A conference on media innovation in an era of fragmented communities: March 31 at Northeastern University

By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

The public is increasingly fragmented in how it consumes information, with change driven by newly emerging media and ever-shifting cultural trends.

At the same time, how and why we communicate and what constitutes viable information has gained new tools, contexts and constituencies. The media needs to focus on effective, fact-based communication as it takes on on problems that span politics, policies and research.

The conference is called: “Conversations: New frameworks for public discourse. Exploring the role of media innovation, emerging modes of communication and digital storytelling in an era of fragmented communities.”

It’s being held on on Friday, March 31, at Northeastern University in Boston.

If you are interested in attending, more information and registration details are here. The event is free. We hope to see you there.

Media needs to leverages the art and science of communication to promote civil discussion about the most pressing and complex problems facing society — bridging technological infrastructures, data analytics, information visualization, and public engagement expertise.

Increasingly, information is consumed by the public in diverse ways as the definition of news evolves, and communication itself is reshaped by cultural trends and emerging technology.

Within this fluid environment, the media has a unique capacity to drive fact-based storytelling that leverages the art and the science of communication.

What tools, contexts and constituencies can media bring to bear to promote civil discussion about the complex, pressing problems facing fragmented communities today?

How can media effectively bridge technological infrastructures, data analytics, information visualization, and public engagement to serve multifaceted audiences and participants?

Join us on March 31 at Northeastern University as we meet with a broad range of journalists and communicators from across the country, eager to address these questions and to search for new frameworks for promoting civil discussion.

The conference is sponsored by Northeastern’s College of Arts, Media & Design.

We’re planning an exciting day of panels, panelists, and table discussions. Here are the panels:

• True listening beyond the data: Making sure we hear and understand the people behind the numbers
• How to foster reasoned public dialogue on issues of diversity & difference
• Preparing journalists to “co-create”: Working with the communities they serve in reporting the news
• Are we hard-wired for hard conversations? Navigating the cultural and neurobiological obstacles to communicating across difference.

Matt Carroll is a professor-of-the-practice in the Journalism Department at Northeastern University.

By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

March 7, 2017: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail.

1. While Trump speechified, reporters broke real news: President Trump’s speech last week was widely lauded, mainly because he met the low bar of expectations. But at the same time praise rained down on the president, reporters at the Washington Post and the New York Timesbroke real stories about the administration, with long-term implications. And that, said Margaret Sullivan of the WaPo, “showed once again that the journalistic basics at their best — digging, developing sources and connecting the dots — will always beat glib pontificating.” A good read.

2. Wired looks to the past to change the future: Wired magazine is an icon, one of most interesting news outlets that covers digital. Former editor Nicholas Thompson is returning as editor-in-chief, with plans to shake it all up. An interesting Q&A, as he looks to the site’s legendary roots and his recent sojourn at The New Yorker to inform the future. One takeaway: Paid content is coming. By Pete Vernon of CJR.

3. How youth view & consume news (it’s certainly different): It’s amazing how fast news consumption has changed and keeps evolving. A study of youth funded by the Knight Foundation found that youth usually get news through mobile and social, and that news tends to find them, rather than the other way around. Youth also are more likely to distrust mainstream media, but trust news from their friends, and their idea of what constitutes “news” can be very broad. Fascinating report on a dizzying, fast-changing topic. (BTW: It’s a pdf.)

A little extra: How can media build bridges to fragmented communities?: A conference at Northeastern U in Boston on the exploring the role of media innovation, emerging modes of communication and digital storytelling in an era of fragmented communities. Free & fun. Friday, March 31, Northeastern U in Boston. (btw, 100% conflict here: I’m running the conference.)

• Get notified via email: Send a note to 3toread (at) gmail.com

Matt Carroll is a journalism professor at Northeastern University.

By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Feb. 26, 2017: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail.

1. Facebook vs journalism, redux: The media’s obsession with Facebook hit another high point last week, with partisans weighing in on both sides of the divide. Emily Bell of Tow led those who want Facebook (and a handful of others) to fund journalism, with an endowment fund, while David Winer, in a blistering reply, neatly summed up the opposition with one word: Pathetic.

A few others:

• Mathew Ingram of Fortune asks why media companies deserve help for problems of their own making, while a skeptical Charlie Beckett on Medium argues it’s simply not going to happen.
• While Steven Waldman in the NYT sides with Emily, saying Facebook owes journalism big time and needs to open its fat wallet.

2. How to spark innovation in newsrooms?: All newsrooms want innovation (or at least pretend they do). Here’s two different approaches: Sam Ford, formerly of Univision, wants the entire newsroom to be “the lab,” while Aleszu Bajak of Northeastern U writes about how newsrooms are depending on outside partners to help with immersive projects.

3. Meet the “enemies of the people”: A wonderful, inspirational column about the people who slave in newsrooms to create great real journalism — and adopt dogs, get ill, and fret over misspellings in print. In other words, just people. Great stuff by Mike Wilson of the DallasNews.

• Get notified via email: Send a note to 3toread (at) gmail.com

Matt Carroll is a journalism professor at Northeastern University.

By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Feb. 19, 2017: Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail.

2. A digital news reader’s bill of rights: Reporters and editors have been arguing about how to change the world of digital news for decades. But have some pity on the poor reader, who has to put up with brutally slow load times, misleading hedlines, and stories that can’t figure out what they are about. So Andrew Dunn, on Medium, came up with a interesting, first draft for a reader’s bill or right. It’s worth reading.

3. Anger, not reasonableness, drives the spread of news on social: Jason Tanz of WIREDwrites an insightful (and short) analysis of how we’ve gone from a media that emphasized dry facts and middle-of-the-road reporting to a media that emphasizes extremes and emotion.

• Get notified via email: Send a note to 3toread (at) gmail.com

Matt Carroll is a journalism professor at Northeastern University.