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?