From Peggy Holman and Stephen Silha

With a good home, Journalism that Matters could be an ideal platform for demonstration projects in the new news ecology.  It could support:

• Greenhousing
  • Nourish the seeds of projects identified through Journalism that Matters gatherings, connecting project participants with each other so that ideas are shared and tested in multiple environments
  • Provide the support for participants to stay connected with each other, share ideas, questions, and continue to learn from each other

• Learning for the new ecology
  • Nourishing the inner life of the journalist (and why it matters)
  • Storytelling that engages (or hard news through an appreciative lens)
  • Convening community conversations (process training for journalists in coming to public judgment in a modern age)
  • Preparing the Next Generation (for journalists old and new, professional and citizen – traditional values meet high technology)
• Research
  • Engage journalism schools with the greenhouse to understand what is working and share what is uncovered
• Continued Conferences
  • Continue bringing together the system of journalism to renew, revitalize, re-inspire and create momentum for action

A first next step

With two successful demonstration gatherings, it is time to take the Journalism that Matters conference model to hundreds at a time.  Imagine 300-500 print, broadcast and new media journalists, together with educators, funders, students, and interested community coming together around topics that matter to them.

With co-sponsorship from organizations that span the media spectrum, it can reach many journalists at once.

From Chris:

… what is needed is a framework for helping journalists get ready for change in the industry and either commit to being part of the change or getting out of the industry. Newspapers are like factories; they are a big, complicated business. Introducing change is hard and really disruptive to people who are used to years of doing things the same old way.

What we are going to do is create an informal network of journalists who say: “I want to be part of the change, and carry forth the idea that journalism is central to democracy.” We would challenge each participant to find one more person in their newsroom who will commit to a path of embracing change rather than resisting it. Then those two people, or three, or four, will come up with a little experiment they can do themselves, with little effort on the part of management. A different way of doing things. Think about it as a movement, not as an organization – with cells all around the country. Then come together at a “Journalism that Matters Greenhouse” once a year to share knowledge about many little experiments.

Some tasks to prepare:

• Already in planning is a Journalism that Matters session at the Media Giraffe Project conference
• Test the idea with October, 2005 and April, 2006 Journalism that Matters attendees
• Given the green light, find sponsoring organizations from across the media spectrum through the October and April participants
• Write one or more articles on the “New News Ecology” for journalism publications to build momentum, ideally by a mix of print, broadcast and new media participants
• Present these ideas at journalism conferences (e.g., Media that Matters, APME, RTNDA, ASNE, OMA, NAB, NAA)
• Find a home for the project

Colleagues, when I got home I wanted to look up the actual definition of ecology to see if it really did fit with this effort. Based on the many concepts that came out of this week, it couldn’t be a better fit.

According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition (a bit outdated, but a nice leather-bound hardcover)…

Ecology:
1) the branch of biology that deals with the relations between living organisms and their environment b) the complex of relations between a specific organism and its environment.

2) Then it got interesting. The second definition still under the word “Ecology” actually started with “Sociology” in italics and read: the study of the relationship and adjustment of human groups to their geographical and social environments

Conclusion: What we’re going through now is a sociological change in the way news organizations and journalists relate to the public (and vise versa), and how those organizations relate to the business models they have constructed, and the marketplace they have based those relationships on.

And through this change, we will reshape our focus to no longer refer to newsrooms as rooms, but as an actual news ecology that constantly takes into account, reassess and addresses what happens inside (of us) instead of always focusing on what happens outside (in the public square).

This gives further support to ridding journalism of the notion reporters are detached flies on the wall, and gives support to us embracing our humanity AND possessing the skills to offer appropriate balance and fairness as opposed to
objectivity.

To achieve this would require a new approach to teaching journalism and a different kind of journalism teacher, as well as an evolved collection of “best practices” I could see creating heated debate within the academic sector.

Should be interesting…

—Martin

May 1, 2006

Journalism That Matters
The Next Newsroom – April 19-22, 2006
SESSION NOTES – SATURDAY, APRIL 22

Session: Creating a Handbook of Adaptive Change for use by traditional media organizations.

Convener: Jim Shaffer

Initial attendees: Peggy Holman, Scott Hall, Mike Skoler, Mathlo Kgosi, Chris Peck

Discussion:

Jim S: DUH! I’ve been thinking. I’ve worked in this industry for decades. I teach adaptive change. Peggy has written The Change Handbook. Maybe I should seek Peggy’s collaboration and develop something tailored to the media industry.

