Newswise — New technologies bring changes - sometimes so quickly that it's hard to catch your breath. For journalists, technology has radically changed the way news is covered and presented.
Changes in technology are also empowering individuals to take a more personal - and local - stake in news coverage.
The University of Maryland's J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism advocates for - and rewards - innovation in traditional news coverage, as well as in the new field of hyperlocal news. A center based at Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism, Executive Director Jan Schaffer says J-Lab is all about interactive and participatory journalism. "J-Lab is a leader in tracking, rewarding and spotlighting developments that are rapidly transforming and democratizing the media landscape," she says.
Batten Awards Focus is on Traditional Media
On September 18, Schaffer says there will be a symposium and ceremony for more traditional media outlets that have won $16,000 Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism. Schaffer says that while there are several journalism awards, they tend to reward production skills. "The Knight-Batten Awards are unique in that they don't reward skill sets, they reward mindsets," she says. "They reward innovative efforts by traditional media that build entry points for people to interact, engage, participate in the news, in public decisions, in finding their own stories and information almost always aided by new technologies." The Knight Foundation funds the awards.Citizens Media is Hyperlocal
Citizens Media is another area where J-Lab is in the forefront. As a way to jumpstart innovative ways to cover and present news often overlooked by the mainstream media, Schaffer says J-Lab is now into its second year of providing start-up funds for 10 hyperlocal news ventures. Awards can be as high as $17,000. "J-Lab is trying to find what models will be successful, where residents of a community can help inform one another, and where journalists can find new listening posts for news they need to cover in a community."
Examples of hyperlocal news ventures funded through J-Lab "New Voices" awards include:
* The Community Correspondents Corps: A project that trains citizens from central Appalachia in radio news production and story gathering for broadcast on radio and the Web. * Great Lakes Wiki: The center creates collaborative Wiki entries that describe the problems, cleanup strategies, contaminants, industries, people, health impacts and other issues related to the 43 toxic hot spots in the Great Lakes region. * KRFP News - Moscow, Idaho: Citizen journalists are trained to produce a daily half-hour news program for this growing low-power FM station.
The center will host its second annual "Citizens Media Summit" October 5 to add additional focus to the growing hyper-local news movement.
J-Lab's Future - What's Next?
Schaffer says that there are a number of other projects she would love to see J-Lab involved with in the future, including the education of community and family foundations about Citizen Media efforts, bringing more computer programmers into journalism, and creating an initiative for women media entrepreneurs.
As far as news trends are concerned, the J-Lab executive director says she believes that the "definitions of 'news' and the delivery systems will increasingly be influenced by smart innovators, and no longer closely held by a club of mainstream news organizations."
Newsdesk recently had a chance to sit down and talk with J-Lab Executive Director Jan Schaffer about the center, it's projects, and prospects for the future.
See this release and the "Conversation With..." feature at:http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/scitech/release.cfm?ArticleID=1318
A hi-rez picture of Executive Director Jan Schaffer is available.
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