Digital Journalism Camp: Reporters, bloggers, podcasters gather to explore the evolution of journalism

If you spend any time reading news online, you’ve no doubt encountered a wealth of discussion on the death of traditional print and broadcast media and how this rapidly accelerating demise is affecting the world of professional reporters. Sometimes it’s a “the time has come” discussion, sometimes it’s a “blogs are to blame” quip, sometimes it’s “Craigslist has undercut our cash cow.”

Whatever the case, all of these discussions tend to suffer a very similar problem: It’s rarely more than one faction discussing the issue. Rather, it tends to be each party yelling from his or her respective side of the fence.

What if we could get traditional reporters and bloggers—all journalists in their own right—in the same room to discuss the issue? Now, we can. On August 1, there’s Portland’s Digital Journalism Camp.

Digital Journalism Camp was founded by Abraham Hyatt, an award winning journalist who has served as the Managing Editor for Oregon Business Magazine, a reporter at The San Luis Obispo Tribune and the San Luis Obispo New Times, and an editor at the Santa Maria Sun. But more importantly than that, he’s a reporter who has taken exceptionally well to the world of blogging, Twitter, and podcasting. Truly, a digital journalist.

But what do we mean by digital journalism?

Digital journalism is where traditional print and broadcast journalism, blogging and web-based innovation meet. This is not some far-off future for the industry. It’s happening right now, all around us. And reporters, bloggers, editors, and broadcasters have a lot they can learn from each other.[HTML1]

This isn’t about bloggers vs. reporters, or old media vs. new media. We’re all on the same team. And this conference is about how we, as journalists, are innovating right now — what’s working, what’s not, and how we can get better at what we do.

And why a camp for digital journalism? Well, to get everybody in the same room for one thing.

Sounds like a great idea, right? Well, it is. But without the support of The Oregonian, it might not have happened.

You see, Digital Journalism Camp had a little speed bump along the way. It was slated to be held at the previous home of all Portland camps, CubeSpace. But with the unfortunate closing of CubeSpace, Digital Journalism Camp lost it’s camping spot. And that put it in a bit was in a bit of jeopardy.

But, thanks to Mike Rogoway at The Oregonian—another digital journalist here in Portland—the Digital Journalism Camp now has the perfect location to discuss the future of journalism: The Oregonian offices.

So this Saturday, August 1, all forms of journalist—digital or otherwise—will converge at The Oregonian for a combination of conference/unconference with scheduled speakers as well as the opportunity to break off to hold unconference sessions.

Want more details on the event? Take a few minutes to listen to a recent edition of Strange Love Live as Abraham gives us all the details on Digital Journalism Camp.

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As he mentions, Abraham has been working on this idea for a long time. But it was a couple of journalism oriented sessions at BarCamp Portland that motivated him to launch the Camp, this year. The audio from the “Adopt a Blogger / Adopt a Journalist” session, proposed by Aaron Hockley and myself is available below. And that may give you a flavor for some of the discussions that will take place during the Camp.

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(The audio gets a little low in spots, so you’ll want to turn up your headphones.)

Sign up for Digital Journalism Camp before July 30

Digital Journalism Camp sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Well, get signed up already.

The August 1 event will begin around 9:30 and is scheduled to wrap up around 4:00—but it’s likely to run a little longer than that even if the conversations move on to another location.

Obviously, the event is filling up. But there’s still plenty of room for you, my friend. And I think you’ve got some interesting insight to add. So get signed up. But hurry, you’ve only got until July 30 to RSVP.

For more more information, visit Digital Journalism Camp or follow the Digital Journalism Camp account on Twitter. To RSVP to attend, see Digital Journalism Camp on Upcoming.