Sunday, March 26, 2006

What's in a NORG? A news revolution by any other name... "Saving Journalism (and Killing the Press)" is the headline on Jeff Jarvis's live-blogging of a Philadelphia conference that brought journalists and bloggers together over the weekend. "This isn't journalism against bloggers anymore," he says. "It never was, really. This is journalists and bloggers together in favor of news." This Annenberg-connected gathering apparently had more talk about ignoring rivalries and reporting local news than turns up in most bloggers-mainstream-media political debates. Among the sites represented was Phillyblog, which reports having 6,000 forum participants who share what are at least sometimes first-hand stories. Quoting Jarvis, "If there has been a shooting, they say, you'll learn about it immediately from 'the people who heard the bullets.'" There's a lot more in his blog account of the meeting and his links to other participants... enough for hours of exploring... but I don't have time right now to do more than save a few links and grumble about one word. As much as I agree with the event's central concept, I'm not ready to embrace the acronym "norg" for "news organization." No matter how many good ideas about pro-am journalism are involved, putting the monosyllables "norg" and "blog" in the same sentence has too many echoes of 1930s science fiction "orgs," or later TV aliens named Spock and Mork (not to mention the Borg), or the ever-useful spork. Does anyone have more a poetic word that differentiates "news" from other uses of "media," but is friendly and inclusive of TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, wire services, blogs, forums, podcasts, vlogs and whatever other Web forms of reporting come down the pike? Maybe a list of old newspaper names will help the thought process. Inspiration could be lurking somewhere between Beacon, Courant, Pantagraph and Zephyr. Or maybe if I keep using the word "norg" it will grow on me. Locally, I think KnoxViews.com and RockyTopBrigade.org have a lot of norglike characteristics. Norg, norg, norg. Nope, I still don't like it. 6:30:34 PM    comment []

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