Reboot-program

AGENDA/PROGRAM

Thursday, October 23, 2008 – Setting the Context

NOTE: Participants who arrive earlier Wednesday are invited to use a free voucher in their registration materials to tour the National Constitution Center.


Noon – 4:30 p.m. — Event registration

“Outside Kirby Auditorium, main floor, National Constitution Center, 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia”

2:00 – 3:30 p.m. — Pre-session briefings

2:00 – 2:30 p.m. — “Engaging with YAYA — Media, school, parental involvement”

“Margaret Duffy, Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow and associate dean at the Univ. of Missouri School of Journalism, will reveal results of recent national research on political engagement among young people aged 12-17 and their parents. The study examined influences of media, school, and parents. She will also discuss other research that identifies changing media preferences among the young,especially with regard to political and civic interest and activities.

2:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. — “Finding, defining and sharing quality news — Newstrust.net”

“In a civics curriculum, students once learned how government works and their potential role as citizens. Today, finding information about civic affairs is relatively easy, but how do you assess it? What are the elements of quality news? Fabrice Florin, founder and executive director, (and recently named an Ashoka Fellow) explains how NewsTrust is tackling these issues.”

3:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. — Discussion

THURSDAY SESSION OPENING

4 – 5:30 p.m. — Welcome and setting the context, Kirby Auditorium, Nat’l Constitution Center (NCC) (MAP)

Welcome from Dean Concetta Stewart, Temple University School of Communications and Theater

Co-convenors of “Rebooting the News: Setting an Agenda for 21st Century Civic Engagement,” introduce the convening purpose and potential outcomes of the two-day convening.

Welcome — Bill Densmore, director, the Media Giraffe Project at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and fellow, Reynolds Journalism Institute,Univ. of Missouri-Columbia.

Purpose: To help set the direction for how news literacy contributes to a civic education.

Desired Outcomes:

  • A working definition of news literacy
  • Some insights into its practice for educators and journalists

SETTING AGENDAS — The Four Frames

First Frame — Education — Renee Hobbs, founder, Media Education Lab at Temple University

Second Frame — Journalism — Diane Mitsu-Close, American Society of Newspaper Editors

Third Frame — Participation — Ellen Hume, research director, Center for Future Civic Media, MIT, former director, Shorenstein Center and White House reporter, The Wall Street Journal.

Fourth Frame — Democracy — Stephen Frank, Vice President for Education, National Constitution Center

Opening remarks will be followed by a moderated conversation among participants about news literacy.

5:45 – 6:15 p.m. — Politics and Participation: What Lies Ahead? — Delegates Restaurant at the NCC

Steve Yelvington, (in the Delegates’ Restaurant) — “Can democracy thrive in a new era of online participation? What is the role for the news and for civic education in America’s schools? Citing de Tocqueville, our speaker — an award-winning online journalist and principal strategist at Morris Digital Works — will make the case that the media must participate in politics if they want to succeed at fostering participatory democracy.” (MORE ABOUT YELVINGTON AND HIS TOPIC)

6:45 – 9 p.m. — Dinner & informal discussion

Friday, October 24, 2008 – Considering Strategies

LOCATION: Temple University Center City Campus, 1515 Market Street (Adjacent to City Hall– enter by red Temple awning near train station entrance)

7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m. — Breakfast available at the conference hotel (free to hotel guests)

8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. — Registration and continental breakfast for local delegates (at Temple)

8:30 – 11:00 a.m. — Explorations of News Literacy – Howard Schneider & delegates

“Howard Schneider, former editor of “Newsday,” the Long Island daily newspaper, and now dean of the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University, Long Island, updates us on Stony Brook’s groundbreaking news-literacy curriculum, the agendas of the Knight and Ford foundations in supporting the curriculum, and plans for a March kick-off conference of a national news-literacy initiative.”

“Mr. Schneider’s remarks will be followed by a moderated conversation among participants.”

11:00 a.m. — Setting the agenda for the afternoon

Using Open Space process, we learn “who’s in the room,” what we bring, what we want to achieve — and then post and self-organize a series of small-group breakouts. Breakouts are “called” by individual delegates to meet during either of two periods, and can move among breakouts as they are underway. The intention of each breakout is to share goals and establish actions and future collaboration. (Session will be web-streamed live and archived).


