The Innovation Journalism Blog

W EDNE S D A Y, A P R I L 0 7 , 2 0 1 0

Slovenian Conference on Innovation

Communication

Some great news from Slov enia (I added

links):

On Apr 7 , 2010, at 13:08, Violeta Bulc

wrote:

Ok.. tomorrow is a big day ... Slov enian

Conference on Innov ation

communication (one of the 4 tracks is

innovation journalism).. we hav e 183

registered participants; we will also

give away 27 awards in different categories for InJo for

2009. Rx, Violeta

ps; the new director of our the biggest daily newspaper

(DELO) has mentioned y esterday in his speech that the

restructuring of the newspaper will be based on innov ation

journalism principles, fresh approach and new technologies

POSTED BY DAV ID NORDFORS AT 5:11 PM 2 COMM ENTS

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S UND A Y, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 0

Examples of Flavors of InJo

Here are some examples

illustrating different

ty pes of InJo, all relating

to the iPad launch. Note

I J - 7 A C A D EM I C T R A C K S I T E

S T A Y I N T O UC H

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6/30/2010 The Innovation Journalism Blog

http://blog.innovationjournalism.org/ 1/26

that this is v ery tech-

slanted InJo. Remember

that InJo can also be

social/cultural/business-oriented. Innovation is the introduction

of novelties, the process of transforming ideas into new v alue in

society . Technology is an enabler, and sometimes - but far from

alway s - the key driv er of innov ation.

Here goes:

1 . InJo covering the innovation release. This story by Chris

Foresman in arstechnica is close to a product rev iew, only it

comes before the release, in the v ery last part of the innov ation

process, speculating on the product, the release and how it will

affect Apple:

2. InJo covering the ability to innovate, and the future

directions. The story by Seth Weintraub in ComputerWorld Blogs:

Apple hires Richard De Vaul - specialist on wearable computers

(e.g. computers embedded in clothes) - as "Senior Prototy pe

Engineer". By interviewing De Vaul on his past we get a picture of

Apple's possible future. The story gets traction from the iPad

launch - as we are waiting for the iPad to come, we get curious

about what may come after that.

3. InJo speculating on the future - columnist sty le. Here is

one of my fav orites - Dav id Carnoy /CNET published this fictitious

dialogue between Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Apple's Stev e Jobs

upon the launch of the Kindle. It was a critical rev iew of the design

of the Kindle (published in the rev iews section), but at a same time

an early v isionary speculation of the iPad.

POSTED BY DAV ID NORDFORS AT 4:49 AM 0 COMM ENTS

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S UND A Y, M A R C H 1 4 , 2 0 1 0

Nokia chairman delivers Finnish InJo prize

The chairman of Nokia and Roy al Dutch Shell, Jorma Ollila, will

▼ 2010 (7 )

▼ April (1)

Slovenian Conference on

Innov ation Communication

► March (2)

► February (1)

► January (3)

► 2009 (23)

► 2008 (23)

► 2007 (44)

► 2006 (21)

I J - X T HE C O NF ER ENC E S O N

I NNO V A T I O N J O UR NA L I S M

IJ-6 The Sixth Conference on

Innovation Journalism 2008

IJ-5 The Fifth Conference on


IJ-4 The Fourth Conference on


IJ-3

2006:Program/Abstracts/Bios

IJ-3 2006: Proceedings

IJ-2

2005:Program/Abstracts/Bios

IJ-2 2005: Papers

IJ-1 2004:Program/Abstracts/Bios

IJ-1 2004: Papers

P UB L I C A T I O N S

INNOVATION JOURNALISM

PUBLICATION SERIES ISSN

1549-9049

The Injo Doer: Stories by Injo

Fellows published by hosting

newsrooms

A B O UT

The VINNOVA-Stanford Research

Center of Innov ation Journalism

Innovation Journalism in

Wikipedia

About Innovation Journalism and



deliv er the Innov ation Cry stal prize awarded for a particularly

well-produced innov ation-related story in Helsinki, Finland on the

25th of March. This is the fourth time the Finnish Society for

Innov ation Journalism (www.finjo.fi) arranges the competition

that this y ear has attracted a record number of nominations. The

ev ent also marks a new momentum for Finjo that under its new

chairman, Carl-Gustav Linden, a 2008 participant in the

Innov ation Journalism program at Stanford, is raising its profile in

the debate on the future of this country with just over five million

inhabitants.

Finland is profiled as the world´s first country that implemented

an Innovation Policy Program based on R&D and knowledge, as

early as 1990. Finjo, founded three y ears ago, is another first; so

far the only association in the world formally committed to

Innov ation Journalism, that is journalism about innov ation and

innov ations in journalism. The word innov ation is somewhat

tainted by hy pe and rhetoric.

“I think it´s easier to get the message through if we talk about

renewal processes or social change. I also believ e that the deep

recession Finland and parts of the world is in right now makes the

issue more urgent and people more responsive. It’s a sort of

Finland 2.0 discourse”, says Carl-Gustav Linden who is a business

writer and researcher at Univ ersity of Helsinki.

Finjo brings a broad v ariety of experts together –journalists,

communication specialists, researchers, bureaucrats and business

people for sharing thoughts on topics v ary ing from the effects of

social media to the R&D policy of the European Union. Openness is

may be one of the strongest assets of Finland and the rest of the

Nordic countries, where Linux and My SQL are just two examples

of where open and v oluntary collaboration can lead.

“Ev en though Finland has been ahead of the rest in forming

innov ation policy there is a need for politicization and

democratization and I believe Finjo is be just the right venue for

these discussions”, say s Carl-Gustav Linden.


