HAM420 Convergent Journalism

Melbourne Future of Journalism Summit – Program

Wednesday, November 26 – Telstra Conference Centre
Level 1,
242 Exhibition St (cnr Lonsdale & Exhibition streets),
Melbourne

$80 for non members

Program

9am-9.05am Welcome
Christopher Warren – Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance federal secretary and CEO of the Walkley Foundation

9.05am – 9.25am Launch of Life in the Clickstream – the future of journalism report and discussion of the findings of the Media Alliance mission to US and Western Europe
Matt Brown – producer, ABC Radio, Melbourne
Louise Connor – Alliance Victorian branch secretary
Terry O’Connor – production editor – couriermail.com.au, Queensland branch secretary
Ruth Pollard – Journalist – Sydney Morning Herald, Media Alliance federal president
Christopher Warren – Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance federal secretary and CEO of the Walkley Foundation

9.30-10.10am: In conversation – The state of the global news media
Phil Meyer ­­- Knight Chair of Journalism, University of North Carolina; author – The Vanishing Newspaper
Margaret Simons – Journalist and author – The Content Makers
Moderator: Matt Brown – producer, ABC Radio, Melbourne

10.15am – 10.55am The economics of journalism
Christian Guerra – head of communications, media and entertainment research – Goldman Sachs JBWere
Russel Howcroft – chairman and managing director of George Pattersons Y&R and panellist – ABC TV’s The Gruen Transfer
Ivor Ries – head of research, EL&C Baillieu Stockbroking, former Chanticleer columnist with the Australian Financial Review
Robert Gottliebsen - columnist, Business Spectator, former publisher Business Review Weekly
Moderator: Kathy Bowlen - presenter Stateline, ABC TV

10.55-11.10 Morning tea and networking

11.10am – 11.40pm Opportunities and challenges
Tony Wheeler – founder – Lonely Planet
Jane Schulze – media section editor, The Australian
James Kirby – editor – The Eureka Report
Moderator:  Damien Carrick - presenter/producer – The Law Report, ABC Radio National

11.45pm – 12.30pm Innovation
Matthew Ricketson – media and communications editor – The Age
Trevor Cook - author of Corporate Engagement blog
Rod Peno - editor- Wires and Lights in a Box blog - The Australian
Moderator: Paul Colgan – Deputy Editor of News Digital Media’s news.com.au

12.30-1.30 Lunch and networking

1.30-2.15pm: Keynote discussion – What next for the media?
Jan Schaffer – former Pulitzer Prize winner and executive director of J-Lab
Michael Gawenda – Director of the Centre for Advanced Journalism, University of Melbourne, former editor of The Age

2.15pm-3.00pm: Gadgets and applications – the technology transforming journalism
Asher Moses – Young Australian Journalist of the Year online winner
Stephen Quinn – Associate professor of journalism, Deakin University
Andrew Maiden – Director – Media Communications, Telstra
Moderator: Misha Ketchell - researcher, Media Watch, ABC TV

3.00pm – 3.15pm afternoon tea and networking

3.15pm – 3.55pm Building the journalist of the future
Lawrie Zion – Senior Lecturer and Journalism Coordinator, Media Studies Program, La Trobe University
Chris Smyth – Acting Dean of Murdoch University
Ian Royall – City Editor – Herald Sun and Cadet Trainer – Herald & Weekly Times Ltd
Colin McKinnon – Learning & Development Manager – Editorial – The Age
Moderator: Heather Ewart - journalist, The 7.30 Report, ABC TV

4.00pm – 4.55pm Connecting with the audience
Stephen Brook – assistant news editor – MediaGuardian.co.uk
Annie Fox – editor-in-chief, The Vine – Fairfax
Moderator: Jonathan Este – Director – Communications, Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance

5pm Close followed by drinks

I attended a public talk by Graeme Samuel, Chairman of the ACCC on Australia’s changing media laws and their possible impact..he said a lot of things, and you can read the full transcript on ACCC’s website. The interesting bit for us of course is that he says that newspapers and TV stations etc are only modes of delivering content, and that mergers or takeovers of these companies will not necessarily effect the content itself. He refused to speculate about whether the new cross media ownership laws will encourage concentration, or reduce diversity, but said that the ACCC is only a regulatory authority, and that it will analyse each case of a merger or takeover on the basis of its merit at that point.

There were journalists at the seminar, and a few asked questions about the impact of these laws on journalists–Mr. Samuel acknowledged that the journalist community was perhaps concerned about its survival, what with citizen journalism and all, and the possible increased concentration of ownership, but said that he does not see any threat to the survival of the clan. Matthew Ricketson, online content producer for the Age was present and asked Mr Samuel a related question, and I am considering getting in touch with him to see if he would like to comment on convergent journalism and its present and future.

Here are the sites we mentioned today

Ohmy News http://english.ohmynews.com/

The wikipedia entry for citizen journalism is really interesting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism 

As is the one for online journalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_journalism

Interestingly, there is no entry for “convergent journalism”.

And have a look at Fairfax Digital Productions
http://www.fairfax.com.au/productions.ac

and AFP (used by both Fairfax and News Limited)
http://www.afp.com/english/home/

Here are the sites we mentioned today

Ohmy News http://english.ohmynews.com/

Shoutwire http://www.shoutwire.com

Digg http://www.digg.com

The wikipedia entry for citizen journalism is really interesting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism

As is the one for online journalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_journalism

Interestingly, there is no entry for “convergent journalism”.

Acmi showcase

http://www.acmi.net.au/new_media.htm

ABC Online

http://abc.net.au/subjects.htm Look under the Broadband column

OJ420

http://www.swinmc.net/OJ420/

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060807fa_fact1

Speaking of which – check out

Oh My News http://english.ohmynews.com/

Today we examined the three major daily newspapers in Melbourne and compared them to their online sites. We wanted to answer the following questions about each news site:

What is the structure of the front screen?
What categories is the site divided into?
How closely does the site resemble the print version? Are there additions/ What are they?
What new media elements are present?
How is hyperlinking used? Internally? Externally?
How web aware is the site – use of XML, search customization?
Describe the use of layout, graphics, design, typography?
Describe the quantity and type of adverstising – how well integrated is it?

You can read our answers here