Here\u2019s an invitation.<\/strong> Come breathe some Memphis air in January 2007 and join a group of editors who together will focus on what has to change in our newsrooms for American journalism to thrive in the 21st century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll call this Journalism That Matters – The Memphis Sessions.<\/strong> It\u2019s an idea that Mike Fancher, editor-at-large for The Seattle Times and I dreamed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of JTM \u2013 The Memphis Sessions as a kind of support group \/ think tank for change-minded editors. <\/strong>The idea is to gather together a couple dozen forward-thinking editors from around the country and spend a couple of days learning from each other what we need to do to build 21st-century newsrooms. No hand-wringing. No whining. Just real-time plans for what we must do as editors to work faster, smarter, and without killing ourselves or our passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Homework for The Memphis Sessions.<\/strong> We\u2019ll use two documents as a baseline for our discussions. Each offers some thought-provoking ideas about how 21st century newsrooms might be organized and managed. You can download them from: http:\/\/www.mediagiraffe.org\/jtm . . . They are: The timing for Journalism That Matters \u2013 The Memphis Sessions, is no accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our group of editors will be meeting the day before, and on the opening day, of the National Conference on Media Reform. More than 1,700 media reformers from around the country will be here in Memphis to talk about the future of media. It\u2019s an impressive, big-name program. Some of the notables attending the National Conference on Media Reform include Bill Moyers, Ben Bagdikian, David Brock, Phil Donahue, Helen Thomas, Jane Fonda and Dan Gillmor. Check out the full program at www.freepress.net\/conference<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our events aren\u2019t connected, except that we will have plenty of cross-pollination with some of the media reformers. We\u2019ll invite some reformers and New Media leaders to our sessions. And, all editors who come to JTM -The Memphis Sessions can register for any\/all programs for the National Conference on Media Reform. So this will be a rare opportunity for reformers and established journalists to meet. So, won\u2019t you come? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Journalism That Matters\/Memphis Sessions have a clear focus. Real editors will plot real steps they can take in their newsrooms, their communities and in their own thinking to keep journalism vital and alive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll gather on the afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 11 and continue through Friday afternoon Jan. 1. And, if you want to stay over, the media reform conference runs through the weekend and ends Sunday, Jan. 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My wife, Kate, has agreed to host a dinner for the editors at our home in Memphis. The dinner will give us a chance to mingle with our peers, let our hair down, and make the most of our creative time together. And, all of our sessions will be held just a few blocks from Beale Street so that we can mix in some fun after our work is over. This isn\u2019t a sponsored event under the auspices of ASNE, no APME, or any newspaper group. We\u2019re gathering as an ad hoc group of editors committed to keeping journalism vital. If it works, we\u2019ll try to meet again, in other cities, at other appropriate times. Peggy Holman and Stephen Silha, two Seattle-based facilitators, will join us to help us creatively work on issues and ideas important to the newsroom. Utilizing `Open Space\u2019 technology and other processes for group discussions, they will provide some truly amazing tools to prompt creative thinking\u2014among ourselves and in our communities. If this sounds interesting, there are three things you need to do:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris Peck, Editor Remember when Elvis changed American music from Memphis? Here\u2019s an invitation. Come breathe some Memphis air in January 2007 and join a group of editors who together will focus on what has to change in our newsrooms for American journalism to thrive in the 21st century. We\u2019ll call this Journalism That Matters – The Memphis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":168,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-154","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/memphis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/memphis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/memphis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/memphis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/memphis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/memphis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/memphis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/154\/revisions\/156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/memphis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/memphis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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If you respond quickly, and you want to be in the same hotel with fellow editors or aren\u2019t staying over for the FreePress summit, email me and you can have one of a block of rooms I\u2019ve set aside at the Holiday Inn Select for $109\/night for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Jan. 11-14. Let me know if you want one of these, since this rate is not part of the FreePress blocks.<\/li>
The Commercial Appeal
495 Union Ave.
Memphis, TN 38103
peck@commercialappeal.com
901-529-2390<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"