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T HUR S D A Y, F E B R UA R Y 1 1 , 2 0 1 0

IJ-7 Academic Track - Call For Papers

IJ-7 The Seventh Conference on InnovationJournalism

Stanford University, Stanford CA

About Innovation Journalism and

Innovation Journalism

Fellowship Alumni list

A F F I L I A T ED L I NK S : B L O G S &

C O NT I NO US L Y UP D A T ED S I T E

Innovation Journalism Official Site

Innovation Journalism in Slov enia

Innovation Journalism in Finland

European Journalism Center

Jan Sandred's InJo Blog

Violeta Bulc (Vibacom) Blog

L I N K S :

Finnish National InJo Fellowhip

Program

CO NT R I B UT O R S

alisonmurdock

Dav id Nordfors



June 7-9, 2010

IJ-7 The Seventh Conference on Innovation Journalism isa venue for researchers from many disciplines andinstitutions to present work and ideas relating to theinterplay of journalism and other forms of communicationin innovation ecosystems. IJ-7 is also a meeting place forresearchers and journalism professionals to discuss thebest ways of covering innovation in the news, the businessof doing that work, and how innovation journalisminteracts with society. The conference welcomes a variedset of participants: Working journalists, policy-makers injournalism and innovation, academic researchers, facultyand research students in related areas of commerce,communication and journalism, and other professionalsconnected to the media industry.

The Conference is hosted at Stanford University underthe auspices of the Vinnova Stanford Research Center onInnovation Journalism. The Innovation Journalism Centerwelcomes faculty and graduate student submissions on alltopics related to communication and innovation. TheProgram Committee specifically welcomes strongtheoretical and empirical contributions without regard toparticular methodological approach, professional context(including journalism, advertising, public relations,strategy and innovation, and the standard social sciencedisciplines) and overall orientation of the research(theoretical, descriptive, philosophical, pedagogical,methodological or practical).

“The Prinjos” –The Prizes for Best InnovationJournalism Paper

The best papers in each of the following three categorieswill receive a recognition for “Best Paper at theInnovation Journalism Conference at Stanford 2010”:

1. The Grand Prinjo: best conference paper among allsubmissions.

2. The Junior Prinjo: best paper submitted by graduatestudents.

3. The Journalist Prinjo: best paper submitted bypractitioners.

Manuscript Submission

Authors may submit paper proposals or full papers.

Paper Proposal – 500-700 words. Open until April 1, 2010

Full Paper – max 25 pages excluding bibliography andappendices. Open until June 1, 2010.



Please make the submission documents anonymous –author(s) identity must not be displayed. Please provide aseparate page with paper title and an abstract of no morethan 75 words; write name, affiliation and all contactinformation of the author(s) on that page with theabstract. Format should be Word, citations in HarvardStyle. Paper and abstract must be sent as attachments inone email to

[email protected]

SUBMISSION OF PAPER PROPOSALS

If you want to test if your idea for a paper is welcomed bythe Program Committee before undertaking the work ofproducing a paper, submit a paper proposal by April 1 andindicate that you would like to submit a complete paper. Ifour reviewers favor your proposal, you will receive aninvitation to submit a paper before June 1. Your full paperwill then be reviewed and given the status of either‘reviewed paper’ or ‘paper in progress’ at the Conference.

SUBMISSION OF FULL PAPERS

You may submit a paper directly, without first submittinga proposal. Your paper may be accepted as a ‘reviewedpaper’, ‘paper in progress’, or – if it does not meet thecriteria of the conference – ‘rejected’. Please submit fullpapers to [email protected] any timebefore June 1, 2010.

The Review Process

All papers will undergo blind peer review. The reviewprocess is humane, including reasonable turnaround timeon submissions and firm but polite critique. Papers arereviewed in the order they are received and authors willreceive answers as soon as the paper has been evaluated.Authors of accepted papers are expected to present theirpapers at the Innovation Journalism Conference atStanford University. Authors of rejected full papers areinvited to participate in the conference without presentingtheir work. No conference fee is collected.

.

Main themes of IJ-7 Academic Track:� How journalism and innovation interact.� How journalism can cover innovation processes and

innovation ecosystems.� Towards a systems view: Public attention and

attention work in innovation communicationecosystems, the stakeholders and audiences, and theinteraction between these elements.

Examples of research topics of interest:� Professional norms, values, codes of ethics and



principles of innovation journalism.� How newsrooms and other professional organizations

affect the coverage of innovation.� Democracy and governance: The role of journalism in

the innovation economy.� Concept of attention work, the professional generation

and brokering of attention.� Concept of innovation communication systems; the

flow of attention in innovation systems.� How innovation processes and innovation ecosystems

interact with public attention, with news media as anactor.

� Interdependencies between journalism and otheractors in the innovation system.

� The roles of reputation and trust in the innovationecosystem.

� Business Models for innovation journalism.� Models of innovation and media, including firm,

industry and economy-wide innovation systems.� Governance, accountability and innovation in and by

journalists and media actors.� State of the art as well as theory and practice in the

teaching of innovation journalism.� Innovation journalism and feminism.

Information about the conference and accepted paperswill be posted on:

http://www.innov ationjournalism.org , the general InJo site, and

the forthcoming conference sites

http://ij7 .innovationjournalism.org alias http://ij7 .stanford.edu

Program Committee

IJ-7 Chair: David Nordfors, Executive Director,VINNOVA-Stanford Research Center of InnovationJournalism.

IJ-7 Academic Track Chair: Kirsten Mogensen, VisitingInJo Researcher, Stanford University and AssociateProfessor, Roskilde University.

Turo Uskali, University of Jyväskylä, Finland and SeniorResearch Scholar. VINNOVA Stanford Center.

