Date: Monday, June 21, 2010
Time: 6:30-8:00 p.m. (Gather at 6:00 to meet fellow members; refreshments provided.)
Place: Mechanics' Institute, 57 Post Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco (directions and map)
Forum organizer: Jim Norrena

Craig Newmark Advocates Fact Checking As Key to Building Media Trust

Craig Newmark built a reputation for himself, first locally then nationally, as the founder of Craigslist, one of the top-ten busiest websites on the Internet today. While no longer a public spokesperson for Craigslist (serving as a customer service representative only), Mr. Newmark today is involved with a variety of community efforts—mostly in the political and government arenas—and is particularly interested in emerging forms of news media such as participatory journalism.

A frequent contributor to The Huffington Post, Mr. Newmark has coined the phrase "trust is the new black," which refers to today’s news media that, depending on the source, may offer less-than-reliable information: "In traditional media, trust in news was established by ethical behavior," he says, "like good intent backed up by checking the facts. Distrust in the press grows when traditional journalistic values, like fact-checking, are forgotten." He also predicts, "Among news organizations, the successful survivors will be the ones that build a culture of trust, largely by checking facts, and not tolerating disinformation."

So in a culture of instantaneous news coverage, often with opposing statements, how does the public ascertain which media outlets are reputable? And, conversely, at what point does the level of disinformation become intolerable? Mr. Newmark advocates for media sources to invest in the tools to deliver accurate and honest coverage to lend credibility and build their readership’s trust.

As an audience of fact-checkers ourselves, we welcome Mr. Newmark’s thoughts about how the news media landscape is changing—and how we can better prepare ourselves as editors to meet these changes.

Craig Newmark is the founder of craigslist.org, a site where people can help each other with everyday needs including housing and jobs. The site has a culture of trust, based on shared values like "treat people like you want to be treated." He currently works as a customer service rep, in no managerial role. Previous experience includes thirty years working with computers for IBM, GM, Charles Schwab & Co, and Bank of America. He's also working with a wide range of groups using the Net to help each other out, like Donorschoose.org, the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, Kiva.org (microfinance) and Consumer Reports. He's working on the advisory board of Wikipedia, considering customer service and trust issues. Craig is also actively engaged with government workers on multiple levels to use the Net for superior public service, and with Sunlight Foundation for government accountability and transparency. He's not as funny as he thinks he is, but sometimes can't help himself. Craig no longer wears a plastic protector and thick black glasses that are taped together, but is still a nerd. You can reach Craig at twitter.com/craignewmark, facebook.com/craignewmark, or cnewmark.com.

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Upcoming September Forum
Date: TBA
Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m. (Gather at 6:00 to meet fellow members; refreshments provided.)
Place: Mechanics' Institute, 57 Post Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco (directions and map)
Forum organizer: TBD

No San Francisco forums in July or August. See you in September!

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General Notes:

• Our forums are free to members—as well as to non-members who may want to check us out.
• There are no San Francisco forums held in July, August or December.

Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Time: 6:45-8:30 p.m.
Place: Campbell Library, 77 Harrison Ave., Campbell, CA 95008 (map)
Forum organizers: Cristina Cary and David Couzens

Keeping Your Skills Up-to-Date

The job market today is very competitive. Editors can't afford to let their skills stagnate. But what do you need to learn, and where and how can you learn it? Come to the July 21 South Bay BAEF meeting, share your advice and observations, and learn from your fellow editors about what's hot in editing now and how you can stay current (and highly employable). Here are some of the questions we'll discuss:

• What new technologies are employers looking for when they hire an editor? Where can you learn those technologies?
• Have you identified areas where you'd like to improve as an editor? If so, how do you go about improving?
• Do you have an editing mentor? Whom have you learned from in the past? Are you mentoring anyone now?
• Where can editors take classes to advance or deepen their skills? What was your experience at those places?
• Have you learned new editing-related skills from volunteer work? How can you align your volunteer work with professional goals?

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General Notes:

• Our forums are free to members—as well as to non-members who may want to check us out.
• South Bay forums are held quarterly rather than monthly.

Time: In San Francisco, we gather at 6:00 pm for networking and socializing. Presentations are from 6:30-8:30 pm.

Location: The Mechanics' Institute is at 57 Post Street, San Francisco 94104. We meet in the fourth floor meeting room and café, seen upon exiting the elevator.

Directions: Just a short distance from the Montgomery Street BART station. Walk one-quarter of a block (left) up Post Street, away from Market Street bus lines. By car, from Geary or Market or 3rd Street, go north onto Kearny and turn right on Post. From O'Farrell, go north on Grant and right on Post.

Parking: On-street parking on Post and neighboring streets is free after 6 pm. Garage parking is available three blocks away in the Sutter-Stockton Garage, 330 Sutter Street at the corner of Sutter and Stockton.

About the Mechanics' Institute: Located in downtown San Francisco, the Institute houses the oldest library on the West Coast and one of the nation's oldest chess clubs. Organized in 1854 when San Francisco was a remote frontier community, it began as a center for adult technical education. The private Institute, housed in the historic 1910 building at 57 Post Street, maintains a large circulation and reference library.