Festival of Digital Storytelling

Influential figures from the world of digital storytelling and journalism will explore changing journalistic practices in a symposium at the University.

Speaking as part of the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies’ Festival of Digital Storytelling, Professor Jay Rosen of New York University and documentarian Daniel Meadows, a pioneer of the digital storytelling movement, will share their cutting edge and topical work on the direction of the industry.

Taking place on Thursday 19 May 2016, the symposium will look at the new opportunities for sharing information and telling stories generated by social media, citizen journalism, user-generated content, platforms such as live blogs, as well as new presentational and investigative techniques associated with data journalism.

It will also cover the challenges such rapid changes present for journalistic practices and professional identities.

In his keynote address, Professor Rosen - a leading writer on journalism in the digital age – will reflect on his seminal essay The People Formerly Known as the Audience. He will suggest that audience thinking runs deeper than he originally thought and we can now ask: what was the audience?

Daniel Meadows is a pioneer of community engagement, challenging the status quo and working in a collaborative way to capture extraordinary aspects of ordinary life. Drawing on his archive of digital stories, Daniel will share the 'felt life' of people who have participated in his many projects of over forty years.

Other speakers at the symposium include Bolette Blaagaard (University of Aalborg), Irene Costera Meijer (Free University of Amsterdam), Matt Carlson (St Louis University), Steen Steensen (Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences), Neil Thurman (University of Munich), as well as Stuart Allan, Simon Cottle, Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, and Andy Williams of Cardiff University.

Professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen from the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies who has organised the event said:

"For anybody interested in digital media and the future of journalism, we are living in exciting times. We have put on a Festival of Digital Storytelling to highlight new developments and put the spotlight on some of the key challenges and opportunities for the journalism profession – looking at everything from satellite reporting and robot journalism to the increasing role of liveblogs. Through our events, we want to open up for dialogue and collaboration between academics and practitioners.

"I am delighted that we're able to host this festival, thanks to a generous grant from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences’ International Research Initiative Fund."

The Festival of Digital Storytelling is a week-long event that celebrates and questions the changing practice of journalism in a digital world.

Other events throughout the week have explored innovation and storytelling in community news, and the opportunities for digital stories to give voice to patient and family experience in health care contexts.