Marc Ventresca, University Lecturer in Strategy, SaïdBusiness School, University of Oxford; Senior ResearchScholar, VINNOVA Stanford Center; and ResearchFaculty, Global Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School

Doctoral Student Bettina Maisch, Institute for Media andCommunication Management at University of St.GallenandVisiting Researcher, Center for Design Research atStanford

Program Committee Contact:



Professor Kirsten Mogensen: [email protected]

Visiting Innovation Journalism Researcher

Vinnova-Stanford Research Center of InnovationJournalism, Stanford University.


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S A T UR D A Y, J A NUA R Y 3 0 , 2 0 1 0

InJo TV Series Wins "Brand of the Year"

InJo is a concept for successful journalism. I hav e been say ing it

since I coined the concept, and I hav e often had to argue for my

case.

SAMAA TV in Pakistan

embraced the Innov ation

Journalism journalism

concept and started the series

"INNOVATION" in 2009. That

InJo series has now been

awarded "Brand of the Y ear",

beating +500 innovation

brands from all industries,

winning both the consumer

v ote and the expert panel ranking. It's the first time a journalistic

product wins the award. On top of that, SAMAA won the Corporate

Social Responsibility award, an achiev ement SAMAA say s

happened due to its InJo approach.

Congratulations to Amir Jahangir, CEO of SAMAA TV, Shahray

Zariff, Executiv e Producer of the INNOVATION series, and Fatima

Akhtar, anchor and team member of the show, who will be an InJo

Fellow 2010 at Stanford.

SAMAA's success tells us some things:

1. INJO IS POPULAR JOURNALISM

2. INJO CAN BE CENTRAL IN INNOVATION SYSTEMS

3. INJO WORKS IN EMERGING ECONOMIES

The Stanford news release is here below, followed by the SAMAA

release. Here is an introductory v ideo of the award winning

INNOVATION InJo TV series (in English):



STANFORD UNIVERSITY NEWS SERVICE

Jan 26 2010.

(Here is the news release on Stanford's news web. Here is a copy in

PDF)

Collaboration between StanfordInnovation Journalism Center and aPakistani TV station honored

The award-winning program "Innovation" is dedicated to

identifying innovation in all aspects of Pakistani life, and has

covered issues ranging from alternative energy to mobile

banking.

BY AIMEE MILES

A collaborativ e effort between the Vinnov a Stanford Research

Center of Innov ation Journalism and a Pakistani telev ision

station, SAMAA TV, is receiv ing an award for its role in bringing

local issues of innov ative dev elopment to the forefront of public

awareness in Pakistan.

"Innov ation," a telev ision program featured on SAMAA, was

named "Brand of the Y ear 2009" in a category recognizing

products and serv ices that sharpen public focus on processes of

innov ation and competitiv eness in Pakistan. The series beat out

more than 500 competitors from v arious industries in a

nationwide judging that included a consumer surv ey and an

expert panel analy sis. Pakistani Prime Minister Y ousaf Raza Gilani

is scheduled to present the award in February .



The idea for the

telev ision series was

conceived by the CEO

of SAMAA TV, Amir

Jahangir, who sits on

an adv isory board for

the Innovation

Journalism Center

(also known as the "InJo" Center) at Stanford. The

series is dedicated to identify ing innov ation in all aspects of

Pakistani life, and has covered issues ranging from alternativ e

energy to mobile banking.

"[The Pakistanis] have created something of theirs with

information and adv ice from us that has created a new model of

media programming there that adds something to traditional

journalism," said Dav id Nordfors, founding executiv e director of

the InJo Center. "It's a y oung, progressiv e, innov ativ e and

politically moderate TV company ."

"[Jahangir] decided that SAMAA should start an Innov ation

Journalism TV series, that shouldn't be only about gadgets or only

about business or technology , but look at how business,

technology , and politics interact, about how innovation happens,

and identify different actors in the ecosy stem and get the whole

picture. SAMAA's producer Shahray Zariff and her team did an

excellent job in setting that up."

Nordfors identified the collaboration as a promising example of

positiv e U.S.-Pakistani relations.

Four Pakistani journalists come to Stanford each y ear as InJo

fellows, funded by the United States Agency for International

Development (USAID). The objectiv e of the fellowship is to train

international journalists to cov er the innovation economy and

network with U.S. media outlets. Fellows participate in workshops

and conferences at Stanford and work with newsrooms across the

nation covering issues relating to innov ation. Fatima Akhtar,

anchor and team member of the award-winning SAMAA series,

will begin a fiv e-month fellowship at the InJo Center in February .

"Pakistan used to be a very closed country — almost all journalism

in Pakistan is about Pakistan, for Pakistani people. They 'v e

actually started taking in InJo fellows from other areas of the

world as expert

commentators," said Nordfors. "It's v ery nice to see that it actually

turned out to be a smash hit because this is really a new creature

in Pakistani journalism."



The first innov ation journalism program started at Stanford in

2004, Nordfors said. "Our network today includes funded

innov ation journalism initiatives in Sweden, Finland, Slov enia,

Mexico, Pakistan, Israel and the EU — all connected to the center

at Stanford," he said.

SAMAA TV Press Release

(Here is the release on SAMAA's web, here is a copy in PDF)

"INNOVATION" receives BRAND OFTHE YEAR, 2009 Award

Upadated on: 27 Jan 10 07 :40 AM

Islamabad, 25th January – “Innov ation,” a telev ision program

featured on SAMAA TV, one of Pakistan’s leading Urdu news

channels has been named “Brand of the Y ear 2009” in a category

recognizing products and serv ices that sharpen public focus on

processes of innov ation and competitiv eness in Pakistan.