Chris: Read Keith Gilbert, of Harvard: Disruptive Innovation. Also, Christianson: The Innovator’s Dilemma. A key finding will be 9 times out of 10 the industry can’t change. But, no harm in focusing on what one person can do, such as finding allies, keeping the inner journalist healthy, …

Peggy: We would need to apply an integral approach … work all four quadrants. Greenhousing would be lower right.

Chris: Maybe small pods or seeds that could grow in multiple places.

Scott: The big bureaucracies want to crush innovation. An example would be the public school system versus charter schools.

Mike: Perhaps pursue this on 3-4 levels. Perhaps as a series of articles.
1. Inner journalist
2. Management & leadership
3. Experiments, such as greenhousing
4. Financial models, working examples

Matlho: For me, it would need to start with a new news culture at home. I’ve seen so many people lose their passion…

Chris: Yes. Need to nurture passion. Do it one person at a time. Start by recruiting ONE person. Bring him/her along and encourage that person to recruit one more. I’m not sure about the revenue/economic piece. Early focus on that becomes immediately overwhelming, intimidating. It focuses people on how to get more money from existing advertisers.

Mike: I hear you, but I feel a deep pit in the stomach of most journalists.
Peggy: This ties to Jane Ellen Stephens’ work at UC Berkley. MySpace may be an inspiration. People need to connect to face the New World, perhaps sharing a little fear and a little inspiration. That’s the frame.

Mike: We need to connect with Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, who are moving their project to the University of Missouri.

Jim: So how do we connect with the inner financial executive?

Peggy: Consider the four quadrants as four doors. Which door? What purpose?

Chris: Start with the purpose of preserving and strengthening journalism that matters.

Peggy: It really gelled for me – How to bring appreciative inquiry into hard journalism.

Scott: Here’s an example: Land use planning, zoning … BORING … need to frame in terms of why listeners should care.

Peggy: Another example: The shooting at the LA Jewish community center. The LA Times reporter really took an awful story and put an appreciative lens on it … made the coverage into a cause for community engagement … We need to anticipate the conversation we want the public to have, and then have this first inside the newsroom. Example: Martin’s story of the black & white reporters covering the same story and ending in conflict. Same dialogue that occurs on the street.

Chris: Perhaps we need to employ a Trojan Horse to get into the newsroom … the analogy might be one terrorist with one bomb causing tremendous disruption.

Jim: Returning to Matlho’s idea, she should be award of Fetzer’s objectives … love and forgiveness … might be some funding for her around work with the inner journalist.

Scott: What do we mean by “inner journalist?”

Mathlo: Why we went into this line of work. What passions? What enables you/us to survive? What is responsibility to industry, society?

Mike S: What would this look like?

Group: Perhaps a core training team that creates a test program.
Greenhousing, incubating
Reconnecting purpose with passion … engaging with audience
Marrying new technologies with traditional values
Creating structures for ongoing support

Jim: If structure includes a book, maybe: The Handbook for Media Transformation – An Integral Approach.

Mike: Include case studies! Bill Densmore has a data base.

“West Oakland to Atwater, and Back”

Youth Journalism Exchange Project

Concept Developer: Brian Beveridge, bbeveridge@paradigmthree.com

This is draft concept document inspired by discussions at the “Media That Matters” conference in St. Louis in April, 2006. Any and all ideas, suggestions, wisdom or support is more than welcome. – Brian Beveridge, Oakland CA.

CONCEPT
This project will enable young people in two seemingly very different American communities to share their perspectives on self, family community and the world. Their stories will provide insight to both communities, and the world at large, when simultaneously published in both local newspapers and distributed on the worldwide web.

Through this project, these two communities will gain greater understanding of the differences, and similarities, between small towns and urban neighborhoods in America. It will bring communities together while it fosters a new generation of writers, readers, and storytellers.

THE COMMUNITIES
West Oakland, Ca.
• Population about 22,000
• Ethnic mix by ratio is:
o African-American (34%)
o Latino (32%)
o White (20%)
o Asian (12%)
o Pacific Islander (about 1%)
o Native American (.25%)
• Area about four square miles
• Median income is about $30,000 compared to the regional median of $80,000.
• Only about 40% of residents can afford median rent
• One high school with a graduation rate of about 50%

Atwater, Mn.
• Population (year 2000): 1,079, Est.
• Land area: 1.0 square miles
• Median household income: $39,265 (year 2000)
Median house value: $66,900 (year 2000)
• Races in Atwater:
o White Non-Hispanic (97.8%),
o Hispanic (1.3%),
o Two or more races (0.8%),
o Other race (0.7%)
• Ancestries: German (46.3%), Norwegian (25.9%), Swedish (22.1%), Irish (7.9%), English (5.0%), Danish (4.1%).

