Innovation in journalism is a running theme through many of the more interesting posts here at LR and at my other website, Journalism 2.0. After years of charting breakthroughs in news gathering and reporting through the use of new technology, it is heartening to see a growing trend in journalism conferences that are innovative in their own right.
Bringing people together to share ideas, of course, can be powerful. But the tried-and-true format of panel discussions and keynote speakers lacks the productive punch of more hands-on gatherings. In 2009, we saw innovative confabs like Times Open at the New York Times, the BBC Hack Day, at Bar Camp News Innovation (BNCI), and at an event I organized in Seattle called GonzoCamp, which brought together computer programmers, web developers and journalists with the goal of building something cool in one day.
2010 looks even more promising. This week in London, the folks who bring you Journalism.co.uk are hosting a conference called news:rewired. In April, there will be another BCNI event in Philadelphia. And several people have expressed interest in hosting a GonzoCamp in their city.
I asked Journalism.co.uk editor Laura Oliver for some background on news:rewired, which takes place this Thursday, Jan. 14. Here is what she had to say:
Who do you hope will attend news:rewired?
News:rewired is for working journalists and anyone with an interest in the future of media and communications, whether that’s communication professionals, journalism educators or editorial directors. We want a real mixture of attendees from across all sectors and already have delegates signed up from broadcasting, newspaper and online-only fields. It’s aimed at individuals who are being asked to take on new skills – whether that’s video producing or using social media – or looking for new ways to develop their newsroom and business, from working in partnership with other organisations to experimenting with new business models. We want to give them a hands on event where they can put all there queries, concerns and ideas – big or small – to journalists and media professionals who are already leading the way when it comes to working with multimedia tools and online audiences.
What do you hope they will get out of it?
The event is intended to be very informal so that everyone gets the chance to put their specific issues to our expert speakers. As such, we hope delegates will pick up new ideas from both the panellists and from the discussions on the day that they can take back to their work and use straightaway. We want the day to help journalists with their work now as well as in the long-term, making them more efficient, increasing their digital skills and giving them the confidence to experiment with new ways of storytelling and communicating with their audience.
Why did you decide to organize and host such an event?
Journalists are faced with a conflicting world at the moment: economic constraints on resources; new expectations to produce multimedia, multiplatform content, seen by some as too big a workload; and frequently the lack of time and support to participate in long-haul training programmes.
At the same time there’s never been a more exciting time to be a journalist in so many ways. The technologies and means available for doing our job as journalists are growing by the day offering new opportunities to experiment with how we newsgather, report and interact with our audiences. But where do you start?
As such, we wanted to provide a day aimed at both giving journalists an insight into some of the new tools and techniques for journalism, while showing them how these can be used efficiently and effectively against a backdrop of dwindling resources.
We also wanted to move away from events that just discuss. While it’s good to talk, we felt there needed to be a gathering focusing on the practical and what journalists need now.
From another angle, we’re a website reporting on the journalism industry and are also trying to develop the best business model for us. Hosting an event is a new thing for us and we wanted to see if there was a demand for something like news:rewired.
