You probably missed the recent Blogging While Brown Conference (July 25 - 27, Atlanta), which was small but apparently quite successful. Comments and reviews on blogs and elsewhere seem generally positive. Several attendees also posted photos and video. Here’s a list of blogs that were in attendance, and the founder’s blog offered official coverage.
Blogging While Brown shows how citizen media can respond directly to how communities prefer to receive and interact with information. The story here isn’t just interactivity—it’s inclusion.
One session should particularly interest news organizations…
By Meg Spohn, 07/31/08 at 07:37 am
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Nearly three million people are incarcerated in US prisons, according to according to the US Dept. of Justice (as of June 2007). The vast majority of them won’t be in jail forever—which is only one reason why news organizations might consider prisoners as an important community with news and media needs.
By Meg Spohn, 08/04/08 at 01:01 pm
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If you want to connect with younger audiences, as well as African Americans, you might try offering more online video. This option is supported by the latest research report from the Pew Research Center for The People and The Press…
By Amy Gahran, 08/22/08 at 10:44 am
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Yesterday on BlogHer, Maria Niles posted a must-read primer on the privileged status our society tends to accord whites and males, and how this might affect the current presidential race and beyond. Squirming yet? Don’t worry, you’re not alone…
By Amy Gahran, 09/15/08 at 12:28 pm
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Who’s in your coverage area, and how is local diversity changing? Some useful maps from the US Census can help you bring your local demographic picture into focus, and spot current and emerging trends that could help you hone your community coverage and outreach strategies…
By Amy Gahran, 09/29/08 at 08:11 am
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Ultimately, elections are about numbers: Whoever gets the most votes (popular or Electoral College) wins. Therefore, it’s tempting for news organizations to view communities primarily as demographic blocks—essentially, as numbers.
The classic form for this type of election story is: “Here’s how Latinos are polling on issue X or candidate Y,” plus perhaps a few example anecdotes to make the story superficially appear to be more about people than numbers. This approach fits well with the too-easy horserace style of election coverage.
For instance, check out these recent stories…
By Amy Gahran, 10/27/08 at 12:49 pm
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