How could kids in these two communities possibly have anything in common? We can find out if we help them tell their stories.

TOOLS and SUPPORT
The participating student will be provided with the knowledge and tools to report on their communities through written word, photojournalism, audio or video documentary.

Basic elements of the project may include:
• Some journalism curriculum in the participating schools
o Fact-finding and reporting
o Ethics
o Storytelling for newspaper and documentary
• Partnering students with professional journalists
• Assignments based on common themes
o My family – “What is a family?”
o A neighborhood leader – “Who do we respect?”
o My friends
o A portrait of my neighborhood
o Important issues in my community
o Me
“Fitting In and Acting Out”§
“How I fit, what I want,§ where I’m going”
“Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll”§
• All media acceptable
o Print
o Audio documentary
o Video documentary
• Stories published side-by-side in both local newspapers and on the web.
• Electronic journalism pieces might be broadcast on local public radio and TV, and web-cast.

POTENIAL PARTNERS
Oakland, CA.
• Oakland Tribune
• KTVU-TV, Fox affiliate – Oakland
• McClymond’s High School – West Oakland
• DUSTY – youth audio storytelling program – West Oakland
• KALW – Berkeley community radio
• KTOP – Oakland community television
• Peralta College Journalism program
• U.C. Berkeley School of Journalism

Atwater, MN.
• Atwater Sunfish Gazette
• Atwater High School
• Minn. Public Media
• Minneapolis Star Tribune
• Local Public Radio
• Local broadcast television stations

POSSIBLE MODELS: Similar Projects
“Bridges” – Memphis, TN. – Jim Boyd’s project
“Jordan to Vermont” video documentary exchange project – Media Giraffe

April 22, 2006

Notes by Stephen Silha

Richard Anderson of VillageSoup, Camden, Maine, announced his vision of making the VillageSoup platform of content management software and user interface available to new media entrepreneurs.

He envisions a VillageSoup Common not unlike the Associated Press or VISA. The idea is that the group would establish a brand for a new business he calls “community networks”, replacing the old business of “community newspapers”.

The VillageSoup Common would provide business consulting, branding and software managing services to Common members. The Common would assure growth of VillageSoup community networks throughout the world.

The Atwater Sunfish-Gazette and Oakland Tribune have already begun discussions with Richard about creating a VillageSoup Community Network in their markets. Richard suggested that KAXE would be an interesting starting point from which to grow a community network. He pointed out that with these three plus his Camden operation the Common would begin with entities that grew from non-profit newspaper, for-profit newspaper, for-profit online and non-profit radio operations.

He suggested that the VillageSoup Common could use the Media Giraffe platform as the communication vehicle for members since it already has a rich and dynamic data base of practices throughout the world as well as facilities for deliberations and discussions.

This conversation is slated to continue at the Media Giraffe Project¹s upcoming conference on Democracy and Independence.

by David Johnson on 25 April

Atwater Sunfish Gazette project proposal:

Since the Sunfish Gazette is seeking sustainability, we will continue to explore Richard Anderson’s Village Soup. Dave will take all the information he has to the Atwater Newspaper Corporation board of directors May 11. We have been in an Either/Or situation: print or electronic news. I will propose a Both/And approach. We can bring much more immediacy to our news electronically but probably do not want to eliminate print. Two other advantages I will point out are: 1) interface between electronic and print forms, 2) we would be able to use many more of the pictures we have available to us. Richard Anderson wants more information on the demographics of our school district and our county. The Atwater Sunfish Gazette currently covers primarily Atwater news with the school news being the only overlap into Cosmos and Grove. The consolidated school district is: Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (ACGC). Dave will provide Richard this information and hope to have more information from him on costs of using his platform
. Richard feels that the Blandin Foundation may be willing to help the Sunfish Gazette with funding for this venture. We would probably need to add at least two employees to the one we currently have to keep news and advertising current and work on technical aspects of production. This would make the Sunfish Gazette less dependent on volunteers. The big question: If we go with the Village Soup platform, will it help us generate enough revenue to be sustainable?

