journalism – Looks Like New

Where did our economic system go wrong?

MEDLab — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 04:33:40 +0000

Every one of us has felt the impact of the shortcomings within our current economic system. Where did this system go wrong? More importantly, what can we do to make it right?

To answer these questions we spoke to Marjorie Kelly, a Distinguished Senior Fellow with the Democracy Collaborative, author of The Making of a Democratic Economy (co-authored with Ted Howard), Owning our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution, and The Divine Right of Capital. For years Kelly has been a thought leader in the next generation of employee ownership, impact investing, and the construction of a community-rooted democratic economy.

In this episode, we explore Marjorie Kelly’s long list of experiences and unique perspectives on the economic situation we all find ourselves in. MEDLab director Nathan Schneider moderates a discussion with Marjorie Kelly and a cast of live audience members about our unique socio-economic challenges and what we can do about them.

What is the new language of AI?

MEDLab — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 07:16:31 +0000

This month we welcome Benjamin Edwards, AI and Machine Learning Reporter for Ars Technica. He specializes in computer and video game history, has been covering the world of AI technology for over 16 years for publications such as The Atlantic, Wired, PC World, Macworld, Ars Techinca, 1UP, and Game Developer Magazine. Benj also runs Vintage Computing and Gaming, a blog devoted to computer and video game history.

In this episode, Tara Coughlin interviews Benj on how to develop a new language to try and describe the new things happening in AI.

Can a small newsroom survive the attention economy?

MEDLab — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 00:00:36 +0000

With the journalism industry dwindling across the country, journalists formed the Colorado Sun as a beacon of hope.

The Colorado Sun is a small but mighty digital news source for the state of Colorado. It is a Public Benefit Corporation making it first and foremost dedicated to serving the Colorado public, and setting it apart from traditional news sources. We talked to Eric Lubbers, in charge of Technology and Strategy for the Sun, to better understand how it operates.

How Are 24 Colorado Newspapers Staying Locally Owned?

MEDLab — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 00:00:16 +0000

After years of shedding reporters and newsrooms, Colorado is home to a new experiment in sustainable journalism. In early May, the National Trust for Local News announced it was acquiring Colorado Community Media, a network of 24 newspapers in the Denver Metro area, via the Colorado News Conservancy, a new public benefit corporation. The Colorado News Conservancy is to be majority owned by the journalist-owned, online-only Colorado Sun. The deal was financed through impact investment funding from FJC, the Gates Family Foundation, the Colorado Trust, and the American Journalism Project, in a first-of-its kind model.

What does this mean for people who rely on Colorado Community Media? How will this relationship change the news ecosystem in Colorado, and what consequences could it have for local media nationally? We will hear from leading people behind this deal, Melissa Milios Davis (Gates Family Foundation), Lillian Ruiz (National Trust for Local News), and Larry Ryckman (Colorado Sun), about how it works and what they hope it will produce.

Does News Need New Tech?

MEDLab — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 00:00:49 +0000

Brick House is a new news organization that calls itself “the wolf-proof media cooperative.” It has emerged in part out of a failed experiment, Civil, which sought to use Bitcoin-like blockchain technology to shore up the ailing news business.

Brick House’s founder, the veteran journalist and entrepreneur Maria Bustillos, explains why she thinks a simpler, older model of cooperative ownership could be a better way forward—even while she remains hopeful about the sci-fi promise of blockchains.

What is public-benefit journalism?

MEDLab — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 16:12:26 +0000

The priorities of community journalism have often come into conflict with corporate priorities—something we know well in Colorado. A new publication, the Colorado Sun, has attempted to protect its mission by incorporating as a public benefit corporation. As part of the Sun’s first annual evaluation, co-founder and senior editor Dana Coffield discusses what the Sun has accomplished in its first year and how the company balances with its business imperatives with its social purpose.