More Al Gore

Al is talking about the systemic decay of the public forum; for instance, the rejection and dismissal of science. All this strikes Gore as "strange." He wants to recreate a meritocracy of the marketplace of ideas to stimulate more diversity of viewpoints. Many in the audience, he says, are doing this: a better informed American […]

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Al Gore speaks

Wow (again)! Al Gore is five feet away from me; Tipper Gore is six feet to my right. But enough about logistics … Al says: Thirty second television commercials are the only thing that matters in political discourse today. … There was a time when our political discourse was more vivid and clear and rested […]

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Al Gore and Andrew Nachison at We Media in New York

Al Gore and Andrew Nachison at We Media in New York Originally uploaded by MC We Media. Current TV Chairman and former Vice President Al Gore, or as he put it in his keynote, "The former next president of the United States" poses with Media Center Director Andrew Nachison prior to his keynote address at […]

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Speed dating

Well, was this fun or what? Our assignment during the break: To meet someone at another table in this very crowded room, exchange business cards, and network — make a connection. I met William H. Wilson, managing editor of the Elkhart (Ind.) Truth, which was kinda cool since I once worked at the South Bend […]

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Questions for We News panelists

Question – It seems that a lot of the people we are involving are already our core audience. How are we going to include more people into the conversation? Kramer said that the most important thing we can do is to keep explaining stories better and better by listening to the public. Getting people engaged […]

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How traditional organizations are adapting to the cultural change

Brown used the example of the NYT referring to the recent job cuts and asking how newsrooms are going to embrace the cultural change. Sambrook followed by saying the BBC is in the middle of a reorganization, a reprioritization of the digital on-demand envriornment. It’s a complete revamping to the whole organization. For many of […]

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Learning in Big Media

Merrill asks the panel how they will bring in citizen voice, citizen ideas. Sambrook says it a vast and critical move in big media. He notes that the BBC relied on citizen voices during the bombing. His answer, though, is much more than that. It’s about how to teach and learn how to change professional […]

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It starts at the top

It starts at the top, says Larry Kramer. You hear that sentiment over and over and over again. And it is SO true! CBS is educating its news division to "the new competitiveness." But top management must encourage this; insist on this. We confront people at CBS News every day about the way they do […]

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The relationship between source and public

Chideya continued to describe the relationship between source and public differs between her online journal Pop and Politics and NPR. When asked if he is fulfilling the role of the press in including citizens, Curley explained the difference between professional and consumer media, saying that AP photographers use a mixture. AP plans on remaining business […]

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We News Panel

Merrill Brown introduced We Media’s first session, "We News," saying that it’s ironic that the first panel is not necessarily ‘we media’, but ‘the media.’ Farai Chideya, Tom Curley, Larry Kramer and Richard Sambrook, all very respected figures of ‘the media’ sat on the panel. Brown asked each to briefly tell why they were here. […]

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More on We News

Farai Chideya:There is no real separation of the media anymore. Tom Curley (AP):Images (and audio) provided by citizens … Serves up the f-word before breakfast (something John Feinstein did on Saturday during the Navy football broadcast!) … Competitive challenges and WHO owns the rights. Larry Kramer (CBS):CBS has recently revamped its website (www.cbs.com) … Public […]

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Trust, learning, and culture

Trust is a paramount concept underpinning this collaborative society. I forgot to look to see who said that, but I think Andrew. It’s a two-way street, publishers and producers of media asking readers to trust them, and readers asking these producers to trust them too. Society becomes participatory. I’m a educational researcher who studies learning, […]

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