#journchat: An Argument
for a Changing Medium
The Arguments
Journalists, bloggers and public relation professionals sometimes view the future of information mediums, standards and distribution very differently. As the conventions of traditional journalism continue to clash with the unorthodox voice of the individual, everyone involved needs a place to explore answers and visions in a civil manner.
Sarah Evans founded #journchat, a live streaming conversation held each Monday night from 7 to 10 p.m. CST on Twitter, as a public forum between these diverse, and often at odds, professionals.
“The mission of #journchat is to keep an ongoing, open dialogue between journalists, bloggers and public relations professionals.”
Sarah Evans
Director of Communications, Elgin Community College
A Scheduled Debate
Evan’s idea thrives on the embrace of the community. In ever-increasing numbers people are flocking to #journchat each Monday evening to sort out the future of their collective professions in a spontaneous convergence of disparate—as well as like-thinking—individuals with myriad ideas about the state of information.
Every 30 minutes or so moderators introduce a new topic for the community to discuss and explore.
The published time frame for #journchat provides a reliable structure for the discussion—a notion counter to Twitter’s drop-in oriented format.
A Larger Vision
Evans told Brainstorm that she envisions #journchat evolving into a larger network—perhaps driven one day by a web application. It’s not difficult to imagine her concept as an extensible vehicle adopted to different topics and industries.
Join the Fray
Watch the discussions by going to Twitter’s search page and typing in #journchat. Or add your opinion to the discussion by getting a free Twitter account and including the #journchat tag in your posted “tweets.”
For discussion recaps, topics and more on #journchat visit the journchat.info website or follow the @journchat Twitter profile or @PRsarahevans herself.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:36 am
Sometimes, I feel like I’m all three. Great stuff here….
January 9th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
I’m going to pass this along to the Hoosier PRSA blog, whose readers mainly are members of the Hoosier Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. PR people of varying ages have diverse views and understandings not only of the value of social media, but also how to use it. The fact that journalists are involved in #journchat should make this forum irresistible to them. Thanks!
January 13th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Thanks, Cindy. And I’ll be certain to pass your remark on to the #journchat folks. I would imagine that’s exactly the result and response they’re hoping for.
@Matches: Not being a journalist nor a PR person I can sympathize, but not empathize. I will say that as a, ‘conscientious observer’ the discussions on #journchat serve to enlighten me about the struggle over assumed demising lines between the disciplines - assuming lines exist. :)