Bringing the Classroom to the Public

Journalism on the Brink
On Feb. 25, the Department of Communication, in partnership with the Online News Association, held a discussion on the state of journalism. This event was free and open to the public. (See video of the event.)

Journalism on the Brink? Can Digital Save It? Was moderated by Hanson Hosein, a former Emmy Award-winning NBC journalist and now the director of the Master of Communication in Digital Media (MCDM) at the University of Washington.

Cory Bergman

Cory Haik

Ross Reynolds

David Domke

Professor David Domke, head of the Department’s journalism program and interim chair of the Department hosted the event and were joined by:

1. Cory Bergman, MSNBC, expert on future of local media through LostRemote.com, MyBallard.com;
2. John Cook, ex-PI reporter who has created TechFlash, the go-to source for the Puget Sound tech community;
3. Monica Guzman, online reporter at Seattle P-I who has pioneered the effective use of social media tools to share her work;
4. Cory Haik, Director of Content at seattletimes.com, who knows how to work through a disaster as NOLA.com managing editor during Hurricane Katrina; and
5. Ross Reynolds, host of KUOW's The Conversation and a researcher on public radio as a viable business model.

The Digital President
On Jan. 15, the eve of the inauguration, MCDM sponsored a an engaging conversation on how President Obama used digital media to devastating effect in the 2008 election. (See slides and video of this event.)

Facebook. Twitter. Mybarackobama.com. Text messaging. How did he do it? What strategic lessons can we learn from Barack Obama’s high-tech campaign? How might he deploy this online army of millions to govern? And does President Obama’s historic rise to the White House also propel social networking into the mainstream? The answers to these important questions have a profound impact on the very near future of our democracy, as well as how we organize, communicate and even do business in the digital age.

Hanson Hosein, director of the the MCDM, was joined by:

• Professor Lance Bennett, Political Science and Communication, on the digital tools.
• Kathy Gill, Senior Lecturer, Department of Communication, on social media strategies.
• Brett Horvath, Social Media Strategist; Pickens Plan, YourRevolution.org, on youth voter registration and the future.
  

Media in Crisis: The Journalist as Entrepreneur
At the end of 2008, The Common Language Project was the focus of a free, MCDM-sponsored workshop, "Media in Crisis: The Journalist as Entrepreneur" to welcomed all students, faculty and the public, including assignment editors from local media, to discuss realistic freelance expectations and the latest opportunities. (See video of this event.)

The Common Language Project: Three 20-something Seattle-ites have decided to skip the coffee-fetching internship positions and go straight into the journalism profession: by raising funds to report on under-covered stories around the world. They present an exciting new business model to future journalists and storytellers. How do they get paid? What are the copyright issues? How do they persuade established news organizations to acquire their content? How do they manage logistics on the ground in far-flung places? What are the best tools for this kind of work? How do you report for print, radio, and online all at the same time?