Because the Berkshires is the location of Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and numerous other cultural institutions (Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Shakespeare & Co., the Clark Art Institute, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art), there are an array of quality hotels within a 15-30-minute drive of Stockbridge. The primary symposium lodging venue will be Stockbridge's historic Red Lion Inn.
Because the Berkshires is the location of Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and numerous other cultural institutions (Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Shakespeare & Co., the Clark Art Institute, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art), there are an array of quality hotels within a 15-30-minute drive of Stockbridge. The primary symposium lodging venue will be Stockbridge's historic Red Lion Inn.
[[Image:Nrm-orange-logo.jpg]]
[[Image:Jtm-logo.jpg|140px|thumb|right|[http://www.journalismthatmatters.org Journalism That Matters]]]
[[Image:Newshare.jpg|150px|thumb|left|Eighteenth-century English and Colonial America coffee houses served as headquarters for shipping news and havens for gatherings of patriots. They were crucibles for democracy, a shared space for uninhibited debate and discussion of issues and events. Could 21st-century coffee shops -- well connected and served by a circuit-riding journalists -- help bring journalism back to community? [http://www.mediagiraffe.org/wiki/index.php/Newscafes READ MORE]]]
[[Image:Mgp-logo-square-SMALL.jpg|140px|thumb|right|[http://www.mediagiraffe.org/about Media Giraffe Project]]]
=Rebooting Rockwell's America: News, Art and Community=
<big>A PUBLIC SYMPOSIUM / September 11-13, 2009 / Stockbridge, Massachusetts</big>
==''News, values, cafes and the new pamphleteers -- <br>Sustaining democracy through civic engagement''==
<big>'''New roles for journalism -- and the net -- in fostering participatory democracy and community'''</big>
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The America of Norman Rockwell's mid-20th-century illustrations was rich with simple truths and sometimes hard choices. In that world, we respected authority, and the flag. We were asked to embrace justice, equality and tolerance. The country editor personified the Four Freedoms at the grassroots.
On Sept. 11, 2001, it was as if the last vestiges of Rockwell's stoic, insular, yet generous nation had been torn asunder, and a new, darker period of fear engaged. A buy-now-pay later ethic has brought some of our most valued journalism institutions to the brink. Now even the Missouri [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~momonroe/countryeditor.htm country editor] works with bits and bytes alongside type and ink. Yet innovation abounds on the Internet, and we find new ways to connect and circulate. If Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter have taught us anything, it's that we may hunger for the constancy of community more than ever.
===Options -- and tools ===
Can we reboot Rockwell's America in a digital age? Do we want to? Join us Sept. 11-13 to consider the <b>options</b> -- and <b>tools.</b>
"Rebooting Rockwell's America," will pause for three days to consider the roots of American community, freedom, democracy -- and the journalism which protects each. We'll consider how a generation of virtual pamphleteers -- in cafes, schools, clubs and meeting rooms -- may be helping point us to common ground in physical places. And now there is the promise that these places will be digitally united across a world that grows smaller, faster, more diverse and more precious by the year.
== WHERE WE'LL GATHER -- OUR SPONSORS -- THE SCHEDULE ==
"Rebooting Rockwell's America," is a initiative of the [http://www.nrm.org Norman Rockwell Museum,] and most of the sessions and breakouts will be hosted at the 00,000-square-foot museum in Stockbridge, Mass., the heart of the Berkshires, one of America's premiere cultural destinations. Four co-convenors are at the forefront of studying America's new news and community ecologies. They are the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism, the [http://www.mediagiraffe.org/about Media Giraffe Project] at the University of Massachusetts and the [http://www.journalismthatmatters.org Journalism that Matters] collaborative and the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University.
We'll convene Friday, Sept. 11, at 3 p.m., run through dinner and an evening program. Saturday will be filled with discussions, breakouts and work sessions. After an evening of entertainment on Saturday night, we'll collect convene on Sunday morning to collect thoughts and confirm actions, adjourning by noon.
Rebooting Rockwell's America: News, Art and Community
A PUBLIC SYMPOSIUM / September 11-13, 2009 / Stockbridge, Massachusetts
TRAVEL AND ACCOMODATIONS
There are extensive options for travel to the Berkshires. The Albany (N.Y.) International Airport is less than an hour's drive from Stockbridge, Mass., and is served by all major airlines, as is Bradley International Airport, just north of Hartford, Conn., and about 70 minutes from Stockbridge. The Stewart Newburg (N.Y.) International Airport is about 90 minutes from Stockbridge.
The Hudson Line of the Metro North commuter railroad terminates at Wassaic, N.Y., about an hour's drive south of Stockbridge and Pittsfield, Mass., 10 miles north of Stockbridge, has daily Amtrak service from Albany, N.Y., and Boston.
Because the Berkshires is the location of Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and numerous other cultural institutions (Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Shakespeare & Co., the Clark Art Institute, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art), there are an array of quality hotels within a 15-30-minute drive of Stockbridge. The primary symposium lodging venue will be Stockbridge's historic Red Lion Inn.
