News Xchange 2011

The News Xchange 2011 event took place in Cascais, Portugal from 2-4 November, with host broadcaster RTP helping to make it one of the most successful conferences in our rich 10-year history.

With a record-setting 441 delegates from 56 countries present, we focused on stories and storytelling: the stories of the year - the Arab Spring and the Japan earthquake, with an exceptional presentation from Takehiko Kusaba of NHK. We heard from the storytellers who change the world -- from One Day on Earth to the favelas of Rio, from stories about heroes to nightmarish scenes from Mexico, arguably one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists today. We welcomed one of CNN's leading international journalists, Hala Gorani, who shared stories from her insider position in one of the world's largest news organizations.

Then we turned our attention to the craft of journalism and the issues of physical safety as well as the risks -- and rewards -- of social media to the profession. With cocktails in hand, we talked about the role of satire in attracting audiences. We looked at case studies: CCTV and its plans to grow audiences globally and TV2 Norway's Skole program for bringing in younger viewers. We debated the future of the industry and decided, by a large majority, that journalism will prevail over innovation; i.e., ultimately it is the craft that leads. We talked about the opportunities from tablet devices and debated whether the answer lies in apps or HTML5. Or both. And we sat spellbound as world-famous artist and environmentalist Chris Jordan shared his vision for the power of visual storytelling.

Ten lucky delegates went home with brand new iPad2s, courtesy of Reuters, and Dr. Seif Khirhan, whose stories from Tahrir Square helped give a personal dimension to one of the most important and challenging stories of the year/decade, went home with a brand new Mac Air, courtesy of TVN Agency.

During the SES-sponsored coffee breaks, the community networked, and continued the conversations at both the CCTV and CNN dinners. Two fantastic evenings.

This year, for the very first time we offered delegates optional workshops on the Wednesday afternoon. Headway International, INA and the United Nations Development Program each offered a one-hour workshop. We had planned for approximately 30 delegates, then quickly headed out for more chairs when the numbers proved to be more than double that projection!

On Friday afternoon, following the closing lunch, we created the first-ever News Xchange Community Screening Room and showed 2 short films (one from Salim Amin on his return to Korem, the site of his father Mo Amin's extraordinary work from Ethiopia, and the other a long-form interview from The Associated Press), followed by a screening of "Dead Men Talking", a documentary from China just recently shown at the Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival. The latter was made possible by NOS News' Foreign News Editor, Gerard van den Broek, who is also a member of the News Xchange Executive Team.

So it might be tempting to say that, great, News Xchange 2011 went really well and now we can sit back and wait for next year's program. Except that is NOT what News Xchange is about. We are an experience, not a conference. And the conversations we began and the ideas we shared in Cascais will now continue.

In the next few weeks, we'll be making announcements about things like:
   •   An upcoming film screening (fresh from Sundance) and a webinar with the filmmaker
   •   Openings on the Executive Team
   •   How to get involved in helping to plan News Xchange
   •   And, of course, when and where we will meet for the News Xchange event in 2012

In the meantime, please stay active! We'll be updating the site regularly. We'll share results from the community survey. We'll share photos and videos and provide links to interesting articles and sites. We'll facilitate and encourage interesting conversations among and between our community members.

Do you have an article you'd like to write? An idea you'd like to explore? A webinar topic you'd like to propose? This website is here for the community! News Xchange is an experience, not three days in a foreign country. Get active and stay active! Help us plan an extraordinary 2012.