Topics for discussion — suggested by participants
“JTM-Memphis participants are asked to (a) pose questions and concerns and (b) state results expected as a result of their participation. Here are some of the answers so far:”
What burning questions and expertise (about the future of journalism) do you bring to this conversation?
# Credibility. As the news industry moves to the web and to electronic presentation devices, how do we ensure that the information we are presenting is not being manipulated and how do we create transparency with the public that the information trained journalists are providing is not mixed up with the opinon-based blogsphere. There are serious ethical considerations at stake with this transistion that I fear we are not discussing with the public.
# First Amendment issues. Clearly, the Bush administration and many state governments are using subpoena power to force jouranalists into very compromising situations. Again, how do we hold the line on the role and social responsiblity of journalism to uncover the truth and challenge authority when we are constantly being dragged into court or fighting to get documents that are the public’s right to know.
# Race, Class and Ethnicity. What role is this playing in who we are serving with our products. How do we ensure that the new journalism we are creating is not just for the elite or the white authority structure. What are we doing to ensure that the journalism of the future is inclusive?
#I am seeking innovative ideas on developing journalism that can be applied to media development in the developing world. I bring expertise in developing journalism projects to enhance the media sector in the Middle East and North Africa.
#I want to know how independent media can use participatory media. As for expertise; At the CFIA we help independent producers use participatory media, and I’m also doing some research in the political economy of participatory media
#Eighteen years in Print and Public Broadcasting journalism… now part of Michael Skoler’s Public Insight Journalism effort. My leading question: How do we infuse the idea of change in a culture that has long been resistent to it?
#General experience in the issues at hand
#The core of the my work at the Independent Press Associaton has been developing a viable and credible alternative media economic system that will sustain journalism that matters.
#Access to knowledge, communications law, intellectual property
#I research and analyze digital media technologies that impact the newspaper industry. I’m interested in learning more about how (or if) newsrooms are adopting technologies and encouraging innovation.
#How does defamation law affect online journalism
#Where will quality journalism find its home and who will provide it? I bring a combined 26 years of professional journalism and teaching journalism, at times doing both at the same time; national journalism association leadership.
#In the new media era, how are the challenges facing journalism today any larger or different from those faced 10, 20 or 50 years ago? What role do schools of journalism have in the “citizen journalist” movement?
#Can participatory media change social conditions
#Who will shape New Media?
#What can I or others do to help journalism survive and adapt to the new media markets and technologies?
#How to reinvent or at least reoganize journalism. I blog at PJNet.org; wrote paper on Reinventing Journalism at peer-reviewed First Monday.
#My primary interest is in finding ways to rebuild connections in our communities
#How will newspapers survive in the Internet age? My book, Project Rewire: New Media from the Inside Out, asks some key questions.
#How regional issues are/are not covered by media; impact & opportunity of new media
#How are the challenges facing journalism today any larger or different from those faced 10, 20 or 50 years ago? What role do schools of journalism have in the citizen journalist” movement?”
#Can participatory media change social conditions
#Who will shape New Media?””
#What can I or others do to help journalism survive and adapt to the new media markets and technologies?
#How to use knowledge of human communication needs and preferences for media features to build effective and self-sustaining news products
What specific results are you expecting in terms of your ability to do your job better and to adapt to or create change?
# I am looking for specific ideas for our programs, especially for topics to put in front of the fellows who will be here to think and brainstorm about the future of journalism and their roles as leaders in the profession. I am looking for ideas that will empower journalists and their business counterparts to become change agents in the profession, rather than followers of the Wall Street and political forces that I believe are out to diminish our role and the spread of information that is so important to a democratic society.
#Networking, Forging potential partnerships with media organizations, expanding my understanding of issues that face journalists domestically
#I’m hoping to learn concrete ways COA News can utilitize better journalism practices. I’m also hoping that some more people come to believe that journalism reform is best done through independent media not corporate media.
#To learn from those engaged in reform how to manage that within an existing news organization.
#Networking for growth and impact
#Hoping to learn about newspapers’ plans to use the Internet to capture new revenue, to entice new readers.
#I hope to gain new perspectives on how the news media can both fulfill its Fourth Estate Mandate and still be economically viable.
#Networking with like-minded activists.
#I am interested in seeing how much people who work in mainstream media are willing to think outside of the box.
#Meeting media scholars and activists
#I could use this knowledge in researching and writing best practices and case studies for the newspaper industry.
#A better network, deeper understandings of current work in the field
#General networking
#I have no expectations, other than listening, learning and trying to use what I learn to improve our school and all its students.
#My results have far surpassed my original expectations, and prove that hard, targeted work (assisted by the kindness of others) can translate into results online just as it does offline. I wish to get better at bringing people together to work on my issue, but have difficulty juggling my growing responsibilities and contacts with the need to have time for my personal life; so, I wish to find ways to do a better job at the juggling!
#Looking for ideas on how to adapt my interests to evolving media
#Improved and expanded services we can offer to increase knowledge of and interaction on issues of regional scale
#I hope to get a greater understanding of what the industry will expect from journalism graduates in the near future.
#Partners in the endeavor to develop vid/web/radio investigative journalism that matters
#Finding ways to continue empowering citizen journalists while accomodating corporate media’s efforts to reform
#Maybe some insights about adaptive leadership, which is what I teach.
#Hope this contributes to my work at the Reynolds Journalism Institute and my book on digital journalism
#I want to learn how to be a catalyst for change or work collectively to do so.
#Insight into the current state of editorial thinking
how to find the funding to ensure public interest journalism makes it onto the web
want to investigate the possibilities of embedding activist, participatory media within a university bcast, jschool or critical studies program