MEDIA GIRAFFE PROJECT
INAUGURAL CONFERENCE AND ROUNDTABLE SUMMIT

 

TO REGISTER:  http://www.mediagiraffe.org/register/

HIGHTLIGHTS:                http://www.mediagiraffe.org/highlights/

    LAST MINUTE PROGRAM CHANGES:                http://www.mediagiraffe.org/wiki/index.php/Program_changes

 

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.Democracy and Independence:
Sharing News and Politics in a Connected World.

June 28.July 1, 2006 / University of Massachusetts Amherst

 

Preliminary program as of June 18, 2006 / subject to change

 

Individuals working in politics, government, at-large media, cutting-edge information technology organizations, citizen-powered local-news web services, or in teaching and academia share a goal of fostering participatory democracy and community. "Democracy and Independence: Sharing of News in a Connected World" will bring them together to share what's working now, what's coming soon and how to collaborate.

 

This first gathering of The Media Giraffe Project will observe changes in the structure of the U.S. media industry, the impact of the Internet on its financing, control and ownership, the new relationships among creators and consumers of news, and how democracy is affected.

 

The conference is designed for:

 

The event will be a chance to meet and learn from profiled Media Giraffe pioneers.  The featured "Media Giraffe Institute/Citizen Media Bootcamp: Lessons from the Frontlines" track will present case studies of emerging local web-based news and community efforts in a "how-to" format designed to teach citizens and mainstream journalists field-tested approaches for two-way, participatory journalism.

 

The conference begins with a TRACK ONE:  .Future of Journalism Roundtable Summit. convening Wednesday evening, June 28, with discussion sessions all day Thursday, June 29.  Conference TRACKS 2.5 cover citizen media, politics and the Internet, educating smart media consumers, and the effect of technology and multimedia on journalism.  Registration for the Thursday summit includes the right to attend Friday and Saturday conference sessions, too.

 

An optional extension of TRACK ONE on Friday includes the .Journalism That Matters. seminar for producing actionable ideas for experiments in web-centered, multimedia community journalism.

 

The speakers, conveners, and session topics are tentative and are subject to change without notice. Check this page (http://www.mediagiraffe.org/wiki/index.php/Program_changes) for updates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK ONE . Roundtable Summit

 

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

 

4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Check-in for participants in .Future of Journalism Roundtable Summit.

(Campus Center Hotel, 10th or 11th floor)

 

5:00 p.m. .6:00 p.m.

Campus Center Reading Room

Reading and book signing by Helen Thomas, Hearst Newspapers White House columnist,  author of the forthcoming, .Watchdogs of Democracy? The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public

 

5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Informal reception for Summit participants, Campus Center 10th Floor 

 

6:30 p.m.9:45 p.m.

 

7:45 p.m.

10th Floor Amherst Room

 

8:00p.m.

Amherst Room / 10th Floor CC

 

8:30 p.m. .9:45 p.m.

Amherst Room

Dinner, speakers,  and discussion / Campus Center 10th floor, Amherst Room. 

 

INTRODUCTIONS -- Janet Rifkin, dean, UMass College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; Karen List, journalism director, UMass;  Norman Sims, journalism professor; Bill Densmore MGP director.

 

 

TALK . Helen Thomas, Hearst newspapers columnist  --

 

 

 

DISCUSSION: .How will journalism stay relevant? To whom? In what forms?.

CONVENERS:  Vin Crosbie, Corante Media Hub, Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine and CUNY.  DISCUSSANTS: Marty Baron, editor, The Boston Globe; Teresa Hanafin, editor, Boston.com; Larry McDermott, publisher The Republican, Springfield, Mass; Ellen Hume, UMass-Boston; Peter Bhatia, Portland Oregonian;  Helen Thomas, White House columnist, Hearst Newspapers, Jay Rosen, New York University/PressThink.com Search engines show blog reports get more hits on a given topic than a New York Times story. Is the traditional practice of journalism becoming a niche? Or moving toward irrelevance? Or is journalism simply in need of redefinition and retooling? Once a profession, or a craft, is journalism now a toolset all citizens need to know? How do they learn? A town meeting discussion.

 

 

Thursday, June 29, 2006 . One-day Future of Journalism Roundtable Summit

 

 

7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m.

 Continental breakfast for .Future of Journalism Roundtable Summit. participants.

