{"id":20,"date":"2011-01-20T16:14:57","date_gmt":"2011-01-21T00:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/"},"modified":"2011-01-20T16:14:57","modified_gmt":"2011-01-21T00:14:57","slug":"meeting-report","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/meeting-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Journalism That Matters:<\/span><\/h2>\n

The New News Ecology<\/span><\/h2>\n

April 19-22, 2006<\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Facilitated by: <\/strong>Peggy Holman and Stephen Silha<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Executive Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

On April 19-22, 2006, twenty-two people passionate about journalism \u2013 professionals from print, broadcast, new media, both mainstream and independent, citizens, educators, a funder and a student \u2013 convened in St. Louis to consider \u201cWhat is the next newsroom and how do we create it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Filled with rich, multi-textured, and creative conversations, personal shifts <\/strong>from despair to hope occurred for many participants. Sufficient clarity emerged to describe not the \u201cnext newsroom\u201d, but rather, a new \u201cnews ecology\u201d.\u00a0 This articulation holds the promise of providing inspiration and direction for an industry in crisis.\u00a0 Also significant, given that a key intention of this meeting was to produce fundable proposals, a remarkable 11 of the 16 final-day participants identified projects<\/strong> they intend to pursue, including efforts in West Oakland, CA and Atwater, MN along with several ideas intended to accelerate the growth of this new eco-system of journalism, such as a handbook for media transformation and a program for creating change in newsrooms.\u00a0 While we are under no illusion that all of these projects will come to fruition, given the roles and commitment of the participants, we expect many will find traction and funding.<\/p>\n

By metaphorically removing the newsroom walls and taking the journalist out of the cube, the qualities of the new news ecology that surfaced include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CURRENT NEWSROOM<\/strong><\/td>\nNEW NEWS ECOLOGY<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Journalism as\u2026<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
lecture<\/td>\nconversation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
low tolerance for experimentation (like peanut butter in the fridge; it doesn\u2019t move)<\/td>\ncommunity of innovation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
central authority<\/td>\ncommunity connector<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
knowledge-centric<\/td>\nrelationship-centric<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
one-to-many<\/td>\nmany-to-many<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
profit-driven<\/td>\nmission-driven<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Journalist as\u2026<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
outsider<\/td>\ncommunity member<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
lone wolf<\/td>\ncollaborative partner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
gatekeeper<\/td>\nsense-maker<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
focused on the external world<\/td>\nfocused on their inner life and the external world<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
expert, arbiter of truth<\/td>\ncoordinator, facilitator, convener, evaluator, refiner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
professional, dispassionate<\/td>\nprofessional and citizen, passion in the mix<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
content creator<\/td>\ncontent creator and guide<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Content that\u2026<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
arouses<\/td>\ninspires engagement<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
publisher owns and creates<\/td>\npublic owns and creates<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
answers who, what when, where, why and how<\/td>\ncontextualizes purpose \u2013 why the audience should care \u2013 and answers who, what when, where, why and how<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
pours around the ads<\/td>\nserves a greater good<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
follows the inverted pyramid<\/td>\nedited for readability, not style<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Stories sourced\u2026<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
from within the news organization<\/td>\nfrom many people and places<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
are deadline driven<\/td>\nare continually unfolding<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
Dissemination of stories\u2026<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
media specific<\/td>\nmulti-purpose (e.g., print, broadcast, web, podcast, cell phone, etc.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Economics\u2026<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ad supported<\/td>\nmultiple sources of support<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
high cost of production and distribution<\/td>\nlow-cost distribution<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
most of the cost is not journalism<\/td>\ncosts mostly journalism related<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Detailed reports written by the participants provide more depth (see the appendix).<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Background<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

An April, 2005 journalism probe at the Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo, MI prepared the soil for this meeting by framing the future of journalism around the power of storytelling<\/strong> to create healthy communities.\u00a0 Specifically:<\/p>\n

Cultivating \u201chealthy journalists\u201d<\/strong>, renewing the inner life of the journalist;<\/p>\n

Preparing the next generation<\/strong>, with an eye towards the emerging citizen journalist; and<\/p>\n

Inventing a new economic model.<\/strong> As one participant put it, \u201cRather than further compromise the work, it\u2019s time to separate journalism from its current funding sources and find a new model.\u201d<\/p>\n

The seeds planted in April took root in October, 2005, articulating themes that began to define the \u201cnext newsroom\u201d:<\/p>\n