Nenc-edit

ABOUT THE NEW ENGLAND NEWS COUNCIL & FORUM

MISSION

The purpose of TheNew England News Council & Forum is to promote the practice of vigorous, trusted and accountable journalism. The Forum seeks to improve the media by increasing the public's involvement and access while increasing public trust and deepening public understanding of the news media.

WHAT WE WILL DO

We will facilitate analysis of the region’s media through discussion and resource sharing by means of the web, articles, forums, seminars, workshops, papers, hearings and public talks to promote public understanding of press issues, openness in government and in public institutions. On the web, we will offer journalists and active citizens a place to engage in discussion, to share and resolve disagreements over issues of privacy, coverage, accuracy and emphasis. Our topical, web-based, moderated forum will be open to regional public-policy issues that touch on matters of journalistic practice. A public presentation and the unveiling of an “alpha” website is planned for Nov. 17 in Boston, at the annual meeting of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. We plan a series of regional meetings in early 2007.

Our activities advocate and advise on:

• Public analysis of the region's media
  
• How to understand and contribute to the news
  
• Access to public information
  
• Principles of open government
  
• Methods for assisting news organizations to perform openly.

We are a resource to both news consumers and creators . . . to the public and to news organizations . . . as we all navigate the uncertainties, questions and opportunities posed by the Internet and multimedia technology.

We do not intend to insert the work of a council between news organizations and their users. Rather, we offer an independent resource which can help define, research, advise – and hopefully strengthen and expand – that relationship.

WHY NOW?

Buffeted by changing advertising economics, new expectations from audiences who now have cheap technology for do-it-yourself news, and caught amid lagging regional growth, New England news media are reexamining the role they can afford in civil society. They face uncertainties, questions and opportunities posed by the Internet and multimedia technology. As a a result, they need fresh insight and new tools for remaining connected with and trusted by readers, listeners, viewers and users.

The Internet now provides a means for active, timely exchange over matters of civic importance affected by news coverage. Internet blogs can do a remarkable job of subject-specific commentary, analysis and reporting. There are several web-based media critics in Boston and around New England.

But until now, there has been no common resource which aims to help the public become better citizens though better use -- and support -- of the news media. We hope to fill that void. We are going to start a conversation about the New England media and public policy, primarily through a literate, articulate, moderated web community.

“This project is an experiment to see if there is local support for the idea that a good way to perform media criticism is not through kangaroo courts of commentators but through fair, accurate, contextual pursuit of truth,” says Eric Newton, director of journalism initiatives at Knight Foundation. “A news council or any inquiry that seeks out the real facts behind media complaints is better than a blogger working from opinion alone . . . . ”

WHO ARE WE?

The New England News Council & Forum is a service of the University of Massachusetts Amherst journalism program, with seed funding from the John S. and James A. Knight Foundation.

We intend to forge region-wide collaborative relationships with:

• Other academic institutions committed to teaching journalism
• Media, news and professional associations
• Businesses, foundations and organizations concerned with journalism's role fostering democracy

Founding members, friends, benefactors, sponsors and key founders form the support for the news council and forum, along with the Knight Foundation grant. An 18- to 24-member advisory board constituted during 2007 is envisoned to include one at-large citizen member from each state, four daily newspaper members, three non daily, three broadcast, two web-media, one from key involved academic institutions and up to four at-large members.

Our principal investigator is Prof. Norman Sims of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst journalism program and our executive director is Bill Densmore, director of The Media Giraffe Project at UMass-Amherst. Amanda Lennox serves as project assistant.

WHO SHOULD SUPPORT THE NEWS COUNCIL & FORUM?

There are at least seven types of people who should support the New England News Council & Forum. If you “fit” one of the categories below, you’re part of the New England News Council’s founding user base. Audience members include:

• Active citizens, the new equivalent of passionate letter-to-the-editor writers, who use and care about the news – and about the vitality, diversity and responsiveness of regional state and local institutions and government.
• Working newspeople in print, broadcast, cable, Internet and mission-driven media.
• Former journalists working in marketing, PR, or unrelated fields who maintain concern for the role of the press in civil society.
• Teachers, especially in grades 7-12, who seek help with curricula and ideas that connect news with the daily experience of youth.
• Professionals and individual contributors: Academics, nurses, doctors, lawyers, technologists, entrepreneurs, investors and others.
• Leaders of policy non-profits and government agencies whose success depends upon effective collaboration with the media.
• Professors and graduates of journalism programs such as those at UMass, Emerson, Northeastern, Boston University, UNH, URI, St. Michael's College, UMaine and UConn.

WHAT ELSE WILL THE NEWS COUNCIL & FORUM DO?

Broadly, the council and forum will:

• Generally address issues broader than “complaints.” Seeking initially to resolve controversies by using Jeffersonian devices—debate and open discussion among citizens and journalists alike —not the glare of negative publicity.
• Bring professional and ordinary-citizen voices together in the public square. Someone might reasonably question media performance or actions. In response, news professionals as well as citizens from the entire six-state region can share experiences.
• Consider questions about elites in the news and the news business, the role and performance of ombudspersons and critics in new and traditional media, the sustainability of media enterprises in a new digital age and the effect of new technologies on news presentation and ethics.

WHAT SPECIFIC PROJECTS MIGHT WE UNDERTAKE?

Some specific projects we may undertake:

• Host a moderated forum for civil and productive discussion of issues related to New England media, with regular convenors by region and topic.
• Develop a consumer guide to using the news -- in collaboration with regional newspaper, broadcast, and journalism associations. Written (print and online as a readers’ guide to the news and news organizations.
• Study the state of open records, open meetings, and open information in New England, with the collaboration of existing and other new organizations such as the New England First Amendment Collaborative.
• Research and report on the state of New England K-12 efforts to teach and test critical skills for consuming media in ways which promote civic engagement and participation.

CONTACTING THE NEW ENGLAND NEWS COUNCIL & FORUM

Contact us at:

New England News Council & Forum
Journalism Program
108 Bartlett Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst MA 01003
voice: 413-577-4370
email: mail (at) newenglandnews.org

---