7:30 a.m.-8:30 a.m.

Check-in for participants in  TRACK ONE: .Future of Journalism Roundtable Summit.

(location: Campus Center Concourse Lower Level at escalators.)

8:00 a.m.-8:15 a.m.

Two-minute introductions -- Rob Williams/Colin Rhinesmith (education), Norman Sims / Bill Densmore (journalism/citizen journalism), Aldon Hynes/ Ellen Hume (politics), and Steve Garfield/Tish Grier (multimedia technology)

 

8:15 a.m.-9 :15 a.m.

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OPENING TALK: .Innovate, Die Or Be Sold: A Prescription for the News Company of the Future,. by Stephen Gray, executive director, Newspaper Next initiative of the American Press Institute.

 

9:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m.

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Session ONE:  .Finding a New Definition Of Journalism. 

CONVENERS:  Tom Rosenstiel, Project on Excellence in Journalism; Jeff Jarvis,  BuzzMachine.com; DISCUSSANTS: Jon Donley, editor, NOLA.com; Helen Thomas, Hearst Newspapers; Amy Eisman, American University; Josh Wilson, NewsDesk.org;  Chris Peck,  Memphis Commercial Appeal; Chris Daly, Boston University., Robin .Roblimo. Miller, SlashDot.com.

How do you define journalism when every blogger can have a worldwide audience? Are today.s journalists like yesterday.s pamphleteers? A discussion among  a journalism-industry think-tank expert, a veteran daily editor, two  media educators, a White House columnist,   two  web-journalism veterans . and summit participants. 

 

10:45 a.m.-11:00  a.m.

Media Café break  --  VIDEO: .Public Insight Journalism. . CC Reading Room

 

10:45 a.m.-11:15 a.m.

CC101

SPECIAL: How Katrina changed the news ecology

A DISCUSSION: with Jon Donley, editor, NOLA. Com and Cooper Monroe, BeenThereClearingHouse.com.  The editor of New Orlean.s premier news website and the Pittsburgh-based partner in a volunteer Katrina relief blog share perspectives on how the Internet has changed coverage of major news events.

 

11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

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Session TWO: .Quality: How Do You Measure It?.

CONVENER: Fabrice Florin, Newstrust.net. DISCUSSANTS:  John McManus, Grade the News; Jeffrey Fox, ConsumerPower.org;  Peter Phillips, Project Censored; Philip Meyer, Univ. of North Carolina.

If finding news on the web is getting easier, the proliferation of news sites is presenting a new challenge . how to judge quality.  NewsTrust is a new effort to address the problem.  Executive director Fabrice Florin will describe and demonstrate the project, then respond to constructive criticism from four experts at judging news quality.

 

12:15 p.m.-12:30 p.m.

Room/phone/Media Café break

 

12:30 p.m.-1:45 p.m.

CC Amherst Room

10th Floor

Lunch, Campus Center 10th floor (or ballroom)

Lunch Forum: .When the Press Becomes a Pipe, Who Controls?.

Co-speakers: Mark Cooper, Consumer Federation of America;  Casey Lide, Baller Herbst Law Group;  Steve Anderson, COA News; Cable and phone giants want to create tiers of service for delivering content on the Internet, upsetting the concept of .network neutrality.. Legal, technical and First Amendment experts will invite summit collaborators to help define the lines between commercial rights and free-speech obligations, and how municipal ownership of .pipes. could help.

 

1:45 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

Media Café break

2 p.m.-3:45 p.m.

CC101

Session THREE:  .Can Free Media Sustain Democracy?.

CONVENERS:  Peter Krasilovsky, Krasilovsky Consulting; Charles Lewis, Center for Public Integrity; David Beers, The Tyee;  John Byrne, RawStory.com; Staci Kramer, PaidContent.org;  Barry Parr, Coastsider.com. While print-newspaper circulation slowly declines, online newspapers are experiencing a Renaissance, reaching new peaks in readership nearly every month. How long will it take before that readership translates to revenue large enough to sustain great, watchdog journalism?  Will web advertising alone support today.s newsrooms? Is that an  issuefor democracy? And what sort of platform for public debate will emerge? What other funding options are possible? Experts who have considered the issue for a decade forecast the future and listen to summit participants. predictions, needs and initiatives. 

 

 

3:45 p.m.-4 p.m.