The program, a joint collaboration between the Vinnov a-Stanford

Research Center of Innov ation Journalism (INJO) at Stanford

Univ ersity and SAMAA TV beat out more than 500 other

competitors from v arious industries in a nationwide consumer

surv ey and an expert panel analysis. SAMAA will be receiv ing the

award by Prime Minister Mr. Y ousaf Raza Gilani in an ev ent

scheduled in February .

The award is being giv en to SAMAA for launching Pakistan’s first

dedicated program on innov ation and for establishing the genre as

an important journalistic beat in Pakistan. The Program has been

recognized as the key source through which the journalistic

cov erage of innovation processes and ecosystems in Pakistan has

been integrated into the national socio-economic dev elopment

plan. The program has also been applauded for play ing a leading

role in bringing local issues of innov ativ e dev elopment to the

forefront of public awareness in Pakistan.

Speaking to Amir Jahangir, Chief Executiv e Officer of SAMAA TV,

he said “The program success is based on hard work and a great

network of INJO fellows across the world, who through their

expertise has been adv ising on the program content, sharing

research, commenting on innov ation topics and providing

solutions through their input and v iews. Due to this collaboration,

the content of our program has been acknowledged as being

credible, containing relev ant issues and making efforts in bringing

together the relevant stakeholders of each industry to find

innov ativ e measures to cater the society needs”.



Mr. Jahangir further said that “The global dev elopment has made

our world smaller and our communication more effectiv e. We

want to bring innov ation to the homes of ev ery Pakistani citizen,

so that their awareness and ability to be innov ativ e is nurtured.

Our future lies in the hands of innovation and for that we need to

prepare a workforce which not only knows how to be innovativ e

but also how to link it to the economic dev elopment”.

Amir Jahangir also shared that SAMAA is the only media channel

in Pakistan, which has been recognized both national as well as

internationally for being a responsible business operator using

innov ation journalism techniques as part of business strategy .

This acknowledgement was giv en to SAMAA by the Asian Forum

for Corporate Social Responsibility , who awarded SAMAA the

Asian CSR Excellence Award 2009 as the only channel in Asia, for

being a responsible business operator creating v alue for its

v iewers and empowering marginalized communities for a better

tomorrow. SAMAA has also recently won the National CSR

Excellence Award 2009, which no channel has received so far.

Dr. David Nordfors, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the

VINNOVA-Stanford Research Center of Innov ation Journalism

coined the term “Innov ation Journalism” in 2003. Dr. Nordfors

said that “SAMAA has proven the v iability for the Innov ation

Journalism as a genre in Pakistan, and emerging economies. This

award is not alone a milestone for SAMAA TV but also for the

Innov ation Journalism Initiativ e at Stanford ”. He said that by

being the first, SAMAA TV is leading the way for other media

channels both in Pakistan as well as across the world.

Dr. David Nordfors specially acknowledged Amir Jahangir, CEO

SAMAA TV for the strong leadership and commitment in bringing

innov ation to the Pakistani media. Mr. Nordfors said that Mr.

Jahangir’s strong belief in linking innov ation to economic

dev elopment would play a crucial role in creating a new

ecosy stem in the Pakistan economy.

The program series is dedicated to identify ing innov ation in all

aspects of Pakistani life, and has cov ered issues ranging from

alternative energy to mobile banking.

Mr. Arif Allauddin, CEO Alternativ e Energy Dev elopment Board

also appreciated SAMAA TVs program stating that “ it was the first

of its kind show which showcased how different countries are

addressing their energy needs using alternativ e energy -Thus,

giv ing the Gov ernment of Pakistan the opportunity to learn and

benefit from their experiences and serv e as guidelines for us”. He

said that the program has been engaging InJo fellows across the

world and coming up with global solutions to local issues, which

are required more now than ev er, as Pakistan continues to face

immense challenges in prov iding quality education, primary



healthcare, energy supply and employ ment opportunities for

y outh.

The INJO program at Stanford Univ ersity focus on building the

capacity of media professionals to report on innov ation, dev elop

interaction between journalism and innov ation, including how

innov ation is changing the profession and business of journalism,

how to cov er innov ation in the news, and how journalism links

innov ation with society . Four Pakistani journalists come to

Stanford each year as InJo fellows. The objectiv e of the fellowship

is to train international journalists to cov er the innovation

economy and network with US media outlets. Fellows participate

in workshops and conferences at Stanford and work with

newsrooms across the nation cov ering issues relating to

innov ation.

SAMAA TV is one of Pakistan’s leading priv ate satellite telev ision

channels, which takes pride in its fair, factual and independent

news cov erage through its on-the-hour bulletins, breaking stories,

incisiv e political analy sis and current affairs programs. The

channel is the first media channel is Pakistan to hav e established a

well-integrated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program as

part of it business activ ities.

The channel has also made a niche for itself through its programs

on women and youth issues besides infotainment and sports.

SAMAA TV, launched in December 2007 has network of district

correspondents and five bureaus across Pakistan along with

international stringers in the Middle East, Europe and North

America.

© SAMAA TV - 2008


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W ED NE S D A Y, J A NUA R Y 1 3 , 2 0 1 0

Future Talk TV Show on The Future of Journalism

The future of journalism in light of the new electronic media. Host

Martin Wasserman interv iews Dav id Nordfors, director of the

Center for Innov ation Journalism, and Tony Deifell, director of Q

Media Labs.




