I, Journalist

Emerging Scholars Explore the Turbulent New World of Citizen Journalism

Up-and-coming scholars from around the country convened at the College of Communication last fall to attend the “Journalism and Citizenship: New Agendas” conference to study important issues in journalism today — and set a course for future study.

“Journalism is in the middle of sweeping changes in its relationships with the communities it serves, and seeks to serve,” said Mark Tremayne, conference host and assistant professor in the School of Journalism. “Changes in technology have blurred the lines between professionals and citizens, partisan and objective bystander, particularly in the emerging public zones of the Web.”

The diverse group of scholars — each at the beginning stages of their careers, but with significant scholarly potential — primarily discussed three major themes: Journalism’s Evolution in the Era of Active Audience; The Public’s Relationship with Digital Content and The Impact of the Citizen as Mass Communicator.

Dan Gillmor, director of the Center for Citizen Media, a non-profit organization supporting citizen journalism, argued for the renewed importance of media literacy in the changing media environment in his keynote address.

He found a willing voice from Sue Robinson, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, one of the nine presenters. “Exploring the changing landscapes across disciplines is exactly what the academy needs to do more of as technologies, economies and politics continue their rapid shift,” she said.

“The conference attracted a group of people who are thinking about the phenomenon with the same level of understanding about the field, "Robinson added. “I love the idea of having a ‘New Agendas’ series right now.”

Robinson noted such deep, thoughtful discussions are harder to achieve in larger conferences. “The intimate nature of this setting — combined with the fact that we all had researched and written chapters on the topic for the upcoming book — meant we could advance online communication theory in a meaningful way.”

The conference culminated in a volume of research published by Lawrence Erlbaum/Taylor & Francis Publishers in 2008.

Future topics scheduled to be covered in the conference series include: health communication, communication and authenticity, media literacy, language and learning, international communication, ethnicity and media, science communication, media convergence and media emotions.

“Journalism and Citizenship: New Agendas” presenters:

Iris Chyi, The University of Texas at Austin

“It’s All About Attention: News-Seeking and Information Overload in the Digital Age”

Mark Deuze, Indiana University

“Liquid Journalism for a Monitorial Citizenry”

Wilson Lowery, University of Alabama

“Changing Audiences, Uncertainty and Control”

Donald Matheson, University of Canterbury

“What the Blogger Knows: The Emerging

Knowledge Practices of Personal Journalism”

Sharon Meraz, The University of Texas at Austin

“The Many Faced ‘You’ of Social Media”

Zizi Papacharissi, Temple University

“The Citizen is The Message: Online Media and Civic Journalism”

Sue Robinson, University of Wisconsin, Madison

“History Writing 2.0: Journalist and Citizen Agenda-Setters in the Coverage of Hurricane Katrina’s Anniversary”

Lou Rutigliano, The University of Texas at Austin

“Mapping Citizen Coverage of the Dual City”

Ron Yaros, University of Utah

“Important News but Complex: How the Web Generates Public Interest in and Understanding of Science, Health and Technology”

For more information about the New Agendas Series, visit: http://journalism.utexas.edu