Media Café break

 

4 p.m.-5:15 p.m.

CC Reading Room

Session FOUR:  .Immigrant and Ethnic Markets: Once Below the Radar; Now a Coveted Revenue Source.   Who Should Own the Market?.

CONVENERS: Ellen Hume, UMass Boston; Jerry Villacres, Ethnic  Media Project of Boston; Sandy Close, New California Media .

Small newspapers, radio and TV for immigrants were overlooked by mainstream media. Now these niche audiences are coveted by MSM.  How is the web changing the news experience for immigrants and ethnic populations?  What impact does the .digital divide. have?

 

5:15 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

CC101

Media .  .Can old media be part of the new news ecology? 

SPEAKER: Michael Skoler,  Center for Innovation in Journalism; DISCUSSANTS: Barry Parr, CoastSider.com; Jiah Kim, FreeSpeechTV;  Michael Tippett, NowPublic.com (tentative);  David Platt, Island Institute, Maine, Kevin Howley, DePauw University;  Scott Brodeur, MassLive (main-stream .new media. perspective); Paul Thomas, ePluribusMedia.  A  briefing on the new Center for Innovation in Journalism, with feedback and reaction from a mix of discussants.

5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Herter Hall Videoconferencing Center

 

 

SPECIAL EVENT . (tentative) .The Philadelphia Experiments.

For the first time in decades, major U.S. metropolitan newspapers are be sold by a chain to local owners .  At the same time, a working group of citizens in the city where American independence sprang are considering  what the next news organization will look like.   An effort to set up a live videoconference between Amherst and Philadelphia is planned.

 

6:30 p.m.-7:15 p.m.

Reception for all conference attendees (including Friday sessions)

 

7:15 p.m. . 8:00 p.m.

Dinner

8:15 p.m. . Discussion starts  (buffet desserts, coffee and tea).

9;45 p.m. . Discussion ends.

Amherst Room;

CC 10th Floor

Dinner-and-discussion: .Can Ownership Make a Difference?.

CONVENERS: Vin Crosbie, Corante  Media Hub., Jay Rosen, New York University. DISCUSSSANTS: Rick Edmonds, The Poynter Institute; Richard Anderson, VillageSoup.com; Paul Bass, New Haven Independent; Dave Johnson, Atwater [Wis.] Sunfish Gazette (tentative);  Adam Green, MoveOn.org (invited); Dave Carlson, Univ. of Florida/SPJ.

What do reformers really mean by the term .corporate  media.? Do forms of ownership make a difference? A dessert-and-discussion town meeting session with corporate governance, family ownership and non-profit experts unpacking assumptions about this  issue.

 

 

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Special Event . TRACK SIX . THURSDAY AFTERNOON ONLY

 

12:30 p.m. . 5:30 p.m.

 

Special registration:

$40 for afternoon;

no food;

Filmmaking track only

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CITIZEN MEDIA FILMMAKING WORKSHOP & FESTIVAL

CONVENERS: Aldon Hynes, Ned Lamont Senate Campaign; Steve Garfield, RocketBoom.com.

As digital video cameras become more popular, as people start taking videos from their cellphones, and as new sites emerge online to distribute these videos, citizen filmmaking is taking off. Many people will be simply sharing home movies. Others, however, will want to create documentaries, political advertisements, and citizen journalism. The Workshop & Festival will celebrate noteworthy citizen filmmaking and provide workshops for those wishing to learn how to become more involved.

 

Thursday, June 29, 2006

TRACKS TWO, THREE, FOUR, and FIVE . General Conference

 

 

4 p.m. . 9 p.m. 

Conference check-in, Campus Center Concourse level

 

6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

Reception for all conference attendees

 

7:30 p.m. . 9:30 p.m.

Buy-your-owner dinner, cafeteria style, in the Blue Wall, with

Friday.s agenda update  from track leaders Christopher Grotke/Lise LePage; Aldon Hynes, Norman Sims, Rob Williams ,  Steve Garfield and others.

 

Friday, June 30, 2006

 

TRACK TWO:                      Citizen Media Bootcamp: Lessons from the front

TRACK THREE:                 Politics and the Internet: What.s next?

TRACK FOUR:                   Educating Smart Media Consumers/Creators

TRACK FIVE:                      Technology/Multimedia: Where.s journalism? 