April 21, 2006

Journalism That Matters
West Oakland Group
Azalea Blalock

Diversity Healing Eco-programs

Purpose – Diversity Healing Eco-programs will be part of the whole eco-village concept. You must start with the people as individuals before you can heal the planet at large. Individual groups of youth, journalist, and citizens of community will be taken on local & world wide healing retreats to start the eco-village healing process. Then and only then can journalist tell world wide news by connecting with themselves first and tapping into what they are feeling and how they can heal and merge with community in healing.

1. These trips would consist of trips to Africa, India & world wide retreats where first the journalist will deal with healing themselves first. Ancient healing techniques of looking back at ancient civilizations and the way they can heal. They will be allowed to explore their creativity.
2. Trips will be taken with community and youths & their healing interaction regarding healing between the journalist and community merge. The two will merge on a retreat of healing and adventure.

3. Eco-village & Eco-newsroom Healing – After the retreats the exploration of how change can be made in the hometowns of eco-living within & without will be taken into action. The eco-newsroom will transform into a healing area where journalist can be allowed to be free and creative in their work. This will consist of:

1. Healing meditation room
2. Water therapy fountains
3. Plants
4. Healing colors
5. Air purifiers
6. No cubicles
7. on site Ancient healing massage
8. Healthy Live foods
9. Organic garden where the journalist and the community are involved with. This relieves stress as well as provides food and productivity.
10. a lot of natural lightning
11. Ergonomically correct desk etc.

An area will be redone in a sustainable healthy way that will encourage healing environment

The children & community will be involved in the eco-village healing process and will be encourage taking action in how they can make a change directly in their community. By working on healing themselves & connecting with other countries and community journalist who puts out the news to the community allows an eco- interchange among the world.

This is a healing component of the West Oakland Eco-village healin

Letter of Intent:

Healthy Thru Nature Institute
IAM Eco-village
Founder – Azalea Blalock
April 20, 2006

Eco-retreat

Good day:

My name is Azalea Blalock of Healthy Thru Nature Institute. I am writing you a letter of intent for funding for an eco-retreat. The idea of an eco-retreat is a sustainable eco-village of healing and learning. Merging the youth with the elders in a natural environment. There will be organic gardening, healing rooms featuring holistic modalities such as relaxation workshops, diversity healing workshops for businesses to connect with nature, themselves & community so that they can be more effective in the workplace, cultural eco-adventure for children, families & more. The eco-retreat will use solar energy, & everything will be made out of natural materials. It will be a place to teach about ancient culture & how to preserve ourselves as well as our world. People will come from all over the world to learn about healing nature, ourselves, & community. We would like to purchase land and build yurts and log cabins to carry this much needed dream out. We will have cancer prevention classes, massage, acupressure, acupuncture, growing of natural herbs, colon hydrotherapy, live food classes, how to start eco-villages in inner-city workshops healing retreats for individuals & more. We look forward to turning this much needed dream into a reality. We thank you for your time & ask for the opportunity of funding this much needed project.

Azalea Blalock
healthythrunature@yahoo.com

On Saturday morning, participants in “Journalism that Matters” convened and after some housekeeping, Peggy Holman asked that each of us “post” an idea for a morning session with the focus of each session being to develop a concrete next-steps action plan focused on a specific project.

PARTICIPANTS: Brian Beveridge, Azalea Blalock, Scott Hall, Cecily Burt, Bill Densmore, Christine Saed, Matlho Kjosi, Stephen Silha, Jim Shaffer, Martin Reynolds, Peggy Holman, Mike Skoler, Dave Johnson, Peggy Kuhr, Chris Peck, Linda Jue.

Peggy Holman: Think about what your highest and best work is here. Post a session for action.

Stephen Silha: Consider taking some of these projects that have been listed and converting them into letters of inquiry to various foundations. McArthur, McCormack Tribune, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Knight Foundation and Kellogg Foundation, which is interested in new economic models. Fetzer interested in the Inner Journalist.

Jim Shaffer – Will develop a handbook for adaptive change in the news industry.

Mike Skoler—There is an important place to be had to gather people together. It might be appropriate to talk about open sharing to discussion successes and failures which focus on main stream media – appropriate to merge with Jim Shaffer’s idea.

Matlho Kjosi – Wants to focus on the inner journalist. Fetzer might like to fund that.

Stephen Silha – Focus on the future of Journalism that Matters.

Bill Densmore – Start a news commons association, potentially using the Village Soup platform, with two or three prototypes.

