which has led to breakthrough thinking and ongoing collaboration. Journalism That Matters participants report that their approach to work and the future of news is transformed, and they form relationships of lasting professional significance.
Journalism That Matters has provided an arena for mainstream and independent journalists to interact creatively with the public, bloggers, and new media pioneers in order to imagine and create new forms and platforms of community storytelling.