Each track will present four workshops or panels. In the fifth time slot, the track leader will manage an optional  .Media Café. collaboration for coffee/tea and discussion.  These collaborations will occur in the Media Café on the Campus Center Concourse Level.

 

 

Friday, June 30, 2006

Special Event . TRACK ONE OPTIONAL DAY 2

 

9:30 a.m.-5:45 p.m.

CC Room 101

.Journalism That Matters: Looking Beyond the Newsroom Walls. . CONVENERS: Stephen Silha, news consultant; Chris Peck, daily editor, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.

A special seminar for working journalists and other stakeholders. Roll up your sleeves and create experiments in journalism and community storytelling, explore new economic models, journalism as a conversation, teaching and learning, as well as changing leadership in the newsroom and the community.



Friday, June 30, 2006
Tracks TWO . FIVE

 

7:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.

Conference check-in, Campus Center Concourse level

 

7:00 a.m.-8 a.m.

Continental breakfast for summit participants
 (Campus Center lower concourse)

 

8 a.m.- 9:15 a.m.

GENERAL SESSION

CC Reading Room

Report from Thursday.s summit: 

 .Setting the scene: What.s the future of the web and news?.

CONVENERS:  Dale Peskin, The Media Center at API; Lee Rainie, the Pew Project on Internet & Society; Tom Rosenstiel, Project on Excellence in Journalism.

A news-industry  futurist, , an Internet demographics researcher and a key observer and facilitator of online multimedia news trends forecast the next year and the next decades for the Fourth Estate. How should media executives, citizen journalists, political strategists / public officials, educators and technologist prepare and collaborate?

9:15 a.m.-9:30 a.m.

Media Café break

 

9:30 a.m.-10:15 a.m.

TRACK TWO

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Media . .Experiment in Collaboration: Can MSM and citizens work together?.

PRESENTER: Lew Friedland,  Univ. of Wisconsin and Madison Commons.  A quick summary of the issues  involved in a unique  effort by the Madison, Wis., daily newspapers to join and assist a local citizen-media news collaborative, the Madison Commons.

 

10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

TRACK TWO

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CITIZEN MEDIA BOOTCAMP . Morning session

9:30 a.m.-11:30  a.m. . Bootcamp Orientation: .Why Citizen Journalism?.

 Can citizens be journalists? A discussion and debate. What is the role of advocacy jouranalism? How does citizen journalism relate to professional media? What are the effects of citzen journalism on the civic arena? Can a lost dog be news . . . and much more.  MODERATOR: Tish Grier, editor, Corante Media Hub.  DISCUSSANTS: Eesha Williams, author .Grassroots Journalism,. , Ilona Meagher, ePluribus media;  Lisa Williams H2OtownLise LePage, iBrattleboro.

 

9:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m.

TRACK THREE

CC Reading Room

Politics . .The Internet as an Organizing Tool.

MODERATOR: Ralph Whitehead, Univ. of Mass.; DISCUSSANTS:  Josh Silver, FreePress.NET; Chellie Pingree, CommonCause; Aldon Hynes, Ned Lamont Senate campaign; Richard Viguerie, ConservativeHQ.com

In 2004, the Internet took the main stage as a political organizing tool for U.S. political strategists. Learn what.s going on behind the scenes to make the 2008 presidential race an order of magnitude closer to .digital democracy. . and what role citizens will play.

 

9:30 a.m..-10:45 a.m.

Media Café

TRACK FOUR

Education . Media Café Collaboration . Informal convening with Rob Williams and Colin Rhinesmith of Media Educators to discuss their goals, curriculum and projects.

 

9:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m.

TRACK FIVE

CC162-175

Technology . .When Web Data Makes News.

CONVENERS: Adam Clayton Powell III, University of Southern California;  Brant Houston, Investigative Reporters & Editors;  Adrian Holovaty, WashingtonPost.com.

With search engines, data crawlers and memory by the terabyte, it is becoming ever easier to crunch previously unimaginable amounts of data from across the web into useful information. What are the watchdog possibilities . and privacy dangers . for journalists harnessing newly opened information?

 

10:45 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

Media Café break

 

11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

TRACK  THREE

CC Reading Room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK FOUR

CC162-175

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK FIVE

CC 10th Floor

Amherst Room

Politics . .The Internet as a Government-to-Citizen Tool.

