April 18, 2007, 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Advance Reading Materials

David All Group: “Google + YouTube + Politics”
IPDI.org: The Virtual Trail: Political Journalism on the Internet
The Bivings Report: “The Internet’s Role in Political Campaigns”
IPDI.org: The Audience for Political Blogs: New Research on Blog Readership
techPresident: The New Influencers
Current.org: “They Know More Than We Do”
Campaigns & Elections, Inc.: “YouTube and you”
Avatar Politics: The Social Applications of Second Life
AJR: “Blogging on the Hustings”
spiked: “Blogs: the future of political journalism?”
OJR: “Building an online army with DailyKos”
Pew Research Center: News Audiences Increasingly Politicized
Pew: Election 2006 Online: Internet as Political Source
Pew Research Center: Online Newspaper Readership Countering Print Losses
Pew: Election Newshounds Speak Up: Newspaper, TV and Internet Fans Tell How and Why They Differ

April 18, 2007, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Election ‘08: Opening Lunch

Welcome and introductions. (Porter and Donald)

Keynote address - “Politics and the Internet:  What Do We Really Know?” (Cornfield)

Presentation by:

• Vikki Porter, director, Knight Digital Media Center, USC Annenberg School for Communication
• David Donald, Training Director, Investigative Reporters and Editors and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting
• Michael Cornfield, Vice President of Public Affairs, ElectionMall Technologies, and adjunct faculty in strategy and message, George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management

Video of Keynote Address (189 MB)
Audio of Keynote Address (70 MB)

April 18, 2007, 1:45 PM - 3:45 PM

Tech-politics: The “Facebook Effect,” Netroots and Beyond

Campaigns have done their obligatory “social networking,” blogging and webpages and staked out their Second Life headquarters. What are the real strategies that might make a difference in our most digitized election in history?  Why and how?
• Moderated by Drew Clark, senior fellow and project manager, Center for Public Integrity.

Presentation by:

• Micah Sifry, co-founder and executive editor, Personal Democracy Forum, which covers the ways technology is changing politics, and techpresident, a blog dedicated to the 2008 Presidential campaign (www.personaldemocracy.com)
• Chuck DeFeo, vice president and general manager, Townhall.com
• Colin Delany, founder and chief editor, epolitics.com
• Nancy Scola, freelance writer/activist, policy advisor, outreach coordinator, and Internet political strategist
• Todd Ziegler, senior vice president of client services, Bivings Group

Video: Tech-politics (287 MB)
Audio: Tech-politics (111 MB)

April 18, 2007, 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM

So What Role Will the Blogosphere Play in 2008?

Presentation by:

• Robert Cox, founder and president, Media Bloggers Association
• James Joyner, blogger, OutsidetheBeltway.com
• John Amato, blogger, CrooksandLiars.com

Video: Role of the Blogosphere (199 MB)
Audio: Role of the Blogosphere (76 MB)

April 18, 2007, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

“The Future of Politics Online”

Dinner and talk

Presentation by:

• Phil Noble, founder and CEO, PoliticsOnline.com

Video: Future of Politics Online (162 MB)
Audio: Future of Politics Online (62 MB)

April 19, 2007, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Why Are You Here?

Presentation by:

• Alfred Hermida, assistant professor, School of Journalism, University of British Columbia

Jam Today: The Online Potential
Video: Why Are You Here? (182 MB)
Audio: Why Are You Here? (70 MB)

April 19, 2007, 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Deconstructing the Past: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

With the 2004 and 2006 elections, online news organizations stretched their own virtual wings.  Some innovations as well as some hard-won lessons emerged.  What questions need to be asked in the building of an online coverage plan?  Who should be included in the planning, when and why?

• Rachel Nixon, deputy world editor, BBCNews.com
• Amy Cox, special projects assignment producer, CNN.com
• Jason Manning, political editor, WashingtonPost.com

 

CNN.com Elections coverage: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Cox)
washingtonpost.com: Political Coverage 2004-2008 (Manning)
Deconstructing the past: 2004 and 2006 US elections (Nixon)
Video: Deconstructing the Past (267 MB)
Audio: Deconstructing the Past (100 MB)

April 19, 2007, 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Public Insight Journalism and Beyond

Lunch and talk

Presentation by:

• Michael Skoler, executive director, Center for Innovation in Journalism, American Public Media

Links Accompanying Michael Skoler’s Talk
Video: Public Insight Journalism (131 MB)
Audio: Public Insight Journalism (50 MB)

April 19, 2007, 2:15 PM - 3:45 PM

Tools of Engagement:  It’s a Conversation, Stupid

Presentation by:

• Amy Gahran, digital media consultant, senior editor OaklandLocal.com

Tools of Engagement: Links and Notes for Discussion (Gahran)
Video: Tools of Engagement (204 MB)
Audio: Tools of Engagement (79 MB)

April 19, 2007, 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Keeping Our Focus:  What IS Our Role in the Electoral Process?