“Among possible topics:”

  • Does student participation in video journalism build critical-thinking skills?
  • Teaching and creating news in the elementary school — theory and practice
  • What does it mean to teach “critical” news-analysis skills?
  • Helping students understand photojournalism in a digital age: What’s real and what’s reel?
  • The educational implications of the stories we tell about media history
  • Integrating news and current events into social studies classrooms — What are the opportunities and challenges?
  • Using Web 2.0 tools for teaching media literacy and civic engagement
  • Building an audience for news: Youth-targeted journalism
  • The role of journalists, media-reform and media-advocacy groups in news-literacy programs

Noon – 1:00 p.m. — Buffet lunch and conversations

Discussions continue via a buffet lunch and informal seating.

1:00 – 2:15 p.m. — First Breakout Sessions

Breakout session topics announced during the late morning begin, facilitated by self-designated convenors. “Vote with your feet,” to participate in the topics you think will most likely lead to conceptual breakthroughs and ideas for action.

2:15 – 3:30 p.m. — Second Breakout Sessions

A second flight of breakouts begins.

3:30 – 4:00 p.m. — Reflections on the Day: What are we learning about news literacy?

*Delegates/participants re-convene in the round to report breakout session outcomes and consider what’s been learned and what next steps are possible.

4:00 p.m. — Optional adjournment

Delegates/participations are encouraged to remain for concurrent Project Presentations (below), but may also choose to (a) arrange ongoing collaboration and on-your-own dinner, returning at 7 p.m. for the Friday Night at the Video show-and-tell sessions or (b) Use your voucher for a free quick look at the National Constitution Center museum (closes at 5 p.m.). The museum will also be open until 6 p.m. on Saturday.

4:15 p.m. — Concurrent Project Presentations

“Informed by morning breakouts, plus Thursday’s and Friday’s talks, delegates gather in the round to begin to specify elements of a new civic-education agenda for America. With these elements in mind, we resolve into two flights of “hearings” on specific projects (some of which may spill over into the evening block). These include:”

TENTATIVE/INVITED:

  • The Prime Movers project, with Acel Moore and Dorothy Gilliam
  • PressPass.TV — Boston — Gabriel Mugar (invited)
  • Home Inc. — Boston — Alan Michel (invited)
  • Youth Media Project/Student Town Meeting — Albany, N.Y., WAMC

5:30 p.m. — Recess & dinner on your own

Consult the list of restaurants in the conference packet for dining suggestions. Delegates are encouraged to plan ongoing focused discussed around self-organized dinner plans which might lead to action steps on Saturday.

7:00 – 9:30 p.m. — Friday Night at the Movies — “Show & Tell” – multimedia & video festival

  • We’ll provide several break-out rooms with sound-enabled LCD projectors for participants to show examples of curriculum, instruction, issues or entertainment.
  • The Pulitzer Center will present short video documentaries on critical global issues, and their newly launched interactive educational portal. See Movie Night listing here for details

Saturday, October 25 – Next Steps: Focusing our efforts

“Temple University Center City Campus, 1515 Market Street. REGISTRATION FOR SATURDAY-ONLY PARTICIPANTS IS AVAILABLE FROM 8:15 A.M. UNTIL 10:30 A.M.”

8:15 a.m.-9:00 a.m. — Networking with the help bagels, juice and tea/coffee

9:00 – 10:15 a.m. — Ideas into action (Council circle & introduction to initiatives)

Delegates will discuss:

  • What is emerging as a working definition for news literacy?
  • What else is up for the group as a whole?

Based on the interests in the room, time is available to pursue current or newly identified initiatives and actions of interest.

10:30 a.m. — Action session breakouts

Time to convert ideas to action and crystallize breakthrough thinking. Be prepared to join a breakout and test your plan. This is the time to form collaborations.

12 noon — Brief review of initiatives

We begin to sum up, by listing the initiatives proposed.

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. — Box Lunch and briefing

As we consider initiatives and next steps under the banner of “news literacy,” its worth considering the past and present of journalism in American secondary education. Have schools been providing experiences in journalism that help or hinder the cause? A talk, with examples, and discussion lead by Mark Goodman,professor and Knight chair in scholastic journalism at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, and former director of the Student Press Law Center.

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. — Next steps

“A facilitated discussion assessing reactions to the goals/initiatives/projections outlined during the afternoon breakouts. What are the next steps?”

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. — Closing reflections

“Final ideas, reflections and action-commitments from delegates”

3:30 p.m. — Adjourn

Delegates/participants are encouraged to use their National Constitution Center admission voucher to tour the museum and it’s interactive exhibits. The museum is open until 6 p.m.