CONVENERS: Stephen Clift, Democracies Online Newswire;  Conor Kenny, CongressPedia.org; Rafael DeGennaro, ReadTheBill.org; Craig Sandler, IssueSource.org/State House News Service; Ed Fouhy, StateLine.org (pending).

In the last few years, just about every U.S. community of any size has put up a website posting meeting notices, accepting tax payments, describing key issues and, sometimes, pushing political agendas. Learn how government should be using the net to deepen citizen involvement in governing . and how citizens can take the upper hand.

 

Education:  .Building Bridges with Blogging  . a Case Study.
CONVENERS: Catherine Moore, Rob Williams and the M.E.D.I.A. team of 20 high school students from Vermont and Jordan.

Bringing together high-school students from Vermont and the Middle East, three nonprofits . Project Harmony, the Action Coalition for Media Education, and Champlain College . are pioneering an effort at teaching media education, digital video production, and cross-cultural youth leadership skills. Hear from their students about what they.re learning through this .media education.. 

 

Technology:    .The Maine Blogger: A Case Study of a Blogstorm.

CONVENERS: Robert Cox, Media Bloggers Association; Lance Dutson, Maine Web Report (defendant); Fred Frawley, Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios

(attorney for WKPA); and Greg Herbert, Greenberg Traurig (attorney for Lance

Dutson).

When New York ad agency Warren, Kremer, Paino Advertising filed a seven-figure federal lawsuit against blogger Lance Dutson, an unknown gadfly was

transformed overnight into a First Amendment martyr. When the lawsuit was

withdrawn amidst a withering media campaign organized by the Media Bloggers

Association, the "Maine Blogger" became a cause celebre in the blogosphere.

Join us as we go behind the scenes with the key players to examine the legal

issues raised by the case, the blogstorm which erupted and the implications

for citizen journalists and the businesses and government officials they

cover.

 

Noon-1:15 p.m.

CC 165-169

SPECIAL EVENT . .Is it time to build the New England Common?.

CONVENER: Christopher Lydon, Open Source Radio.

Does New England need a virtual meeting place for discussion and action on politics, culture, environment and living?  Could the Massachusetts governor.s race be a catalyst to establish one? An idea session. More info:

http://www.mediagiraffe.org/wiki/index.php/Newengland

 

12:15 p.m.-12:30 p.m.

Media Café break

 

12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

CC 10th Floor

Amherst Room

Buffet lunch (Amherst Room or Campus Center Ballroom)

 .Is Media Performance Democracy.s Critical Issue?.

SPEAKER: Tom Stites, Center for Public Integrity;
 INTRODUCED BY: Chris Peck, Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Thirty years ago, if your policy message was on the three networks, The New York Times or the Washington Post, it spread quickly across America. We are now in an era of micr0-media . blogs, email, dozens of networks and cable channels, multimedia chaos and creativity.  Political strategists who disagree on issues often agree that media structure and performance is now their No. 2 issue.  Has the state of our media become the most important threat to participatory democracy? Why?

 

1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
TRACK TWO

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CitiMedia Bootcamp --  .Citizen Journalism in Action: A Practicum.

An overview of web-based citizen journalims in action with an emphasis on doing it yourself.  The panel will look at examples of successful citizen-journalism projects and issues of interest to those looking to launch such ventures themselves . how to get started, add interactivity and features, and tackle technical issues as well as build participation, create policies and procedures and relate to the community at large.  MODERATOR: Lisa Williams, H2Otown.  DISCUSSANTS: Christopher Grotke, iBrattleboro, Maureen Mann,  Philbrick James Forum;  Gordon Joseloff, Westport Now; Dan Barlow, reporter and citi-J site user.

 

2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.

TRACK THREE

CC 10th Floor

Amherst Room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK FOUR

CC162-175

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK FIVE

CC Reading Room

Politics .. .Anonymity and identity: Journalists/bloggers sources and whistleblowers.

CONVENER: Shava Nerad, Tor Coalition.  DISCUSSANTS:  Steve Clift, Democracies Online Newswire, Derek Anderson, VillageSoup.COM.

Join a reporter who became a technologist and now helps protect political dissidents who need anonymity in a debates over anonymity vs. identity.   News websites, and local online community sites debate whether to allow anonymous comments. Is anonymity ever justified?  Who.s responsible? Is anonymous posting ever journalism?  What is the impact on sources, on news gathers, on whistleblowers, as the government seeks the ability to track search queries?