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F R I D A Y, J A NUA R Y 0 8 , 2 0 1 0

HOLD THE DATES 7-11 JUNE 2010. JI@ST

Conference Cluster at Stanford: IJ-7 + JTM

(The original, always up-to-date, version of this page is

here)

JI@ST - A Conference Cluster about Journalism and

Innovation:

IJ-7 : The Seventh Conference on Innovation

Journalism, June 7 -9 2010

JTM - Journalism That Matters, June 9-11 2010

Both conferences are held at Stanford Univ ersity .

These back-to-back conferences will take a thorough look on

journalism in the innov ation economy . The conferences are open

for all ty pes of participants with an interest in journalism and

innov ation. We are looking forward to an activ e, results-oriented

discussion between people of different professions and v iews.

(More details below.)

To receiv e calls for participation and registration, sign up here

(This is not the conference registration. The registration will come

later this spring.)

I J - 7 - T HE S E V ENT H C O NF ER ENC E O N I NNO V A T I O N J O UR NA L I S M



Organized by the VINNOVA-Stanford Research Center on

Innov ation Journalism at Stanford Univ ersity

Key topics:

- HOW JOURNALISM AFFECTS INNOVATION

- HOW INNOVATION AFFECTS JOURNALISM

- THE ABILITY OF JOURNALISM TO COVER INNOVATION

The conference includes key notes, presentations and workshops.

We hav e a multi-stakeholder approach, welcoming all ty pes of

scholars and professionals to take part in a discussion on the role

of journalism in the innov ation economy. The participants in this

conference come from all ov er the world, due to the international

character of the program.

A large part of the conference will be organized by the Innov ation

Journalism Fellows, who begin their Fellowships at Stanford in

Feb 2010. The Fellows this y ear c

ome from Sweden, Finland, Pakistan, Mexico and Slov enia. Like all

earlier y ears, the conference program will emerge in March-May .

The conference is like in 2009 scheduled to present an academic

track, where researchers will present papers. All IJ-7 participants

are welcome to sit in on the research presentations.

Check out the website of our prev ious IJ-6 conference and the IJ-

6 conference academic track.

Registration will open probably in March.

Keep up to date here on the Innovation Journalism Blog and the

Innovation Journalism Facebook Group

JTM - Journalism That Matters

JOURNALISM THAT MATTERS hosts conversations about the

emerging news ecology among the diverse ecosy stem of

journalism – reporters, editors, publishers, v ideographers,

photographers, media educators, reformers, v olunteer

journalists, and audience; from print, broadcast, and online

media, both mainstream and entrepreneurial.



It is a community of media innov ators and stakeholders that

blazes paths and builds bridges to a new news ecology . We

conv ene, connect, and inspire the div erse, engaged citizens who

are molding and leading the media of tomorrow.

Using the un-conference format, we will explore What do we

know and what do we want to know at the intersection of

journalism and innovation?

Conference sessions could explore questions such as: Giv en the

state of the industry , WHAT’s possible now? WHO are the new

journalists? HOW are stories chosen? HOW are they told? WHAT

kind of change is productiv e? WHO can the public trust? WHAT is

the role of journalism in connecting people and community ?

WHERE can editors find qualified contributors and information

with increasingly diminished budgets? WHAT new technological

sources are reliable? WHERE is the new newsroom? WHEN are

beat blogs, twittering and social networks best utilized? WHY is

transparency so important? HOW do we maintain transparency

and accountability while protecting sources?

Check out the website of our January JTM - Re-Imagining News &

Community in the Pacific NorthWest


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T HUR S D A Y, D E C EM B ER 3 1 , 2 0 0 9

Prisoners Dilemma at COP15 in Copenhagen;

Meanwhile in Mei Lin's Kitchen

(Th is blog post w a s pu blish ed

by Hu ffin g ton Post 3 1 Dec

2 009 )

On December 9, world

leaders debated global

climate in Copenhagen and

Obama was in Oslo to

accept his Nobel. I was

sharing a glass of wine with

Doug Engelbart, father of personal computing as we know it, in the

kitchen of Mei Lin Fung, Doug's long-time friend, in Palo Alto. It

was a potluck dinner, shoes off, sparing Mei Lin's floors. I sensed

links. Half a world away , people were commemorating the world's

biggest problems, preparing for gala dinners, while we toasted the

birth of perhaps the most powerful tool in human hands, sitting in

that cozy kitchen among people who had made it happen.



Doug was guest of honor. In San Francisco, on Dec 9 1968, his

'Mother of All Demos' gav e birth to the modern PC: Doug and his

SRI team, with chief engineer Bill English, demo'ed for the first

time personal computing as we recognize it today , showing the

first computer mouse, interactiv e text, v ideo conferencing,

teleconferencing, email, hypertext and a collaborative real-time

editor.

While Obama was receiv ing his

Nobel, the Copenhagen Climate

Conference was becoming a giant

prisoners' dilemma. If all cut

emissions, all win. If nobody cuts,

all lose. If some cut but not others,

non-cutters win more than cutters.

Which courageous leader will

commit first? As fictional Jim

Hacker, Minister of Administrativ e

Affairs in the political satire 'Y es, Minister' say s: "Courageous? I

don't want to do any thing courageous! That's the kind of thing that

ends careers." Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt's was not happy : "Who

sets the speed of progress? The least ambitious."

When groups face common problems, power goes to those who

must agree for any thing to happen. Often their political power and

the v alue of their 'OK' grows as they hold out--supply and demand.

If the problem is bad and people want their 'OK' they say 'Well, first

Y OU must [insert demads here].' They may be conscientious,

backed by their constituencies, so it might not seem immoral.

Leaders build power, stature and wealth for their followers by

gatekeeping. Some may get a Nobel, others may end up in the

International Criminal Court in the Hague. The need for consensus

breeds gatekeeping. That's the game.

