Panel Covers Blogging, Bloggers Cover Panel

Last Tuesday's panel discussion New Media, New Politics: Jane Jacobs and an Activist Press brought together contrasting opinions on the future of the news media. Moderated by Sewell Chan of The New York Times, the panel, including Alberto Vourvoulias-Bush of El Diario, Jane Hamsher of firedoglake.com, Norman Oder of atlanticyardsreport.com and author Gay Talese, debated the state of contemporary journalism -- bad, too few journalists; the role and value of the blogosphere -- useful in plugging the gaps in the conventional media's coverage, lazy journalism; the future of online journalism -- likely to increase at the expense of paper-based forms, bridging the economic, social and linguistic "digital-divide"; and how today's activists can make use of new media -- focus of much of dissent that isn't covered by mainstream press.

In true reflexive, post-modern, new media fashion, the panel received a variety of coverage in the press, mostly from the panelists themselves:

• The New York Times, Panel Discussion: New Media, Old Media and Advocacy, Sewell Chan blogs about the program.
• AtlanticYardsReport, The Activist Press and the Atlantic Yards Narrative, Norman Oder discusses the panel and the lack of big paper journalists covering Brooklyn, especially the Atlantic Yards project.
• firedoglake.com, Battle For the Heart of the Democratic Party, Jane Hamsher points out that the panel covered the issue of contemporary dissent in America.

To watch a short video podcast of the event, click here or here.