 

Education .  .Creating Digital Video For Classrooms .  a Case Study.

WORKSHOP PRESENTER:  James Valastro, MemeFILMS, Vermont (www.memefilms.org).

Fusing  media education and digital video production in the K-12 classroom, MemeFILMS has been working with Vermont schools for three years. Explore how to make mini-DV media and public health/news stories with K-12 students in this exciting hands-on workshop.

 

Technology . .News a la Carte . Fracturing The Public Sphere?.

CONVENERS: Holmes Wilson, Participatory Culture Foundation; Thomas Marban, PopUrls.com; Jonathan Dube, CBC.CA (pending).

Consumers can now paste together their version of a news event from multiple sources in seconds. What.s the impact of news a la carte on understanding and what new technologies feed this trend? How does it fracture the public sphere . or enrich it?

 

3:30 p.m.-4:15 p.m.

Media Café and free ice cream social, courtesy of Ben & Jerry.s Homemade, Inc.

 

4:15 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

TRACK TWO

CC-163C

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK THREE

CC165-169

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK FOUR

CC162-175

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK FIVE

CC Reading Room

Citizen Media . .Your Project: Expert Feedback.

CO-CONVENER: George White, UCLA Center for Communications & Community.  Any and all citizen journalists are invited to be on hand to provide advice to others. Designed to provide real interaction between attendees hoping to sart or strengthen their own projects. Join citizen-media veterans, as participants, for an idea exchange. Come prepared to tell others what your project is about and specific problems you face. Fellow participants and experts will provide feedback, suggestions and ideas specifically for you.

 

Politics: .The Internet As An Advocacy Tool . Case Studies.

CONVENER: Mica Sifry, Personal Democracy Forum (tentative);  Adam Green, MoveOn.org (invited) , Karen .Jo. Lee, CitizenSpeak.org and Frederick Clarkson, Talk2Action.org;  Steve Anderson, CoaNews.org

Costly direct mail was once the only effective way for public policy non-profits to reach the faithful. The Internet is now the most efficient advocacy, motivational, and fund-raising tool in the NGO arsenal. How is the Internet changing public policy formulation? Who.s winning? Who.s losing?

 

Education . .Morphing from Music: iPods enter the Classroom.
CONVENER: Colin Rhinesmith, Action Coalition for Media Education, Boston chapter (www.acmeboston.org); Mark Frydenberg and Elizabeth Ledoux, Bentley College.  The how's and why's of sending downloadable audio files over the Internet -- how is this being adopted by educators?  How can a Internet news operation serve the need for classroom-ready podcasting material?

 

Technology: .Who Will Narrow the Digital Divide?.

CONVENER: Case Lide, Baller Herbst Law Group.  DISCUSSANTS:  Wally Bowen, Mountain Area Information Network; Josh Silver, FreePress.net

As music, movies, news, archives and other data increasingly are delivered on-demand over the Internet rather than in physical form, first-class citizenship requires a high-speed connection. Who.s left in steerage? How can technology narrow the digital divide? A look at municipal wireless initiatives.

 

5:30 p.m.-5:45 p.m.

Media Café  -- networking / discussion

 

5:45 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Campus Center Reading Room . reception and hor d.oeuvres for all attendees. (Spill out into CC Concourse)

 

6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

DINNER

 

7::30 p.m.-8:15 p.m.

SPEECH

 

 

 

8:15 p.m.-9:30 p.m.

DISCUSSION

 

Dinner and discussion, Amherst Room,  Campus Center 10th Floor

 

 

SPEAKER: Dr. Rob Williams, president, Action Coalition for Media Education; professor, Champlain College, Burlington, Vermont:  .Why Doesn.t Johnny Care? How Media Can Bringing Young Adults Back Into The Public Sphere?.

 

Young adults have abandoned the news as presented in traditional forms. Newspaper and TV users are aging. But they are heavy media consumers.  What will put public affairs back into their diet? And why does it matter?

 DISCUSSANTS: Andrea Frantz, Wilkes University; Melissa Krodman, Project Think Different; Mark Lopez, CIRCLE .

 

9:30 p.m.-11:00 p.m.

Campus Center
10th Floor
 Amherst Room

Media Café Extra: .War Stories . Avoiding Other.s Mistakes.

