A View from the Isle

I had a great time today at Media Democracy Day. I didn’t get there until after lunch time, but I managed to catch a couple panels and live tweeted them.

First was:

Journalism in a time of Big Media Domination

In much of the traditional media, newsrooms are being squeezed, local coverage diminished, and serious journalism abandoned. What does this mean for journalists and journalism as a whole? What are the challenges and opportunities? Could this void be filled by independent reporters and innovative journalism projects? In a media system dominated by large corporate conglomerates, independently owned outlets provide important alternatives but rarely reach significant audiences. What have been independent media’s successes and challenges?  How do independent outlets and journalists spread critical perspectives that the mainstream ignores? Panelists will discuss these issues and describe what they see as the possibilities of using new media and new models to do in-depth investigative projects, find untold stories, and engage new audiences. Whether relying on contributions from readers, new tools and technologies, or old-fashioned, shoe-leather reporting, could these projects counteract big media, and redefine journalism?

Panel Chair: Charlie Smith - Editor of the Georgia Straight

Panelists:

- David Beers – Editor of The Tyee, lecturer at the UBC School of Journalism

- Linda Solomon – Writer and editor-in-chief of The Vancouver Observer

- Deborah Campbell– Award winning Independent Journalist

- Sylvia Richardson - Host of Latin Waves, Airing 8pm Saturdays on CJSF 90.1 FM

Since I was just live Tweeting this the “old fashioned way” the tweets are in reverse order, but well here it is regardless (with some pics I took thrown in for fun):

Good question-why isn’t the left-wing more critical of itself? Why not challenge the NPD or others? Too many sacred cows? Lefty than thou? about 7 hours ago from web

It seems to me from several comments from the panel that the MSM has put a chill on criticism through law suits. about 7 hours ago from web

W00t! @LiveTwitting is following me just in time for @scales and @mtippet’s panel! about 7 hours ago from web

Comment that the CBC is undergoing a serious shift to the right. Campbell suggests that it is a fear of funding cuts. #mdd

Wait a moment here…flash of insight and opportunity. @bmann I’ll ping you. about 7 hours ago from web

Would it help to centralize independent media into something like an advertising consortium? #mdd about 7 hours ago from web

Independent media are little launching pads. The 100 mile diet came from the #thetyee first then spread. about 7 hours ago from web

Good feedback for Pete on the article. #thevancouverobserver and #thegeorgiastraight interested in info. about 7 hours ago from web

Pete’s question is how to get a particular niche/health issue in the news? Charlie Smith: Find the people who have a connection-niche. #mdd about 7 hours ago from web

Pete Quily at the mic. Pointing out that CanWest is SEO clueless. Hmm. #mdd about 7 hours ago from web

Richardson: Does Canada really have free speech? #mdd about 7 hours ago from web

Constructive criticism is to make sure there a hook. Something new to write about. Not that the MSM isn’t blocking them, but needs new #mdd about 7 hours ago from web 

Why hasn’t the suit against a parody of the Vancouver Sun been covered by the MSM? #mdd about 7 hours ago from web

There are no exceptions in Canadian copyright laws for parody and satire? WTF! #mdd about 7 hours ago from web

Now I think the questions will begin. Any questions for the fighting the media behemoth? #mdd about 7 hours ago from web

Solomon: Be the media, be that change #mdd about 7 hours ago from web

And @mtippet is in the house with video! #mdd about 7 hours ago from web

@RobCottingham oh yes, that too… about 7 hours ago from web in reply to RobCottingham

Solomon: What happens when you bring Canadians together. When our values come together. What happens? #mdd about 7 hours ago from web

Linda Richardson: empowering yourself to tell your story #mdd. about 8 hours ago from web

Hmm #TheVancouverObserver tech section is rather empty http://www.thevancouverobse… Hmm. #mdd about 8 hours ago from web

@RobCottingham maybe so, but are embedded journos giving the whole story? about 8 hours ago from web in reply to RobCottingham

Solomon: when challenging the Sun about a suspicious editorial-very similar to hers-threatened with lawsuit. Plus never write for CanWest about 8 hours ago from web

Really odd to hear a Southern accent in Vancouver. Just sayin’. #mdd about 8 hours ago from web

Linda Solomon "Want to tell you up front, I’m American". Canadian in training, must apologize on behalf of all Americans. [me too] #mdd about 8 hours ago from web

Campbell: Support the Independent media to broaden perspective. #mdd about 8 hours ago from web

Campbell Cultivate an area of expertise, be flexible, be able to write about varied topics Writing human story to circumvent censorship #mdd about 8 hours ago from web

