“Journalism is really conversation among citizens”

Tom Rosenstiel talks about public houses and how people would log what they had seen on their way to the public houses, and others would come and read those logs.

“I think if I dropped a grenade in the room last night, I couldn’t have hit a Republican”

The issue isn’t whose a journalist, but what is news and information that people wants and that is useful to society.

There are many types of news. Breaking news has become a commodity.

Jeff Jarvis:
What do we do in journalism?

Moderate and authenticate. We provide tools, and we should educate.

We need to bring people in, and then we can talk with them.

Tom:
I don’t see the divide. Bloggers are the best readers, and we read blogs. These are the people that engaged.

Jon Donley talks a bit about how the best journalism with Katrina was by the folks with their digital cameras on the front line, on the roofs watching the flood waters rise, as everyone else is in their bunkers listening to other folks in their bunkers.

Opinion: Sounds like a lot of bunk from the bunkers.

Helen Thomas talks about verifying the truth, which brings about a little discussion on the IRC backchannel.

The issues that come up is that as you have bloggers online, how do you verify that it isn’t Astroturf? How does this fit a conversation and verifying topics that come up in a communication?

Chris Peck talks a bit about the conversation and the tendency of people only access news from their community.

Amy Eisman talks about teaching citizens to become journalists. They start on BBC and the ‘brands’, New York Times, CNN. Then, the social networks.

Josh Wilson talks about being ‘a member of the Post-McLuhan generation.’

Opinion: As I listen to all of this, the Dylan lyrics come to mind:
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Tom: “When information is in greater supply, knowledge is in less supply.”

Tish has put up a good post about this session. “Journalists talking about the people, not with the people”.

This ties in nicely with the Q&A session where people are talking about how the traditional media doesn’t have the resources to fully cover the news. Well, maybe if journalists would talk more with the people and less at or about the people, they would find the resources are out there.

Journalism is about democracy, not business models.

Update:

Josh Wilson talks about how the whole Red State/Blue State divide is a myth but if you tell stories that are well written, people will want to read them and it will generate real discourse.

The session ends off with members of the panel talking about their definitions of Journalism, to which Steve Garfield comments on the IRC:
“the intelligence is in the room”.

That, I believe, captures the real issue with Journalism, and conferences.