An informal session for all participants able to share .war stories. from the trenches of citizen journalism. What has been your worst experience? Share your nightmares and tales of woe over beer, wine or whatever.

 

 

 

 

Saturday, July 1, 2006 

 

7:30  a.m.-8:30 a.m.

Continental breakfast for summit participants ( Campus Center Lower Level Concourse)

 

8:30 a.m.-9:45 a.m.

TRACK TWO

CC 163-C

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK THREE

CC-165-169

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK FOUR

CC162-175

 

 

 

 

TRACK FIVE

CC Reading Room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Citizen Media:  .The Daily Grind.

Discuss the day-to-day operation of a citizen-journalism site project, from moderating submissions and comments, setting a tone, dealing with users, building traffic, selling ads and other facets of running a citizen-journalism outlet.  DISCUSSANTS from the Philbrick James Forum, H2Otown, VillageSoup.com, WestportNow.com,  CTNewsJunkie.com, the New Haven Independent, ePluribus Media and other sites.

 

Politics: .Political Blogs: Free Speech or Campaigning?.

CONVENERS: Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash; Richard Howe, LowellDems.org; Steve Brant, Trimtab/HuffingtonPost blogger; Steve Fox, WashingtonPost.com

The 1970s-era campaign-finance reform may become irrelevant as blogs and websites funded by partisan political groups become a primary source of campaign spin and faux news.  Can laws be written to regulate the financing of partisan websites that won.t infringe on free speech? Are they needed?  


 Education:  .Streaming Source Material:  Lectures On Demand?.

CONVENER: Donna M. Liu, University Channel, Princeton University.

The combination of ubiquitous high-speed connections in schools and archives of streaming and downloadable video/audio lectures and news add new options for classroom curriculum.  Who.s innovating? A survey and demonstrations.

 

Technology:  .Merging Forms: Is the Medium Still the Message?.

CONVENERS: Steve Garfield, Rocketboom.com; Paul Grabowicz, University of California Berkeley;   Robb Montgomery,  VisualEditors.com

Blogging. reporters who pack a camera, MP3 recorder and a notepad . 24/7 deadlines .is journalism using technology or the other way around? As the information fire hose reaches full pressure, is wisdom increasing too?

 

10:00 a.m.-11:15 a.m.

(same rooms as

earlier sessions) 

 

Media Café collaboration and Track meet-ups for .next step. ideas:

 

Topic ideas:

 

POLITICS:  Pitching the big tent

TECHNOLOGY:  Making adoption easy

CITIZEN MEDIA:  Inviting participation

EDUCATION:  Making media cool

 

 

11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

CLOSING SESSION

AND BOX LUNCHES

 CC Room 101


.What Did We Learn/What.s Next. -- Reports from track managers or designees

.Speak to the Group. . Moderated  open microphone session

 

Closing Talk: .Keeping Participatory Democracy Alive: Talking Across The Divides Of Media, Politics, Education And Technology..

CONVENERS: Norman Sims, UMass Amherst and  principal investigator, Media Giraffe Project;  Bill Densmore, director/editor.

 

12:45 p.m.

 

Conference Ends

1:30 p.m. . 4:30 p.m.

Independent meet-ups and outdoor bootcamps

 

POST-CONFERENCE MEET-UPS:

 

Independent groups with membership at the conference hold planning or strategy sessions in rooms provided at no additional charge by the Media Giraffe Project and UMass Amherst.

 

MUSEUMS 10 . at WikiPedia  /
 

ACTIVITIES/TRIPS:  (LINK: Amherst area)

 

INDIVIDUAL LINKS:

 

Hiking: Mount Toby, the Norwottuck Trail

Rafting on the Deerfield River (Charlemont, Mass.)
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book  Art  (Amherst, Mass.)

Historic Deerfield or Yankee Candle (South Deerfield, Mass.)

Amherst College Mead Art Museum (Amherst)

Amherst College Museum of Natural History

Smith College Museum of Art (Northampton)

National Yiddish Book Center (South Amherst)

Emily Dickens House Museum (Amherst)

Official NBA Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield, Mass.)

Mass. Museum of Contemporary Art (North Adams, Mass.)

 

Saturday evening

Events in the Five College Area:

Tanglewood (BSO-Lenox, Mass. .Garrison Keillor / Prairie Home Companion Live, 5:45 p.m., Sat., July 1)