Back to Mei Lin's kitchen. It

might be closer to the solution

than banquet halls in world

capitals. The name 'Mother of All

Demos' came later. The actual

name marking the birth of real

personal computing was 'a

research center for augmenting

human intellect.' Doug's idea was

not to make computers smarter,

it was to help people be smarter.

Computers had been about

automation, replacing but not

augmenting intellect. Doug was lucky , a chosen researcher



supported by J.C.R. 'Lick' Licklider at ARPA, the v isionary

accredited for planting the seeds of computing in the digital age.

Normal funders disdained people like Doug: the ideas did not fit

their funding.

Lick coined the "intergalactic computer network," a v ision of

computers collaborating. The Internet protocol that enabled it

was invented by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn. Vint - often referred to as

'father of the Internet' - is today at Google, still reforming

civilization.

Doug hosted the second node of the Arpanet, the predecessor of

the Internet, at his SRI center, believ ing that by networking PCs

humanity could improv e its 'collectiv e intelligence' and solv e

tougher problems: such as av oid nuclear wars, stop pandemics

and solv e env ironmental issues. Solutions v ia traditional

multilateral agreements may be hard: they engender gatekeeping,

brinkmanship and cheating on agreements.

But through improved PCs and the Internet, it is easier to

innov ate, to introduce game-changing nov elties, that can by pass

obstacles to getting things done. If gatekeepers disagree, innov ate

and re-design the game to work without them.

This is happening in IT, including music, entertainment and

media, not the least journalism. For example, Creativ e Commons

is an innov ation of copyright in the digital age. HuffPo

bloggerEster Wojcicki, Chairwoman of Creativ e Commons, as well

as the Palo Alto High School Teacher of Mei Lin's daughter among

other kids, was also with us at Mei Lin's this ev ening.

Voices--including Thomas Friedman's--are say ing that innov ation,

not multilateral regulation, should driv e the climate issue. The

ideal: a balance between innov ation and regulation. Necessary

international agreements can be driv en by the innovation

ecosy stem, putting gatekeepers at risk of being bypassed. And

international agreements can enable the innovation ecosy stem,

through creating incentives.

Giv en the impact of personal computers and the Internet on

humanity , I was struck by the intimacy in Mei Lin's kitchen v s. the

grandeur of the manifestations of the world's problems in Oslo and

Copenhagen. As Copenhagen opened our ey es to the difficulties of

creating consensus in a cy nical world, perhaps in 2010 meetings

in kitchens and garage startups will be equally important to

multilateral negotiations in large congress centers. One could

leverage the other.

PS. The achiev ement of 'the



Mother of All Demos' was

astonishing. Mei Lin: "That

demo was nev er supposed to

work." It might not hav e if not

for Bill English. Bill was there,

showing his new cell phone.

Later it became known that Google had given beta v ersions of its

own Android to selected people (Bill probably among them). Did

any one in Oslo or Copenhagen get one?


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F R I D A Y, D EC EM B ER 1 1 , 2 0 0 9

Slovenian InJo-InCo 2009 Manifesto

Violeta Bulc's Vibacom have

released the InJo-InCo 2009

Manifesto, the project is lead

by Estera Lah P0ljak. The

publication is in Slov enian,

there is a summary in English

here. It starts like this:

"Identify ing significant

ev ents and projects,

becoming aware of their

importance in time and

space, critically assessing

their advantages and

challenges, capturing

responses of different

stakeholders, proposing initiativ es and future activ ities.

These were our guidelines in drafting

the second issue of our annual publication, the InJo-InCo

Manifesto 2009. All of the above is also included in the

principles of innov ation journalism, from which the InCo

mov ement as a business-civ il initiativ e was initiated and

grew into wider innov ation communication projects

interconnecting different stakeholders of the innovation

space based on dialogue. This publication is a result of this

active involvement. The title “Manifesto” itself demands

action or manifestation, thus we start by proposing

initiativ es for an innov ativ e breakthrough of Slovenia

drafted based on the philosophy , dialogue and experiences

of the InCo mov ement in the field of innov ation

communication and journalism in 2009. These initiativ es

are accompanied by commitments the InCo mov ement will

fulfil in 2010 and which we believ e will raise awareness

about creativ ity and innovation in Slovenian space."


LINKS TO THIS POST



by Mark Glaser, December 10, 2009

PBS Mediashift InJo Feature

(Mark Glaser's PBS Mediashift published a v ery nice feature on

Innov ation Journalism. Mark is a leading innovation journalist

himself, albeit not using that label, cov ering all aspects of

innov ation in journalism. The Mediashift blog is an important

read, I hav e had it in my RSS feed for some time, and am now

subscribing to the Twitter feeds @mediatwit (Mark Glaser) and

@pbsmediashift.

Here is the beginning of Mark's piece - read all of it on PBS

Mediashift.

STANFORD PROGRAM BREAKS DOW NW ALLS BETW EEN BUS INE SS , TECHJOURNALISM

Tagged: david nordfors, innovation,innovation journalism, stanford university

I am so used to hearing about innovation in

journalism that when I first heard about

theInnovation Journalism program at Stanford, I

assumed that's what it focused on. Not exactly.

The VINNOVA-Stanford Research Center of

Innovation Journalism actually focused on helping

journalists cover the field of innovation. David

Nordfors, a Swedish punk rocker-turned-

molecular-physicist-turned-journalist, found that

journalists were stuck in silos of "business

journalism" and "technology journalism" and

couldn't see the big picture of innovation.