Campbell: Journalism students you have to take risks, don’t expect a lot of money-rates haven’t changed much since 70s. #mdd about 8 hours ago from web

@scales has arrived! about 8 hours ago from web in reply to scales

Campbell: Shrinking budgets are reducing the investigative journalism. No money for travel and time spent. about 8 hours ago from web

Campbell: Ask yourself when you watch the news. Was this story brought to you by PR companies? Press releases, press conferences. #mdd about 8 hours ago from web

Questions for this media domination panel at #mdd will come later. Questions for the panel? @ or DM me. about 8 hours ago from web

Deborah Campbell’s focus is Iraq and how the media is controlled - manipulated. about 8 hours ago from web

Really, really wish I could use @livetwittering for this. Would give a one page synopsis. Sigh. about 8 hours ago from web

David Beers pushed the use of Web 2.0 news to make Google see them as important sources. about 8 hours ago from web

Deborah Campbell is up now. about 8 hours ago from web

Beers: The demise of CanWest is troubling. What would fill the void? #mdd about 8 hours ago from web

Van indie news heavy weights all here #thetyee #georgiastraight #thevancouverobserver Deborah Campbell & Sylvia Richardson. about 8 hours ago from web

David Beers on Net Neutrality: a tiered non-neutral net could mean #thetyee & #georgiastraight needing to pay more to match #canwest about 8 hours ago from web

@pmharper thought arts funding would be a wedge issue. Policy=fail. about 8 hours ago from web in reply to pmharper

David Beers of #thetyee is speaking atm. canwest global as analogue of econ collapse. Not sustainable biz model about 8 hours ago from web 

Whew remembered my VPL PIN! Let the live tweeting of #mdd begin! about 8 hours ago from web

Next up was another great panel but this time I was able to use LiveTwitting to cover it which means that now the tweets are in the order you’d expect, start at the top, finish at the bottom.

The panel was a nice compliment to the one preceding…

The Battle for New Media and Open Communication

We stand at a crossroads in the history of communications technology, a moment when traditional media are in disarray, and a new form of communications and organizing — more grassroots and decentralized — is on the rise. The Internet is upsetting conventional wisdom about "mass media" and changing media power in ways never before imagined. But change also raises new threats. Will an open Internet succumb to the same companies that control traditional media? The new challenge for us is to organize around and develop new sets of policies, projects, and tools that will finally give us an advantage in the decades-long struggle against the gatekeepers.

Panelists will discuss the fight for an open Internet, prospects for online/social media, and future challenges.

Panel Chair: Kate Milberry - Media and Technology Commentator

Panelists:

-Leslie Regan Shade – Associate Professor Concordia University, editor of "For Sale to the Highest Bidder: Telecom Policy in Canada."

-Jeff Davis - Vancouver Open Network Initiative Cooperative (VONIC)

