Session Description:As social platforms have emerged and been adopted widely for journalism, ethical issues have been discussed in professional forums such as the Poynter Institute and the Online News Association and within news organizations. Ethics scholars and other researchers have also begun publishing work on ethical challenges and best practices in social media. But the ethical questions are complex, and they are evolving as practices and the tools themselves change. This panel will focus on several continuing challenges using three widely recognized ethical principles – seeking truth, acting independently and minimizing harm – for analysis.

Panelists:

• David Craig, professor and associate dean, University of Oklahoma
• Kelly Fincham, assistant professor, Hofstra University
• Steve Fox, lecturer/Multimedia Journalism coordinator/Sports Journalism director, University of Massachusetts
• Ginny Whitehouse, associate professor, Eastern Kentucky University

Panel Description:Go behind the scenes on the recent Poynter Eyetrack study on tablets.

Presenters:

• Jeremy Gilbert, Northwestern University
• Sara Quinn, The Poynter Institute
• Dave Stanton, Managing Developer, Smart Media Creative

Description: Yes, the current mobile tools and user behaviors are interesting, but I’m most interested in what the mobile world will look like in the future. For years, I have been researching college freshman with mobile apps, virtual environments, and interactive multimedia to track their rapidly changing needs and behaviors. I’m convinced that the ways users will seek, select, share, and learn from various types of digital information will continue to change.

Presenter: Ron Yaros, Assistant Professor of New Media and Mobile Journalism, University of Maryland

Panel Description: We invited three executives from emerging media organizations who are transforming the way we consume and create journalism. This session took a look at the models of Now This News, Circa and Digital First Media, and gave an insider’s glimpse of what the future may hold for media companies.

Panelists:

• Eason Jordan, Now This News
• Jim Brady, Digital First Media
• David Cohn, Circa
• Moderator: Leslie Walker, University of Maryland

Panel Description: Too many journalists still relate the word “design” to making pages and websites look prettier. As a consequence, they think that the main goal of an infographic is to be eye-catching, engaging, and fun. They argue that infographics are means to “simplify” data that only specialized professionals are capable of creating. This presentation will debunk all these myths and propose an alternative view of infographics and visualizations as means to make messages richer, deeper, and more effective.

Panelist: Alberto Cairo, Instructor, University of Miami

Panel Description: Academics and journalists use data for different reasons and in different contexts, but both groups seek to better inform the public with the knowledge they share. Pioneering journalists have been on the forefront of data visualization, while academics have a tradition in social science methods and statistics. What can we learn from one another, and how might we work together? This conversation will address the opportunities and challenges both groups encounter when working with data.

Panelists:

• Cindy Royal, Associate Professor, Texas State University
• Jeremy Bowers, News Application Developer, NPR
• Amy Schmitz-Weiss, Assistant Professor of Journalism, San Diego State University
• Matt Waite, Professor of Practice, University of Nebraska-Lincoln