Presentation by:

• Butch Ward, distinguished fellow, Poynter Institute

Audio: Keeping Our Focus (60 MB)
Video: Keeping Our Focus (156 MB)

April 19, 2007, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

“Lessons From Inside the Online Beltway”

Presentation by:

• Bill Nichols, managing editor, Politico.com

Video: Online Beltway (94 MB)

April 20, 2007, 9:00 AM - 12:15 PM

Campaign Finance Laws and Loopholes

Federal campaign finance:  What every reporter needs to know. (Pilhofer and Lathrop)

Focus on states:  An in-depth look at state laws (Campbell and Tamman)

527s and non-profits:  The new soft money, and why reporters need to pay attention (Pilhofer)

• Aron Pilhofer, CAR projects editor, The New York Times

Presentation by:

• Daniel Lathrop, investigative CAR reporter, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• Ronald Campbell, reporter, Orange County (CA) Register
• Maurice Tamman, senior editor and writer, Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune

Downloading Campaign Finance Reports from Cal-Access (Campbell)
Money in state politics slide notes (Campbell)
Beyond Campaign Finance: Prepping for an election in a battleground state (Tamman)
The long, long, long (really, really long), painfully long road to election day 2008 (Pilhofer)
Money in state politics (Campbell)
The FEC’s Electronic Filing Site, Part I: A guided tour (Pilhofer)
The FEC’s Electronic Filing Site, Part II: Downloading, Importing (Pilhofer)
Audio: Laws and Loopholes - Part 2 (36 MB)
Audio: Laws and Loopholes - Part 3 (88 MB)
Audio: Laws and Loopholes - Part 1 (36 MB)
Video: Laws and Loopholes - Part 2 (91 MB)
Video: Laws and Loopholes - Part 1 (96 MB)
Video: Laws and Loopholes - Part 3 (229 MB)

April 20, 2007, 12:30 PM - 2:15 PM

Selden Ring Awards Lunch

Video: Seldon Ring Awards (146 MB)
Audio: Seldon Ring Awards (56 MB)

April 20, 2007, 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Politics and Money in a Web 2.0 World

How newsrooms and non-profit organizations are using political data with collaboration, interactive and networking tools—Wikis, mash-ups, APIs and others

Campaign finance data (Pilhofer, Allison, Lathrop)

Electronic voting (Tamman)

Lobbying (Clark)

• Aron Pilhofer, CAR projects editor, The New York Times
• Drew Clark, senior fellow and project manager, The Center for Public Integrity

Presentation by:

• Daniel Lathrop, investigative CAR reporter, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• Maurice Tamman, senior editor and writer, Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune
• Bill Allison, senior fellow, Sunlight Foundation

The New Soft Money (Pilhofer)
Election Data’s New Frontier (Tamman)
Audio: Web 2.0 Politics and Money - Part 1 (37 MB)
Audio: Web 2.0 Politics and Money - Part 2 (42 MB)
Audio: Web 2.0 Politics and Money - Part 4 (30 MB)
Video: Web 2.0 Politics and Money - Part 1 (96 MB)
Video: Web 2.0 Politics and Money - Part 2 (108 MB)
Video: Web 2.0 Politics and Money - Part 3 (79 MB)
Video: Web 2.0 Politics and Money - Part 4 (79 MB)
Audio: Web 2.0 Politics and Money - Part 3 (30 MB)

April 21, 2007, 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Working With the Raw Data

Working with Federal data
Hands-on: Working with state, Federal and 527 data
Questions and wrap-up

• Lab 1 – Aron Pilhofer with Daniel Lathrop as coach
• Lab 2 – Maurice Tamman with David Donald as coach

Presentation by:

• Daniel Lathrop, investigative CAR reporter, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• David Donald, Training Director, Investigative Reporters and Editors and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting
• Maurice Tamman, senior editor and writer, Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune