Elections, hacks, leaks and a potentially compromised position of net neutrality mean that digital rights will be a major battleground of the next decade, and maybe decades to come. As government policies lag behind technological realities, many people and organizations are stepping in to have the difficult conversations necessary to establish new rules for a sustainable and equitable web. Many experts feel that open technologies are the only way to push innovation and storytelling forward, and say that a free and open web is critical for the free flow of information and to sustain a healthy democracy.
The Brown Institute’s Allison McCartney and David Riordan recently travelled to the annual Mozilla Festival October 28-30 in London to meet with organizations like Mozilla and the Internet Archive, both of which are dedicated to promoting these ideas. There, we ran a workshop that explored ways to collaborate at the edges of journalism, asking the question: How can journalists and their organizations better establish and foster relationships with non-journalistic entities?
That mission is becoming ever more important with the rise of “fake news” and as news organizations increasingly focus on their digital operations, at the expense of traditional means of circulation and profit. Meanwhile, would-be partners like tech companies, universities and non-profits need news organizations to provide information and better tell the stories of what they do. None of this is possible without the support of ethical actors of all sorts who have the good faith of the public in mind.
The topic garnered a lot of interest and thoughtful discussion among the approximately 50 participants, most of whom were not from journalism.
Read more about the discussion, and the Brown Institute tips for on how to successfully establish cross-industry collaborations at the session’s Etherpad.