We’re delighted to announce the opening keynote for the 2015 Online News Association Conference and Awards: a deep-dive chat with Richard Gingras, Google’s Senior Director of News and Social Products, and Emily Bell, Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School.
Richard and Emily will join us Thursday, Sept. 24, in Los Angeles for a candid conversation on the symbiosis — and tensions — between the tech giant and media, covering the critical issues of traffic and search referral, and developing content and data tools for newsrooms, including simple tools to facilitate speedy content on the mobile web.
This fireside chat also will touch on the need to rethink media business models, restrictions on an open internet, privacy concerns overseas and the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley.
Of note is Google’s growing role in shaping the new economy. Just in the past two weeks alone, it’s garnered headlines for restructuring into a new holding company, Alphabet; stepping up its mobile game by providing Android on iPhones; introducing diabetes monitoring and treatment; challenging Amazon.com in the home improvement market, and exiting the Chinese market because of the country’s censorship issues.
If you work in a newsroom, whether a start-up or a major brand, there will be valuable takeaways on how Google works — and possibly a breaking news item or two. And, of course, the logo.
Emily Bell, @emilybell, is founding director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism and a leading thinker, commentator and strategist on digital journalism. Established in 2010, the Tow Center has rapidly built an international reputation for research into the intersection of technology and journalism. The majority of Emily’s career was spent at Guardian News and Media in London working as an award-winning writer and editor both in print and online. As editor-in-chief across Guardian websites and director of digital content for Guardian News and Media, Emily led the web team in pioneering live blogging, multimedia formats, data and social media ahead, making the Guardian a recognized pioneer in the field. She is co-author of “Post Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present” (2012) with CW Anderson and Clay Shirky. Emily is a trustee on the board of the Scott Trust, the owners of The Guardian, a member of Columbia Journalism Review’s board of overseers, an adviser to Tamedia Group in Switzerland, chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Advisory Council on social media, and a member of Poynter’s National Advisory Board. She lives in New York City with her husband and children.
For more than thirty years, Richard Gingras, @richardgingras, has led highly regarded efforts in the development of online services, software and new media. These endeavors range from pioneering uses of satellite networking for television, the first applications of television signals for data distribution, both pre-Web and Web-based online services and the creation of various platform technologies. Over the last several years Richard has focused his attention on the transformation of the media landscape. Richard is currently senior director of news and social products at Google. In that role, he oversees Google News, which connects more than a billion unique readers each week to articles from journalists in 72 countries and 45 languages. He also oversees areas of product development relating to Google’s social products (Google+).
He serves on the boards of the First Amendment Coalition and the International Center for Journalists. In the fall of 2012, Richard was recognized with the Manship Prize for contributions to the evolution of digital media. In May 2013, Richard gave a commencement speech at West Virginia University. Until July 2011, Richard was CEO of Salon Media Group which operates the popular and acclaimed news site Salon.com, the blogging community OpenSalon.com, and the pioneering virtual community The Well. Richard has had a long association with Salon having assembled its initial seed financing in 1995. Salon was the first web-only publication. Richard also served, during 2007 and 2008, as a strategic advisor to the executive team at Google focusing on strategies relating to the evolution of news and television. Richard has long guided the development of new products, new technologies and new companies, often as an active board member and strategic advisor with early stage ventures.
Join us for this important conversation by registering now — registration closes Sept. 10 (and we’re nearly sold out).