-Mike Tippet – Co-founder of NowPublic

-Robert Scales – CEO of Raincity Studios

@mtippet is at the mic. Free market research-asking who’s heard of @nowpublic. edit • delete
Technological, cultural, and economic forces aligned help. CanWest has lost $3.5 billion in market cap this year. #mdd edit • delete
MSM doesn’t have the money they used to. Not selling, craigslist, development ads … all tanking. edit • delete
CanWest might be the largest media presence in Canada, but puny online. edit • delete
The news media was in trouble a month ago, right now they are in REAL trouble. Ad revenue has dropped off the table edit • delete
"You won’t recognize the media landscape in three years" Michael Tippet edit • delete
Scales still "super editor" and "unofficial" China desk editor on NowPublic edit • delete
Streets of Torino, they couldn’t talk about the Olympics, IOC shut them down. Hmm. Guess you have to pay to cover, eh? Became cultural show edit • delete
@greggscott do you think the contributors need more oversight? edit • delete
I’ve heard that CreativeCommons protection isn’t worth a hill of beans. True? My pics are essentially non-comm, share and share alike. edit • delete
Leslie Ragan Shade on telecom policy. Maybe touch on net neutrality? edit • delete
Telecom policy is driven by markets and econ. But there should be more independent forces to help. Proceed to allow hands-off policy. edit • delete
Describing Net neutrality in s few words that is a challenge for any speaker! Prof. Shade did a good job. Fast lane and slow lane on the Net edit • delete
Canada lacks any policy on national broadband strategy. Ouch! edit • delete
Jeff Davis talking about Community Wireless. I have one of them and need to hook it up here in Van. edit • delete
@greggscott I think there are certainly plans in the works to do that. But how would an editor balance the ethos that exists now w/in NP? edit • delete
FreeTheNet.ca is the local Vancouver group doing this. I can see how the current providers would have a HUGE prob. with it. edit • delete
Municipal wireless is still a dream in Vancouver. FreeTheNet is now Vancouver Open Network Initiative Cooperative (VONIC). edit • delete
Although I can share my net access for free, the infrastructure is still owned for profit. Another key part of net neutrality. edit • delete
Is there a way for communities to own their access to the Net instead of the telcos? That would be something I’d invest in. edit • delete
Okay question time here…Questions? Love to be able to say "A question from the Twitterverse.." edit • delete
QA: Question & Answer edit
First question speaks to @greggscott’s point about how does/can NowPublic moderate? Ans: There is some, but it is a huge volume. edit • delete
Is self regulation enough on NowPublic? Is the user level system working? Self correcting news. Faster than the MSM? edit • delete
Q: Why aren’t there web conferencing tool? Scales: The client tools are the issue. The questioner also slammed #drupal Web conferencing=hard edit • delete
Man this questioner is really going on a rant. Step away from the mic. edit • delete
Comment-question from public health nurse to reach out to marginalized groups. So how to reach VONIC? Could be a great public health resourc edit • delete
The revolution starts a home. Is enlightened self-interest enough to help? edit • delete
Q: does citizen journalism devalue journalism as a career? A: Michael hates term "citizen journalism" like ‘citizen dentist’ edit • delete
A truly free market is important. Telcos are monopolies regulating themselves. Net neutrality again is so important to us. #mdd edit • delete
Explaining the freethenet.ca wireless mesh. Oy, need a whiteboard here #mdd edit • delete
Q: Open source software…really catching on? A: Open source is still a wee geeky for most. #RCS uses OS because it is flexible #mdd edit • delete
Open source is gaining strength, but not there yet. #mdd edit • delete
Kate Milberry makes the key point is that this is all about sharing. Your net connection or news or software. #mdd edit • delete
non net neutrality analogy: If Ford owned the highways and limited how was a Chrysler could drive on it. #mdd edit • delete
That’s a wrap folks. edit • delete

Very thought provoking stuff. I couldn’t stay for the ending keynote on net neutrality, which was a pity, so I hope someone else covered it.

As for the rest of the pics, here is the Flickr slideshow:

The pictures were taken with a Nikon D300 using an 85mm f/1.8 at ISO 320 –1/3 EV and 70-200mm f/2.8 ISO 500 –1/3 EV.

I think you will excuse me a little me a bragging about the latest issue of FeedFront—Issue 3 : FeedFront—because the cover picture is one of my pictures from Affiliate Summit East from this past August. Well, that one and about a dozen other pictures I took from the conference scattered throughout the issue as well. Yes, Shawn and Missy hired me to take pictures for the conference, but it is one thing for the pictures to be good enough for online/Flickr, a whole other thing to be published.

This makes two covers and at least one picture in every issue of FeedFront thus far. Hmm, Issue 4 might be a tough one…

There is my bit of bragging for the day. I’ll go back to being just Tris now.

You can download the PDF version of FeedFront Issue 3 and check out all the pics.

After having such a blast a Affiliate Summit East this summer as their official photographer, I’m putting it out there that I’m available for hire to cover your conference as well.

I’ve put together a collection on Flickr of all my conference photography for the last couple years for you to look at and enjoy.

Of course there are always people taking pictures at events, but this is what you get when I’m on task for you:

• Complete coverage of the event start to finish
• All speakers, sessions, and panels (I’m not there to listen, I’m there to shoot for you)
• Pictures of the parties, breakout sessions, and candid pictures around the conference
• Promotion of the event (through pictures) on Twitter, etc.
• Guaranteed minimum number of usable photos
• Headshots of organizers and staff for social media avatars
• Pictures of all booths and exhibits on the show floor
• Retouching pictures before delivery
• DVD of RAW and high-resolution files suitable for publication

Telling the story of your event or conference in photos, photos that you can use and have publication rights to this is what I provide for you.

While I will certainly enjoy myself while at the conference, I’m there for you. My goal is to capture the moments of your event or conference to show the rest of the world what they missed and give attendees memories captured to enjoy later. I want to make sure I’ve captured what you think will be important, and a few things that you might have missed.

While conferences are covered almost continuously in pictures and video by attendees, they aren’t there to capture everything. Attendees might share their pictures with you, but there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to use the pictures in promotional materials or publications. When you have a dedicated photographer, you don’t have to worry about it. The pictures are being taken, and they are yours.

I am available for events ranging from partial day events (morning or evening) to multi-day conferences.

If you are interested in hiring me for your event, contact me and we can start the ball rolling. Email me at tris.hussey [at] gmail [dot] com for more information.