Call for CAMP Proposals

Dearest JAWS members,

 

CAMP is coming up quickly.- Dec. 4-6! What do you want to discuss? 

 

We’re inviting some kick-ass leaders to speak, and planning some powerful sessions for the Dec. 4-6 online event. But it’s not the JAWS way to have your board do it alone. So please join in! 

 

Propose a panel that will explore journalism’s response to the astonishing tumult of 2020 — and what journalism should look like if we’re committed to racial justice and democracy. We’re looking for sessions that will fit in four main tracks (plus an extra). What panel can you organize to help us know what we need to know in these areas:

 

 

• The future of journalism.

 

• • • Journalism is transforming — and as always, women are at the forefront: the 1619 Project, the racial justice beat, the gender beat, the pandemic and inequality beat. Editors are thinking like activists, sending reporters in to build community before covering that community. Reporters are thinking like entrepreneurs, creating new “newsrooms” to cover things right.

 

• Racial justice & diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

• • • From armed white supremacists in the streets to Black Lives Matter organizing the largest protests in U.S. history, from George Floyd and Breonna Taylor to cities and towns discussing police reform, we’ve had a national reckoning on race. How do we talk about race — as JAWS members, as reporters, as colleagues, as Americans? 
  • 2020: pandemic and climate change 
    • A virus turned our world inside out, sickening millions, trapping the rest inside, destroying the economy — and killing some communities faster than others. Climate change set the west coast on fire, created drought and record temperatures, and sent devastating hurricanes and derechos to pound our cities. Help us take the measure of how journalism has covered the explosive issues of our era — and what we need to cover or know in the coming year.

 

• The election. 

 

• • • We are bracing for what may be the most consequential election in our lifetimes. How has journalism done at calling out falsehoods and moving beyond the horse race to cover unprecedented behavior in D.C. and around the country? If journalism is essential to a democracy, what do we need to do now to keep democracy on track? 

 

• Skills & miscellaneous.

 

• • Train us! Help us learn new skills or stay sane during an insane year. What have you got to offer your fellow JAWS members?

 

Note: The makeup of each panel should reflect our commitment to work toward a more accurate portrayal of the whole society.

 

Fill out this form to give us your proposal! We can’t wait to read it. Submission deadline is Oct. 15.

 

Tanya Gazdik & Georgia Dawkins, 

CAMP co-chairs

On behalf of the CAMP committee