Jtm-sv-program-topics

JTM/Silicon Valley: Innovation, democracy and a new ecology of news

How will technology innovation support journalism and participatory democracy?

QUICKLINKS:
WHO'S PARTICIPATING? ***** EVENT BLOG ****PROGRAM **** BREAKOUT TOPICS **** APPLICATION **** GOALS **** INITIAL PLANNING **** DC SESSIONS **** LODGING ****ABOUT US **** NEWSTOOLS NING COLLABORATION **** NEWS LINKS **** THE WISH LISTS**** TEN DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES?

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Creating the program -- posting breakout-session ideas

Our purpose at JTM-Silicon Valley is to create an opportunity for journalists and technologists to explore ideas, form partnerships, develop projects, outline systems and businesses for sustaining elements of journalism critical to participatory democracy.

There will be plenty of time to do so from Wednesday afternoon through Friday, and the option to continue on Saturday morning. Here are some of the sessions we expect may be included. Add your ideas to this wiki with your name and contact information and we'll contact you in the next few weeks to help you flesh out and propose your session. As April 30 draws near, each proposed session will have its own wiki page for group collaboration.

-- Bill Densmore, 413-458-8001

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New tools for conversation and engagement

• News has become a conversation, and new tools are emerging to enable it. Bring to this breakout your ideas for innovative ways to use proven tools and unheard of ways to deploy new technology. Is shaping the conversation about the technology or the moderation? Can the crowd moderate itself?

Mapping the newsroom

• We'll create two conceptual maps which chart the manufacturing of news has it has been done historically, and how it might be done in the future. This will encourage specific discussion about points where technology and business models need change, and make sure non-journalists understand the current system. Breakout leaders: Chris Peck, editor, The [Memphis] Commercial Appeal.

What's the core worth saving?

• Some legacy processes in the newsroom are artifacts of old technology. Others protect and enhance core ethical values or standards. Which are worth saving and which can be jettisoned to make way for more collaborative, inclusive approaches? We'll make some lists and match those worth saving to possible enabling technologies that are better, faster, cheaper than today.

What's the matter with journalists?

• Technologists and media reformers discuss why mainstream media "doesn't get it." The idea is to put "it" on the table and ask MSM journalists to explain why they don't get it. The point is to find common ground: Is it possible that some of the ideas resisted by "MSM" -- such as greater reliance on fix-it-on-the-fly fact gathering -- are historically flawed? Or not?

At least five technologies disrupting the news

• We'll describe at least five technologies disrupting -- and reinventing the news. Examples include search, social networks, mobile computing, crowdsourcing, audience fragmentaion database mashups and identity management. How should the news -- and journalism -- adapt? Design circles may breakout to work on the ideas. Breakout convenor: TBD.

The Next Newsroom -- project updates

• Hear (and contribute) to an update and next steps for three projects to create "next newsrooms." The Journalism That Matters Next Newsroom project, the Next Newsroom/college initiative at Duke University and the redesign of the San Jose Mercury News newsroom. How is your own project coming along? Host/convenor: Chris Peck of JTM/The Commercial Appeal.

The recommendation ecosystem -- can it work for news?

• Mary Lou Fulton at the Bakersfield Californian has written that "the first time people learn about something is often through word of mouth or recommendations made by others, rather than traditional news organizations. This would include social networks like Facebook, reviews and recommendations of business/products, blogs, Digg and Reddit, most popular/most-mailed story lists, etc. How can traditional journalism organizations take better advantage of this trend and use it to make its reporting more relevant and interesting?"

Does ownership matter?

• An update on experiments in alternative forms of media ownership, and how they may change the origins, flow, and impact of news. Examples might include Center for Public Integrity, ProPublica, ePluribus Media, the California Media Project, Village Soup Commons, the New Haven Independent, the employee-owned Tribune Co., and a variety of open-source projects. Breakout convenor: Bill Densmore, Media Giraffe Project.

Charting new business models

• Since December, a group convened by Josh Wilson, and including Rose Aguilar, Carl Hall, Barry Parr and Michael Stoll, have been meeting in the Bay Area to consider alternative business models for publishing news. In New York, Jeff Jarvis at the CUNY School of Journalism is using a MacArthur Foundation grant to encourage students to come up with revenue-driven web news/information services -- with surprising results. What have these groups learned so far? Who else is testing business models?

What will sustain journalism that matters?

• An update on the state of small-scale citizen journalism efforts. What technologies do they use? Are they getting traction with advertisers? Are volunteership and avocation sustainable? How does that change the journalism which results? What new business models are possible? Breakout convenor: Len Witt, Kennesaw State University.

A progressive national news network: What will it take?

• Invitation to an update on efforts, both collaborative and individual, to develope a progressive national news service and a discussion of enabling or required technologies. Various entities are in different stages with the same idea in mind: who wants to 'bubble' together; should a new outlet be created or an existing one brought to scale; how best to focus efforts collectively, if desired? Breakout convenor: Lark Corbeil, Public News Service.

How do new (and can) social-media tools enable ethnic and underrepresented voices?

• MySpace, Facebook, BlackPlanet.com and other emerging social media create meeting spaces for ad-hoc affinity groups. Are they having the effect of aggregating mainstream thought and groups, marginalizing ethnic media's efforts in this area, or creating new, more powerful voices for underrepresented voices? Are the tools "voice agnostic"? Convenor: TBD (posted by Bill Densmore)

Other topic ideas on the minds of convenors

• Architecting an OS for Democracy (e.g., FCC reg’s as the blueprint for information diffusion)
• Biologizing the Media System (analyzing MSM and the alternate media as biological systems)
• IT Technology in Support of Diversity in News Sourcing
• The Challenges of Disintermediated Journalism
• Network neutrality -- Information delayed Is information denied
• The New Technology of Journalism
• The Wiki Revolution: Information Wants to be Accurate
• The Challenge of Prioritizing News (while avoiding censorship)
• Decentralizing News Management
• Innovation in a Dominated Media Environment
• The Technology and Best Practices of Citizen Journalism
• Empowering the Citizen Journalist
• Designing the Next News Room
• The Evolving Media Infrastructure (i.e., a state of the MSM and the new media)
• The Power of Blogging: Overview and Forecasts/Predictions
• The Cathedral and the Sports Pages (see: “The Cathedral and the Bazaar”)
• Journalism Education in the Digital Age

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BACK TO THE PROGRAM PAGE

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CLICK HERE AND ADD YOUR CONVENING IDEAS BELOW

• Urban Kiosks (Maurreen Skowran) -- Kiosks at places such as mass transit stops could help bridge the digital divide. These could provide highly local news, information and advertising, and possibly also more opportunity for people to interact with each other and institutions. They could be supported by one or any combination of advertising, user fees and charitable contributions.