"Journalism: a.WAKE.ning?" Debates the Future of News

I can't attend "Journalism: a.WAKE.ning?" this Monday, November 15, because I'll be one of the hosts of BlogsGiving, but if I weren't, I'd be in the audience in the Upstairs Gallery at Theatre Off Jackson.

The evening kicks off at 7:30 p.m. As you enter you'll be presented with the choice of champagne or a shot of rye, symbolic of the question: "Are you celebrating a revolution in journalism or dancing on its grave?" 

Paul Mullin

With NewsWrights United's second Living Newspaper production coming up in February, The New New News, Monday night is both promotion and fundraiser. Mullin sees the Living Newspaper model as a way to inject some much-needed life into theatre, writing:

Happily, when we produced our first edition It’s Not in the P-I: A Living Newspaper about a Dying Newspaper, we noticed an added bonus. The people came—and we sold out nearly every night—not to see excellent theatre adeptly presented by trained professionals but rather stories about a local newspaper that they loved (or hated) that had died recently.

After a preview scene comes a panel discussion on new media and journalism, moderated by NewsWrights producer Tom Paulson and featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Dave Horsey (Seattlepi.com), Monica Guzman (Intersect.com), Josh Feit (PubliCola), sportswriter legend Art Thiel, columnist Brendan Kiley (The Stranger), and Chris Grygiel (coordinator of political coverage for the Seattlepi.com blogs). Tickets are $20 via Brown Paper Tickets or at the door.

"We're a hotbed of online journalism," said Mullin. "Big stories are happening in our backyards." He mentioned WaMu's downfall, the Maurice Clemmons police shooting. But the biggest story may be the media that covers those stories: Both the Seattle Times (which won a Pulitzer for its Clemmons coverage) and Seattle Crime were heads-down on that story for days on end, Seattle's de facto paper of record and a niche journalism start-up hustling to break news. (For the new production, the Newswrights turned to Facebook for leads.)

As for the Living Newspaper, Mullin said that format allows Newswrights United to explore the emotional value of news stories. News is often delivered in an emotion-free way, but at It's Not in the P-I, Mullin felt, they found a way into the public mourning of an institution as it passed away. (Here's David Horsey's review.)

"We're pro-am," said Mullin, noting their actors are a combination of Seattle stage veterans and student actors. In February, they'll be "touring" Seattle with The New New News, with stops at the South Seattle Community College, Erickson Theatre on Capitol Hill, and North Seattle Community College.