KINGSTON, R.I. – November 6, 2014 – The Information Age has changed the way consumers digest media and with a variety of new digital storytelling techniques, reporters also face the peril of new ethical issues and dilemmas.
The Rhode Island Press Association, the University of Rhode Island’s Harrington School of Communication and Media and the URI Department of Journalism will co-sponsor Journalism Day on Nov. 13 at URI’s Kingston Campus.
The program will begin at 9 a.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom, 50 Lower College Road. Workshops will follow at 9:30 and 10:45 a.m. The luncheon panel will begin at noon. Pizza and soft drinks will be provided. The public is welcome to attend.
In morning workshops, students will interact with reporters and editors from several Rhode Island news outlets. The workshops will engage students in the new techniques and pitfalls facing journalists in the high-speed, 24-hour news cycle of the digital world.
A lunchtime panel discussion will convene at noon in the Memorial Union Ballroom where editors and reporters from six community news outlets will discuss the future of community journalism. The discussion will focus on crucial questions such as: How will we stay informed about what’s happening in our communities with newspaper survival threatened by reduced advertising revenue and declining circulation? Will TV news coverage be sufficient in the future, or will it remain headline coverage of a limited number of stories? Will citizens be willing to pay for online news about their state, city and town governments, schools and other critical matters?
Journalists from The Providence Journal, Rhode Island Monthly, The Woonsocket Call, The Valley Breeze, The Newport Daily News, ecori.org, the Hummel Report and others will be on campus to share their knowledge and ideas with journalism students and other interested students.