How can we reshape journalism so that it engages and serves all people & communities?

Participate in "Journalism That Matters Detroit -- Create or Die: Forging communities that initiate, incubate and innovate." 

This focused, three-day gathering of results-driven, action-oriented participants will discover, assess, shape and create forward-looking enterprises focused on key elements of community -- diversity, shared values, tolerance, participation and developing youth.

JTM especially invites persons of color -- journalists, entrepreneurs, programmers, technologists, bloggers, videographers, venture capitalists, artists, funders, educators and all who have an interest -- to explore how voices often unheard or misrepresented can reshape the future of journalism.

 We'll meeting in St. Andrew's Hall, a National Register-listed former church, with state-of-the-art TV production facilities next door, and dormitory suite or hotel accommodations. Learn about Detroit's changing economy as a metaphor for the journalism change and opportunity. Arrive Thurs., June 3, at mid-day, begin with an afternoon orientation, buffet dinner and an agenda-setting evening program. Share/work Friday and Saturday using circle-round and break-out "unconference" collaboration; wrap up and commit to next steps on Sunday morning.

The evolving relationship between news and technology provide a great opportunity for innovation. We’ll open by connecting journalists and technologists through identifying essential elements of journalism. Then journalists and technologists together conceive projects and form design/development teams to conceive or deploy the best tools to put those values and elements into practice.

You need to be part of the conversation. Don’t let this moment pass without taking action. Whether you are a part of a legacy media organization or an individual ready to create something on your own, this conference will create a space for energy and action.

WHAT WE’LL ACHIEVE

• New and unexpected cross-sector collaborations
• Broadening a community of practice among people who care about journalism innovation
• Nurture and develop journalism entrepreneurship especially for underserved communities and people of color
• Learn from stories of successful projects
• Discover and engage financial/funding sources to seed new projects

For nearly 50 years, American journalism was financed by an historically unprecedented consumer-driven economy. This put pressure on editors, producers and reporters to focus on mainstream audiences attractive to advertisers. Cable television, and now the Internet, have made it economically feasible to profitably market to niche communities. For the first time, poor, ethnic and disadvantaged communities and under-represent constituencies of all economic strata are no longer too marginal to serve. Diverse constituencies must seize the opportunity to innovate with technology and services, legacy media must learn to include these new, niche audiences. Both creators and consumers die -- figuratively, they lose influence or visibility -- unless they understand the need to diversify.

Why Detroit?

Nowhere are economic and media changes in America more stark than in Michigan and Detroit. Time Inc. has placed a year-long emphasis on studying how Michigan will reinvent the American dream. Newspapers in Detroit and Ann Arbor are no longer home-delivered daily. With change comes opportunity, and the changes in America's industrial heartland are an object lesson for change now reaching media and journalism. Create or die, community and diversity are the messages of Detroit.

Pricing Information -- Stipends available

Early-bird registration is $300 through April 1. Special rates are available for non-profit organizations, students and the unemployed. You can also pay $25 and apply for a full-registration stipend/grant, which will be awarded based on need and the capacity of our sponsors after May 3. 

REGISTER NOW

For general information, contact jtm@journalismthatmatters [dot] orgjtm [at] journalismthatmatters [dot] org

Plans are already underway to continue cultivating what happens in Detroit with Create or Die - II in the Piedmont/Triad region of North Carolina in 2011.

Why North Carolina for Part II?

The Piedmont/Triad area of North Carolina is reinventing itself after an economic crash following the downfall of the textile industry. The area has used the "creative economy" as its catalyst, focusing on digital media, arts, performance and other creative endeavors. Because of this initiative, the area has strong collaboration between remaining industries and a concentration of higher education institutions interested in the creative economy. Because of the concentration of technology and research oriented institutions and companies, we feed the Piedmont/Triad region would be fertile ground for the development of new journalistic initiatives.

Location

See map: Google Maps

Location