event schedule

1. Dylan and Monica -- brief intro, introduce moderator (5 min)
2. Moderator does a quick overview of why we're here (P-I closing, Times failing, part of global collapse of print media) -- we're going to avoid the "why" because it's going to dip into the political and honestly that's a college seminar class. (5 minutes)
3. Introduce panel, explain format
4. Panel discussion -- questions/discussion will revolve around two main questions: (20-30 minutes)
1. What are the "gaps" in news coverage we will lose when newspapers go away
2. What will you miss about newspapers
5. Audience discussion -- questions from the audience on cards -- this is when the "audience panel," the 5-10 "audience panel members" we will have in the front row, will be pulled in. They can ask questions, and they'll have questions asked of them. (This is why some of them will be niche bloggers.) (will run until the conversation wraps up)
6. Where to? Audience feedback via cards and website (will include survey); explain event #2 coming in March; we're listening and ready to help
   

So, the panel will prime the audience for the conversation, and the audience will take it from there.

The get list for the main panel

(please bold when/if confirmed)

• Kathy Gill
• Art Thiel
• Hubert Locke
  Several in the group were ruffled by his criticism of blog-based news, but this could make for good grist for discussion.
  
• Cory Bergman
• Jay Rosen
• Michelle Nicolosi
  
• Jennifer Sizemore (managing editor for MSNBC.com)
  

Moderator get list

1. Dave Ross (KIRO-AM)
   
2. Ross Reynolds (KUOW)
   
3. Steve Scher (KUOW)
   Moderated a similarly themed panel event last year, in addition to his show's weekly roundtable of local journalists.
   

Additional options:

• Paula Whistle
• Enrique Sada (KCTS)
  
• Robert Mack (KING5)
  
• Gary Davis (KPLU)

The brainstorm list for "audience speakers" as discussed at Jan 29th planning meeting:

• Derek Zumsteg
• Tracy Record
• Erica Barnett
• Justin Carder
• Amber Campbell
• Sound Transit Bloggers
• Darcy Burner
• Sound on the Sound Bloggers
• Andrea James
• Regina Hackett
• Kristen Dizon
• Linda Byron
• Essex Porter
• My Northwest Peoples

New Media, "Future of News," and Event #2

You may be wondering where the "new media" people fit into all of this. After a lot of discussion (we went over 2 hours), we agreed that the "Future of News" stuff is its own event... so start thinking about event #2 in March. This is where we'll have neighborhood bloggers, advertising people, geeks pushing the frontier, etc. Unfortunately, we're going to need to talk about planning event #2 pretty soon.

One problem we realized was that while most of us involved with this project understand the problem, most of the public doesn't. This is also why we pulled back from the "future of news" pieces. We need to explain the problem and make sure every understands the problem before we start on the solution. So we're raising awareness, and then we're helping everyone see the solutions so they can act.

Beforehand, we would solicit audience questions online and with question cards to guide the discussion. During, we'd aim to maximize interactivity. Afterward we'd aim to "publish" the discussion.

Older notes from previous meetings (kept here to archive process)

ACTION ITEM

    To start searching for discussants, we thought that it would be best to start with 7-15 questions we'd like to have answered. We'd then identify interesting people to answer those questions and invite them to be a part of the event, with a target of actually getting 5-10 speakers/discussion leaders.

-- For what it's worth, I want to caution against inviting too many speakers from out of town unfamiliar with Seattle's situation and spirit. There are plenty of smart, talented people preaching nationwide about the woes of journalism-as-is and potential solutions. Put them in a room and they can talk well, for hours, about the general problem. But if we want this discussion to be locally constructive and enticing to our target audience -- that group of Seattleites who care about what's going on around them but are unfamiliar with the state of local media -- I suggest we snatch mostly from a local pool of experts - Mónica

Some initial questions, please edit, add questions, and include suggestions for panelists. We will refine later, for now the idea is to get a sense of the scope of the event:

1. How did we get to this point? e.g., what happened to newspaper profitability?
2. OK, let's hear it: What exactly are the chances that a local print newspaper the size of the Times or P-I can be profitable again?
   
3. To what extent is local journalism essential to informed civic life in Seattle? How big a role do the city's two existing newspapers play in the production of that journalism? [unformulated question about the role of newspaper/professional org in civic life]
4. What does print do better than online?
5. What does online do better than print?
6. To what extent can Seattle's independent news bloggers be substitutes for journalists employed at print newspapers? [unformulated question about the amateur<-->professional newsgatherer spectrum.]
7.  What does the transition from print-only to online look like?
8. To what extent does the loss of veteran journalistic talent traditionally employed by print media translate into a loss of valuable coverage?
9. What are the city's essential beats? What sort of coverage can Seattle's citizens not afford to lose?
10. Can we bring up the question of funding/advertising/paying for online journalism. How will we make money from this medium?
11. How can newspapers reinvent themselves online?
12. Do neighborhood news sites have a sustainable business model?
13. How might all this come together?

Projects and Collaboration Questions (i'd like to see more focus on in progress work, plans and collaboration -- justin)
A) what are people in this room doing to address these journalism and business issues? What projects are you starting or already making happen?
a1) what is working/not working?
B) What kind of help do you need?
C) What will you need to continue growing these projects?

Suggestions for panelists:

• UW communications professor Kathy Gill can speak eloquently and knowledgeably about journalism in transition. She is familiar with and excited about both journalism's past and its likely future. She's also is one of the few locals I've met who is as convinced of journalism's value in society as she is excited about the promise of the digital era. - Mónica
• Seattle content entrepreneurs: David Horsey, Cory Bergman, Kevin Vance,  - justin
• Seattle content, advertising start-ups: -justin
  
• Large tech: Mark Josephson, outside.in, Adrian Holovaty, everyblock, John Battelle federated media - justin
• Seattle advertising leaders: - justin
• Academics from outside the region: Vikki Porter, Director, Knight Digital Media Center, Richard Koci Hernandez, Berkeley,  -justin