WeMedia Kicks Off

WeMedia kicks off in Miami today, an event that appears to be somewhere between a traditional conference style and an un-conference. While designed to be very interactive, there are talking heads and panel discussions throughout.

They start off talking about communities, how they form and are changing through media. What are the new ways for people to use information, news and journalism to imagine their collective possibilities as communities, and to set and reach common community goals.

Other topics include the world of 3D, innovative methods and new ideas for tapping the collective intelligence of the audience to create news coverage that’s more relevant. New journalism versus old journalism and who will pay for new ways to understand news and act on it?

This includes new ways to collect, prepare and distribute information, news and journalism that reveals hard-to-know facts, identifies common problems, clarifies community issues and points out practical courses of action. Who’ll pay for the new ways for people to communicate interactively to better understand one another, to generate real passion in solving local problems and to share the know-how they need to improve their communities?

The panelist and attendee line-up looks great, including the likes of Washington Post, Newsweek Interactive, Topix, Reuters, La Nacion, New Voices, Knight Foundation, BlogHer, MTV, Gannett, NPR, Freewebs, MediaBistro, Eurekster, Eyespot, Internet Advocacy Group, Miami Herald.com, Press Institute for Women in the Developing World (interesting choice), MIT, MyBlogLog, AP's Jim Kennedy, Alan Webber, Jay Rosen, Craig Newmark, and VCs Jeff Clavier and Brian O'Malley from Battery.