This story focuses on the work of students in USC Annenberg's Specialized Journalism master's degree programs. To learn more about the programs, click here.
By Jonathan Arkin
Student Writer
The first National Summit on Arts Journalism to be “defined and shaped” by the production tools of online interactivity launched successfully at USC Annenberg on Oct. 2 and was streamed live to several locations worldwide.
Conceived of as a “virtual online event” by its co-directors, Douglas McLennan and journalism professor Sasha Anawalt (pictured), the National Arts Journalism Program’s summit featured roundtable discussions in addition to multimedia presentations by ten arts journalists vying for cash awards.
“This Summit is a big ambitious experiment,” Anawalt said. “We're trying to start discussions beyond just a one-time conference in a room somewhere.”
Following taped broadcasts of welcome addresses by USC Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III and School of Journalism director Geneva Overholser, McLennan introduced five of the “showcased” projects – the first of which was the multimedia tool SOPHIE, developed by USC’s Holly Willis, director of academic programs for the Institute for Multimedia Literacy – in videotaped segments. NPR Music, Cedar Rapids Gazette, InstantEncore and ArtBabble were the other projects honored for their innovative approaches to covering the arts.
“It’s time we started talking to each other about the issues that really matter to us, because culture is really important,” McLennan said, adding that “profound cultural changes” were occurring in the arts and he called for a series of ideas to replace the changing ways of covering the arts. “Good critical response to art is always going to be important in some way.”
While rolling Twitter posts by participants, journalists in the room covering the event and from around the globe appeared on screens set up offstage, the summit continued with panel discussions on both the “art of arts journalism” and the “business of arts journalism” in addition to five more project presentations. The summit was also Webcast on ustream.tv and will be made available on YouTube and at the NAJP Web site.
“One of the revolutions here is that the tools that we use to get the word out have become either free or so cheap,” said McLennan, “We’re all broadcasting to the world. So we made a conscious choice to use all these free tools.”
As the journalists and panelists texted and tweeted their thoughts throughout the conference, Anawalt reminded the audience that the focus of art was not just a virtual experience for writers.
“None of us would do this without the artists,” Anawalt said. “And I want to salute them and thank them for giving us the life we all have.”
Summit website
