SCIL conference draws scholars and reporters to campus to discuss innovation journalism

More than 50 speakers and panelists from Europe and the United States gathered April 4-6 at the Second Conference on Innovation Journalism, put on by SCIL and co-hosted by the Stanford Graduate Program in Journalism. The diverse group, which included journalists from Fortune and Science magazines, The New York Times and Business 2.0, and journalists and scholars from Sweden, Finland and Germany, met to discuss the role of innovation journalism in society and to propose best practices in the field.

The Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning (SCIL) and the Swedish Innovation Journalism Initiative jointly organized the conference, which was held at Tressider Union for practicing professionals and academics.

According to David Nordfors, conference co-chairman and senior research scholar at SCIL, innovation is the largest driver of economic growth and has become a key word in modern society. Despite this, he says, it is rarely defined as a separate news beat.

One goal of the conference was to foster an ongoing dialogue between practicing journalists and scholars to further the creation of such a beat, and to act as a catalyst to improved reporting on the innovations that occur at the intersection of technology, business and science. While the feasibility of innovation journalism as a beat was the subject of the first annual conference, this year’s discussion focused more on core issues such as methods, ethics and best practices.

“We proposed the concept of Innovation Journalism eighteen months ago,” said Nordors. “At the First Conference on Innovation Journalism a year ago we discussed possibilities. At the Second Conference on Innovation Journalism we have compared realities. There are activities going on in three countries, including fellowships, courses and research programs. From here, we will widen the community globally and deepen the concept of Innovation Journalism. SCIL and Stanford will be at the center of it.”

After a keynote speech by Patrick Kenealy, chief executive officer of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading technology media company, conference participants engaged in discussions about topics ranging from the rise of analysts in innovation journalism to the role of innovation journalism in science news and “How to Find the Next Big Thing,” lead by Stanford chemistry professor Richard Zare,

Although journalism dedicated to innovation has existed for some time, it did not have a title or a professional community until 2003 when VINNOVA, the Swedish-based organization that sponsored Nordfors, formed an initiative to work towards the expansion of innovation journalism.

This is the second year that innovation journalism fellows from Sweden have come to work in U.S. publications such as The San Francisco Chronicle and Science magazine. Nordfors and the Stanford program on Innovation Journalism continue to act as a hub for the developing community.

For more information visit: www.innovationjournalism.org