mediagiraffe

CONFERENCE: "Democracy and Independence: Sharing of News and Politics in a Connected World" -- June 28-July 1, 2006

The Media Giraffe Project has called a three-day conference for June 29-July 1, 2006 on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus entitled:  "Democracy and Independence: Sharing of News in a Connected World." Conference registration will open on Jan. 6, 2006.

A five-track event is being organized, with program details available by the end of January.

Individuals working in politics, 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 and what's coming soon.

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, including copyright, the new relationships among creators and consumers of news, and how democracy is affected.

The event will be a chance to meet and learn from profiled Media Giraffe pioneers. "Media Giraffe Institute: Lessons from the Frontlines" 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.

There will be panels, discussions, demonstrations and workshops on specific projects underway nationwide (many profiled at: http://www.mediagiraffe.org/profiles/) which use media in innovative, sustainable ways to foster participatory democracy and community.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The conference is designed for:

• traditional media strategists, editors and practitioners
• Elected officials, political and public-policy strategists
• info-tech pioneers and entrepreneurs
• operators of local-news websites and blogs
• podcasters and vloggers dealing with news, political and public-policy issues.
• academic researchers and students
• citizens who want "how-to" knowledge about participatory media
• anyone interested in new innovations in web, print, film and audio news creation, delivery and financing.

POST-CONFERENCE OPPORTUNITIES:

The event kicks off the Independence Day weekend, and we plan to package a variety of opportunities for post-conference touring of New England for attendees who wish to linger through July 4. The Five Colleges area of Massachusetts offers a remarkable combination of sophisticated, urban amenities amid rural beauty and is less than two hours from Boston. Access is via the Bradley International Airport (BDL), Providence or Boston.

Media Giraffe Project

108 Bartlett Hall

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amherst MA 01003

413-577-4370

mediagiraffe (at) journ.umass.edu

This page is available at: www.mediagiraffe.org/conference.html

AUDIO: Robin Sloan, co-creator of EPIC / Current.TV editor

On Aug. 5, 2005, Media Giraffe Project research Allison Davies interviewed Robin Sloan, an editor at Current.TV in San Francisco. Sloan, with co-creator Matt Thompson, produced an eight-minute online movie, EPIC, which suggests the future of journalism, while they were both working at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. Click below to listen to a 16-minute, 7.5MB MP3 audio file of Sloan talking about his entry into journalism, the creation of EPIC and what he things it might mean.  The second MP3 file includes Sloan discussing his work at Current.TV.

Download epic-robin-sloan-08-09-05S.mp3  (16 minutes, 7.5MB)
Download currentTV-robin-sloan-08-09-05S.mp3 (8 minutes, 3.7MB)

AUDIO: Sandy Close of New California Media / Pacific News Service

On Aug. 18, 2005, Media Giraffe Project editor Bill Densmore interviewed New California News / Pacific News Service founder/editor Sandy Close.  (READ GIRAFFE PROFILE) Click below to listen to a 17-minute MP3 download of the interview:

Download pacific_news-sandy_close.mp3 

AUDIO: WikiPedia's Jimmy Wales talks about responsibility after Seigenthaler incident

It was the perfect situation to spotlight attention on the strength -- and perhaps weakness -- of WikiPedia . . . a free online encyclopedia with entires written by thousands of volunteers worldwide . . . and any user can change a page at will.  John Seigenthaler, a former editorial-page editor of the mainstream print USA Today daily, riled by a biographical posting connecting Siegenthaler with a wildly improbable -- and untrue -- allegation. Four months, Siegenthal wrote, the offending information remained only until it was finally removed. And in the end, the person who posted the untruth went public, and apologized, and Seigenthaler said he would not sue anyone, but wanted to point out the issue of whether WikiPedia can ultimately be trusted as a reference resource.

On Monday, Dec. 12, 2005 -- the day after the Seigenthaler story came to an end with the "confession" of the errant poster -- Media Giraffe Project editor Bill Densmore interviewed WikiPedia founder Jimmy Wales at the non-profit website's small St. Petersburg, Fla., office. Here are MP3 downloadable excerpts:

Download wiki_siegenthaler_responsibility.mp3 (7:26 minutes)
Download wiki_journalism_hybrid_bbc.mp3 (7:27 minutes)
Download wiki_managing_accountability_spam.mp3 (9:05 minutes)
Download wiki_good_vs_bad_cost.mp3  (3:44 minutes)
Download wiki_what_is_wikipedia.mp3 (2:20 minutes
Download wikinews_volunteer_AP.mp3 (2:15 minutes)
Download wiki_costs_sustainability.mp3 (4:55 minutes)
Download wiki_google_craig_talks.mp3  (4:46 minutes)
Download wiki_motivation_digital_divide.mp3 (4:28 minutes)
Download wiki_political_impact.mp3  (2:30 minutes)
Download wiki_surprise_no_controls_factoring.mp3 (2:32 minutes)
Download wiki-neutrality_social_concept.mp3 (3:14 minutes)
Download wiki_press_coverage.mp3 (1:46 minutes)

Free use of MP3 audio is granted with attribution to The Media Giraffe Project at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

AUDIO: MoveOn Media Action interview with the Media Giraffe Project

The progressive political non-profit MoveOn Media Action  is pioneering a new tactic for media reformers -- mobilizing consumers -- both newspaper readers and non-readers -- to petition their local newspapers seeking more and better watchdog journalism. The Media Giraffe Project's Bill Densmore interviewed MoveOn Media Action spokesman Adam Green on Friday, Dec. 9, 2005, and a 30-minute MP3 audio of the interview is downloadable from the link below. Download moveon_adam_green_12-09-05.mp3

AUDIO: John Hinderaker of PowerLineBlog.com

The Media Giraffe Project's Bill Densmore interviewed conservative U.S. political blogger John Hinderaker in his Minneapolis, Minn., law office on Sept. 14, 2005. Here below is an MP3 dowload of the 51-minute interview (21MB) in which Hinderaker discusses why he and his two partners launched the PowerlineBlog, how they put it together, the effects of blogs on the spread of news, why advertising may sustain blogs, how PowerLine helped bring down Dan Rather over allegedly forged documents about President Bush's military record; the future of journalism (and what defines journalism), and advice to young adults about starting out in journalism. Here's the link to start the download. There is a text profile of Powerline, and here is the link to download the audio interview:
Download powerline-hinderaker_09-14-05.mp3