NEWSAPALOOZA Presented by Point Park University’s Center for Media Innovation Special Event
- Performance Dates
- September 27, 2024 9:00 AM
- Location
- Pittsburgh Playhouse
350 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Click here for Google Maps
Performance Time
Friday, September 27; all-day event
Doors open 9:00AM
Ticket Price
$10: All Day Access to Newsapalooza
$300 Membership: Membership that includes tickets and reception with Marty Baron, retired Washington Post executive editor, on Sept. 14; invitation to a Newsapalooza kickoff reception at the National Aviary on Sept. 26; Sept. 27 Newsapalooza access with preferred seating at all events; a Fall/Winter 2024 guided tour of Center for Media Innovation with founder Andrew Conte, Ph.D., Opportunities in 2024/25 to engage the founding team of the Next Generation Newsroom; Newsapalooza t--shirt and tote bag.
For more information about accessibility please visit this page.
About Newsapalooza
Robert Costa, chief presidential reporter for CBS News, starts Newsapalooza’s day of powerful sessions on lost local news and its community impact with a 9:30 am keynote.
Robby Robinson, of Boston Globe “Spotlight” movie acclaim, leads the afternoon keynote at 3 pm with Chris Baxter of Spotlight PA about “Who watches the powerful?”
A 5 pm cocktail hour event celebrates local journalism with The Pittsburgh Pitch – an interactive, audience-guided party to choose tomorrow’s news. Enjoy drinks and light food from the stage of The Pittsburgh Playhouse while listening to local journalists make the case for their best story ideas. Audience members vote to award $1,000 each for the best pitches.
Newsapalooza is a first-of-its-kind event for Pittsburgh: a celebration of story, journalism, and facts created by the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University.
Also appearing:
Presidential Politics in the Rust Belt & Appalachia. — 10:15 am
Annafi Wahed, founder of The Flip Side; Marita Garrett, a former mayor and founder of Civically; and Salena Zito, political columnist at the Post-Gazette and the Washington Examiner.
Is Pittsburgh still a City of Champions? — 11:15 am
Mike DeCourcy, of The Sporting News, Big Ten Network and FoxSports; and Jennifer Bullano Ridgley, Pittsburgh Penguins chief communications officer, and others.
Pennsylvania colleges can help water local news deserts — 1 pm
Richard Watts, director of the University of Vermont’s Center for Community News, and others.
New Report: Where Pittsburgh gets its news — 1 pm
University of Pittsburgh professors Lara Putnam and Elise Silva unveil findings of a groundbreaking study.
Diverse communities need stronger newsroom support — 1 pm
Letrell Crittenden, director of inclusion and audience growth at the American Press Institute, discusses his work to make Pittsburgh newsrooms and coverage more representative.
Press Forward Pittsburgh: Philanthropy support for local news — 2 pm
Christina Shih, associate director of the national Press Forward initiative will have an important local announcement; joined by other local foundation leaders.
Pittsburgh Pitch — 5 pm
The day closes with a party to celebrate local journalism at The Pittsburgh Pitch. Local journalists participate in a “Shark Tank” for Pittsburgh news where the audience awards prize money to the winners. Pittsburgh celebrities Rick Sebak, Sally Wiggin, Miracle Jones and the YaJagoffs bring the fun.
Television personalities from KDKA, a founding sponsor, will be on hand throughout the event.
Newsapalooza is a first-of-its-kind event for Pittsburgh: a celebration of story, journalism, and facts created by the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. Newsapalooza is an investment in the Pittsburgh story – the people who tell it and the stories they tell. It is also a day to reinvest in Pittsburgh’s story. This event will launch the Next Generation Newsroom, which will fill gaps in local reporting and serve 6 million readers through our 29 regional publishing partners. Today, true stories are challenged across America due to the loss of key storytellers – trained journalists. Nationwide, nearly 60% of those newspaper jobs have been eliminated in the past decade or so. At risk is democracy, informed communities and a shared awareness. For decades, journalists celebrated Pittsburgh at its best and protected it when needed. Now, we need to protect this vital civic function.
About The Center for Media Innovation
The Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University is a laboratory for figuring out the present and future of local journalism. We, at times, have taken a broader definition of that to (include) the local storytelling, but we narrow the journalism piece of it down.
It serves three main audiences: Young people — college students and high school students who often know the technology but often don’t know the basics of how to do storytelling. We work with them on that, and media literacy is a big piece of that; Professionals: CMI works with journalists, and also public relations (professionals), on how to keep up with the technology; Public: CMI does events that introduce the public to newsmakers and journalists and creates opportunities for them to learn about freedom of information.
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NEWSAPALOOZA Presented by Point Park University’s Center for Media Innovation
September 27, 2024 9:00 AM