Dave Johnson – Explore a relationship with Village Soup for Atwater paper.

Christine Saed – Wants to continue exploring the West Oakland website.

Azalea Blalock—Healing Eco-programs for journalists and citizens, eco-healing workships and eco-healing newsrooms.

Cecily Burt – Wants to explore funding of West Oakland website and also outreach to explore other models that might be used, including information kiosks, or gathering input.

Brian Beveridge – Interested in a youth-journalism exchange among kids in West Oakland. A first world-third world compare and contrast project.

Peggy Kuhr – Interested in how journalism students might be part of journalism that matters or of the inner-journalist conversation. She might see how some of her students would be part of these projects.

Martin Reynolds – Develop plan to fund ongoing periodic retreats that look inside so as to better cover the outside.

Chris Peck – There are two themes going. One is the specifics to develop an initiative for West Oakland using Village Soup and also Atwater. The other has to be creating a space where journalists can explore what they need to do to change. Whether it is a handbook or a group or the inner journalist. There are two pretty good clumps, should get the groups together in those two areas.

Mike Skoler – Draws three circles on the board: There is the mainstream newsroom, there is the “open newsroom” and there is the “community newsroom or journalism.” What are the connections between what can happen at the community level and the open newsroom?

A Proposal for Supporting Journalists as Agents of Change

Contributors: Scott Hall, Peggy Holman, Matlho Kgosi, Chris Peck, Jim Schaffer, Michael Skoler

Overview
This proposal focuses on inspiring and supporting working journalists and managers to seek change that will connect news organizations deeply with their communities and audiences. This change must start by connecting journalists with the passion and goals that brought them into the profession.

We are proposing to create a series of mid-career training/experience sessions that build on one other and an organization that will allow participants to stay connected and support each other between and after training sessions.

Phase 1
We will create two training programs, each lasting approximately one week. The two courses will invigorate journalists and managers to understand the need for change and envision how to change their organizations. They will also offer practical advice for leading change from wherever they sit in the organization.
• Reflective journalism: Connecting with our passion and purpose
o The course will use exercises, case studies and experience sharing to help journalists connect with their original passion and goals for entering the profession. After reconnecting with the “inner journalist,” participants will be asked to discuss and shape a vision for how to change their news organizations to support the passion and purpose common to those who enter journalism. This will be based on community connection.
o The content on leading change will focus primarily on how people who can become informal leaders of change and the need for change to come from the ranks of news organizations and not from the top down.
• Engaging the Audience
o The course will will use exercises, case studies and experience sharing to look at journalism within its purpose of engaging the audience. It will help participants tie the goals they embrace for journalism with the community connection needed to achieve those goals. In particular, it will shape a new perspective on the impact of various types of reporting. Its aim will be to provide “an appreciative lens for hard news” that empowers audiences rather than discourages them.
o The practical content in leading change will look at the issues and challenges more from the perspective of news leaders and managers than reporters, editors and producers.
The project will partner with one or two leading mid-career journalism programs (e.g., Nieman Fellowship, Knight Fellowship, Michigan Fellowship) and will test the courses with current fellows. The training creation team will debrief with the participants and refine the courses based on these discussions.

Phase 2
The project will partner with a journalism center, possibly the new Center for Innovation in Journalism at American Public Media in Minnesota, to provide the administrative home for the project, and to run ongoing training sessions throughout the year. These sessions will be available to individual journalists coming from many organizations or offered on-site to specific newsrooms that are interested in starting a change initiative.

In this phase, the project will create a set of ongoing means (i.e., newsletters, wikis, reunion/seminars) to connect all those who have participated in courses to share their experiences, both successes and failures, and to provide mutual support for working on change projects within their news organizations. This will establish, track and support a community of innovators in journalism.

The project will also create two more training sessions to expand understanding and creative approaches to change.
•    Marrying Historic values to New Technology
o    This course will focus on why values should determine use of new media technology and how that technology can enable media organizations to practice their values and meet their goals.
•    Experimental journalism
o    This course will focus on how organizations can use “greenhousing” techniques to foster internal experimentation.  It will encourage participants to experiment with fresh approaches to newsgathering and storytelling based on community involvement and will allow people to share and gain advice/tools for changing the culture within their organizations to allow experimentation.

We expect the project to both use and help identify case studies of change in journalism in conjunction with a handbook for change in journalism being created by Peggy Holman of The Open Circle Company and Jim Schaffer of the University of Southern Maine.

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