In 2003, Nordfors started the Innovation

Journalism program, bringing mid-career

journalists from around the world to Stanford

University as fellows. They were placed in San

Francisco Bay Area newsrooms to learn the new

ways that reporters and bloggers were covering

technology and innovation. Those newsrooms

include the Wall Street Journal, San Francisco

Chronicle, CNET and even the Technologizer

blog. There's also an annual Conference on

Innovation Journalism at Stanford, where the

fellows present their work and discuss related

topics.



While the program was set up to help journalists

do a better job of covering the topic of innovation,

there is now a need for journalists to do a better

job of covering innovation in journalism itself.

Nordfors told me that journalists charged with

covering the media are good practitioners of

innovation journalism, because they are mixing

business, technology, lifestyle and political

journalism in one beat. He stresses that

journalists need to break out of their silos and go

across disciplines for better coverage of

innovation.

I recently sat down with Nordfors at Stanford to

talk about the Innovation Journalism program,

and get his take on the current state of journalism,

and how media companies -- and even

journalism schools -- need to change. The

following is an edited transcript of our

conversation, including audio and video clips.

[ read the rest of it on PBS Mediashift / David.]


LINKS TO THIS POST

LABELS: DAV ID NORDFORS, INNOV AT ION JOURNALISM , M ARK GLASER,

M EDIASHIFT

S UND A Y, D EC EM B ER 0 6 , 2 0 0 9

Journalism Needs a Business Model for the Truth

(This story

is also

published

through

the

Huffington

Post)

Journalism's first obligation is to the truth. Discussions about

Truth and Objectiv ity in journalism often become questions of



journalistic ethics and the trustworthiness of indiv iduals and

brands. These are good things but increasingly inadequate in

backing up a story .

Conv incing people the news is true by say ing "because I told y ou

so" is not working as well as it used to. The Internet is making it

harder. Today people can read almost any news publication on the

Internet, or check the sources of journalistic stories.

Some trusted news brands and indiv iduals hav e experienced

major scandals in recent y ears. The New Y ork Times suffered from

the fake star journalist Jayson Blair. Iconic anchor Dan Rathers of

CBS’ high-profile inv estigative journalism show "60 Minutes"

tripped with the fabricated Killian documents, and was brought

down by blogger Charles Johnson.

How can professional journalism maintain its reputation for truth

and objectiv ity ?

The truth is often elusiv e. Ev ents can hav e many explanations.

Other circumstances are not what they seem. What we believe to

be true today may be in doubt tomorrow. And then, of course,

there has to be a news angle.

Physicists deal with the truth as closely as any one can come to it.

In science, models that can't predict are discarded and non-

repeatable experiments dismissed. When scientific researchers

write an article, the reader must alway s be giv en enough

information to be able to repeat the observ ation. Otherwise the

article should not be published.

Journalistic stories are much less accountable. A journalistic

story rarely supplies readers with knowledge and references that

lets the readers confirm the story . Links to information sources

central for the story , ev en public ones readily av ailable on the

Internet, are omitted. Especially old-sty le journalism does not use

links and references, bloggers do, much more.

Journalists and news outlets committed to the truth can make it

into policy to link to important sources, and to write the news

stories such that audiences can see how sources and assumptions

were used to build the story . If readers reconstruct the story this

way , they can add their own research. They can discuss the v alue

of the sources, suggest other sources that were omitted, etc.

Traditional news organizations hav e nev er let that happen,

because links lead readers away from their site. In their ‘attention’

business model – attracting eyeballs to pages and selling them to

adv ertisers - the site needs to be sticky . Instead, the blogosphere

is leading the way in dev eloping the culture of linking to sources,

because it depends less on ads.



Unfortunately , professional journalism has deeply rooted

traditions. I was invited recently to a conference with the World

Economic Forum, where we discussed the role of journalism in

society . When I suggested that journalism should link to sources, a

world-leading news organization chief commented that they

wanted to do it and had tried, but their business did not allow it.

For many journalists, that ends the discussion. But this is not

where the discussion ends. Instead, it is where the discussion

begins. We need to ask: "What are the business models for the

principles of journalism?"

Societies that care about improv ing their collectiv e ability to

make priorities and informed decisions, need business models that

promote journalists to link to sources, so that both readers and

other journalists can check the stories and use them for continued

research.

Some people think professional journalism is finished, that it can

be replaced by citizen journalism or social interaction in social

networks. I disagree. Professional journalists hav e an incentiv e to

represent their audience. Who knows which incentiv es unpaid

journalists hav e, or who they hav e their mandate from?

Professional journalism is needed as much now as ever before.

With the Internet, peoples’ worlds of information are transforming

from silent rural isolation to the bustling cacophonies of the

metropolitan street. Journalists who focus public attention on

issues that interest the public, working in the interest of and with

the mandate of their audiences will be powerful. They will focus

public discussion enabling people to improv e society . The key for

that is in the business model – journalists need the right

incentives.


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S UND A Y, NO V EM B ER 2 2 , 2 0 0 9

Statement of The World Economic Forum Global

Agenda Council on the Future of Journalism



Three day s of intense meetings in Dubai are ov er, we made some

significant steps this y ear. The key point made by the Global

Agenda Council on the Future of Journalism - the council I take

part in - is that "journalism" and "the media" are no longer

synonyms. Journalism is still v ery much needed, but needs to

reorganize, to ex ist in a different capacity than "the media".

Here follows a

summary from the WEF

web site and other

places:

The second World

Economic Forum

Summit of the Global

Agenda closed today

with participants putting forward a host of ideas for redesigning

the global sy stem. The proposals debated by the Global Agenda

Councils will form the basis of discussion at the World Economic

Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, in

January . For more information on the Summit and the Network of

Global Agenda Councils, v isit http://www.weforum.org/gac

Here below is the final statement of the Global Agenda Council on

the Future of Journalism. The committee members who

participated in the council meeting in Dubai:

Amadou Mahtar Ba, President AllAfrica.com, Senegal

Charlie Beckett, Founding Director - Polis, London

School of Economics, United Kingdom

David Nordfors, Founding Exec Director, Innov ation

Journalism, Stanford, USA/Sweden

Guido Baumhauer, Director of Strategy , Marketing and

Distribution, Deutsche Welle, Germany

Rui Chenggang, Director & Anchor, co-founder CCTV-9,

People's Republic of China

Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-chief, The Indian Express,

India

Sulaiman Al Hattlan, CEO Arab Strategy Forum, Saudi

Arabia

Susan King, (Chairwoman), VP External Affairs, Director -

Journalism Initiativ e, Special Initiativ es and Strategy ,

Carnegie Corporation, USA

Ulrik Haagerup, Head of News, Danish Broadcasting

Corporation, Denmark

Wilfried Ruetten, Director - European Journalism Centre,

Netherlands/Germany

Zafar Siddiqi, Chairman/Founder CNBC Pakistan,

Chairman/co-founder CNBC Africa, Chairman/CEO CNBC

Arabiy a, Owner SAMAA TV, Chairman/co-founder



Murdoch Univ ersity Study Centre Dubai

The Global Agenda Council on the Future of Journalism

believ es there is a need to reconstruct journalism and its

relationship with the citizen and society . Public engagement

is transforming journalism, offering an historic opportunity

to create unprecedented increased v alue.

The media industry in general, and journalism in particular,

hav e been experiencing drastic changes which call into

question their role in mediating information to the benefit

of their audience as well as disrupting traditional business

models. Y et in an age when information is more important

than ever, journalism is v ital for building societies. It is a

systemic part of the social, env ironment. We need to build a

new technical, political and financial eco-sy stem to support

it.

There is a need to reinforce its basic principles: freedom of

expression, holding power to account, prov iding

information and a forum for debate, empowering citizens to

take decisions about their liv es. But mainstream journalism

must also recognise its past failings and take advantage of

new technologies and new social forces to reframe its

practice, role and purpose. Journalism has a responsibility

to not only mediate today ’s realities, which go bey ond

national borders, are complex and inter connected, but also

to engage local and global audiences/societies.

This poses an unprecedented set of professional challenges.

Ev en in regions where conventional journalism is still

growing as a commercial sector, it is also subject to the

impact of the same kinds of technological and social

changes. Likewise, the opportunities this paper identifies

are av ailable in div erse way s to all news media markets.

The Council believ es that it is necessary to redesign

organisations and identify business models that ensure the

sustainability of professional networked journalism as the

digital and mobile media hav e disrupted traditional

distribution models and rev enue streams. As a response,

news organisations need to ensure constant refining of their

talent pool’s professional skill set and equip them with

innovativ e tool kits. At the same time, to ensure

sustainability and relev ance, organisations with journalism

and journalists at their core may likely dev elop joint

networks and forge strategic partnerships by pooling

resources and sharing revenues.

At the same time, the journalism itself is changing and so

the business model that creates it must also be reinv ented.

There is a need to support the opportunity afforded by

networked media to dev elop a more constructive

journalism. This is based on some traditional values such as

the Right to Know and some familiar kinds of editorial work

such as inv estigativ e reporting. But new technologies

enable a different functionality . Internet and digital

journalism allows for fuller and more expansive story -

telling.



It affords the opportunity for a much greater connectiv ity

between experts, journalists and the public. But most

importantly , it allows the public to participate at all stages.

Journalism can now tap into the boundless resource of

knowledge and opinion within the audience. The role of the

journalist changes from gatekeeper to a networker. The best

obtainable v ersion of the truth remains the goal but trust is

not a giv en, it is a mutual relationship between the public

and journalist. The authority of journalism will be built by

the value it offers working with the citizen, not by a

professional code alone.

The Global Agenda Council on the Future of Journalism sees

as a priority the establishment and (self) enforcement of

global guiding principles for professional independent

journalism.

Existing Gaps:

1 . Can a global concept and practice for independent

professional journalism be encouraged in countries or

env ironments where a different set of v alues ex ists and

censorship still prev ails?

2. Journalists are inadequately appreciated and protected.

If journalism hopes to reinforce its role of watchdog for

abuses of power and democracy , how can accountable

journalists be v alued and safeguarded?

3. Journalism needs the following in their new business

models to continue to exist and fufill their commitment to

the global society :

Innov ation and new partnerships

New and improv ed sy stem of journalism education

Increased transparency and accountability

4. News organizations need to understand and lev erage the

new dy namic of the social media rev olution. Traditional

models of journalism are in danger of being marginalised as

public discourse shifts to direct and networked media

platforms, Journalism – both citizen and professional needs

to be fostered in these new spaces.

Journalism needs to integrate the two new principle

characteristics of digital media:

public participation

connectiv ity

Internet and social media permit engagement between the

audience and professional journalists as never before. The

new media interactiv ity promises a more dynamic business

and society - but there will be a period of creativ e

reordering that presents a challenge to all stakeholders.

This council believ es that there are common v alues across

div erse news media marketplaces as well as a global

interconnectedness. Journalism has a world-role as well as

a local or national function. This council believ es that when

it is networked, journalism offers a more sustainable



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business and a more socially useful way to inform and

communicate about our world. Journalism at its best will

continue to inform and inspire public debate and action.

But this will not happen automatically and needs

inv estment and strategic thinking, primarily by the

journalism industry itself, but also by government and civ il

society


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