roundtable project proposal

8/6/2019 Roundtable Project Proposal

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/roundtable-project-proposal 1/21



Project Pitch

Roundtable is a web platform connecting people, news and ideas.

It’s about conversation -- moving from comments to discussion.

A reader needs to interact with reporters so she can expand her understanding of current events

and issues, and do more than simply comment on or tweet about an article.

A journalist needs to engage with readers so he can make his work more tangible in impact and

salience, expound information and get tips or potential story ideas.

Readers, journalists and experts are all invited to the table to share their opinions, exchange ideas

and resolve issues. Together at the Roundtable, news becomes debate, conversation, an experience.

A modern news organization cannot solely produce content. It must also become a connector -- inthe most transparent way possible -- and leverage the Web’s potential to create a two-way

community. Only then will the relationship between publication and audience truly promote reader

engagement, reporter participation and a bi-directional flow of information and ideas.

Roundtable will be built on top of newsrooms’ existing infrastructure and seamlessly folded into their

existing user experience, allowing their publication to join the table.

Anyone can host a Roundtable -- a newsroom, editors, journalists, interested readers. Every

Roundtable is centered on an issue: How can universities make their admissions process more

transparent? How should news outlets use technology to engage with readers? Over the course of

discussion, participants will develop resolutions to address this issue, eventually submitting them forconsideration by the table.

A Roundtable discussion reflects the dynamic nature of news -- it is always open. Its resolution can

change to reflect trends in public opinion as news develops. The table happens in real-time, but with

asynchronous qualities, as there is no time scale.

Each Roundtable is structured in five phases: discover, impress, discuss, resolve and vote.



Discover takes place before any Roundtable begins -- it’s a preview of the upcoming table’s issue and

preparation materials for participants (comprising topic overview, background information and

relevant links).

The impress, discuss and resolve phases each have a set of specific guidelines to mimic the flow of aroundtable discussion, and to shape conversation towards participant response.

Impress is a casual forum-like atmosphere. Introductions, general opinions, viewpoints and thoughts

are all welcome, and there is no limit on the number of posts. This is the only phase of the

Roundtable that is limited to one day.

Discuss calls for a more goal-oriented conversation. Each participant gets only one post to address

the table, but is allowed infinite replies to this thread. It’s an opportunity for collaborative feedback

for participants to refine potential resolutions.

Resolve is the phase for resolution submission. Again, each participant is only allowed to address thetable once, so submitting a resolution should not be taken lightly.

Voting determines the end resolution for the table. Everyone gets one vote -- which can be taken

back and switched to another resolution at any time. The end resolution will be integrated into the

news organization’s website following the table’s conclusion. A small footer with the text of the

resolution can be embedded on articles pertaining to the Roundtable issue. If the resolution changes,

the footer will be updated.

Why keep the table open?

News is constantly changing -- take the London riots. London could look very diff erent in a week --the issue can change, public opinion can change and the table should reflect these changes. And

because the Web is dynamic, not stagnant like print, every Roundtable is kept open, allowing the

conversation to mature and grow with the content. It becomes much more alive.



Despite the rise of digital media and growth of interactive journalism, the average reader’s news

consumption experience has remained relatively static. In an informal survey about reader

engagement with news, sixty-five percent of respondents said they simply “close the tab” after

reading an article. Twenty-nine percent will share the article through social media. Only three percent

said they would comment on the article. And zero respondents said they would email the article’s

author for further discussion.

Clearly, there’s something wrong with this picture.

Changing culture:

Information and technology are converging. News has traditionally been an information product, but

how can it adapt and scale eff ectively to its technology dimension?

The New York Times’ Room for Debate and the Economist Debates are two examples of successful

interfaces that leverage Web 2.0 to encourage an exchange of ideas between content producers and

consumers.

It comes down to a shift in the underlying cultures of reader engagement and reporter participation.

The concept:

Roundtable is a platform to spark this shift. It’s a tool designed for newsrooms to crowd-source news

analysis through online discussion. Roundtable facilitates reader interaction with journalists and

experts on relevant issues. Readers can use reporters’ expertise to get answers to their questions

and context for relevant issues. Reporters can engage in positive intellectual discourse and get new

story ideas, sources and tips.

The Roundtable project provides a framework for discussion that can be implemented by any news

organization on their existing website.

Anatomy of a Roundtable:

The outcome of any Roundtable is a resolution to the issue being discussed. Attending the table will

be a host (or team of hosts), journalists, experts and readers.

Anyone can host a Roundtable. The newsroom using the platform may organize one, but readers can

also apply to host a table with sponsorship from the participating news organization. This process

will depend on the organization, though a substantial amount of preparation and background workon the proposed issue will be required.

Roundtable adapts its namesake’s format of discussion to an online setting. Each Roundtable will

have five phases:

1/ Discover: Pre-table materials. Presents the Roundtable’s issue, background materials, context and

any relevant links.



2/ Impress: The first phase of the Roundtable. Casual forum-like atmosphere, introductions, general

thoughts and opinions. Participants get an unlimited number of posts. Interface: posts are displayed

in a single linear thread.

3/ Discuss: Response-driven conversation to the issue at hand. One post per participant (whichideally will be their preliminary resolution to the table’s issue) with an unlimited number of replies.

Interface: posts are displayed with nested replies.

4/ Resolve: The submission phase of the table. One post per participant -- their final resolution to

the issue. Interface: posts are displayed in a single linear thread.

5/ Vote: Everyone attending the Roundtable gets to vote -- there are no restrictions. Participants

pick the best resolution which will serve as the table’s consensus on the issue. And because

Roundtables are always open, participants can take back their vote and switch to another resolution

at any time. This preserves the integrity of the voting system. If a given issue has changed, and public

opinion has changed, the resolution should also change.

Site-wide integration:

Roundtable will eff ectively serve as another “category” or “section” page on news websites. Each

table’s “discover” phase will link to relevant articles on the publication’s site, promoting the news

organization’s content. Similarly, after a table has concluded, articles pertaining to the Roundtable’s

issue will link to the end resolution in the page’s footer.

Technology:

Roundtable will live and breathe in the Web, using HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery to construct alightweight, customizable interface -- making it easy to integrate into news organizations’ existing

websites.

Challenges:

What's in it for journalists? Reporters have limited time and resources. Why should they join the

table? The opportunity to feature their articles as part of the Roundtable interface could be a

motivator. Journalists who are passionate about engaging with readers can be rewarded with a link

to their article in the “discover” phase of a table addressing a similar issue.

Who will participate? Everyone is busy. In today’s digital age of news consumption, appointmenttelevision is dead. Everything is on demand. Roundtable compensates for these trends in its

implementation -- a table is real-time, but with asynchronous qualities. The discussion window is

framed wider than an hour, allowing people to come and go, participating at their convenience.

Newsroom and audience culture: The traditional “article plus comment thread” model is almost an

industry standard -- why buck the trend? Shifting the newsroom’s focus from producing content to

connecting people requires a cultural shift, but the only way to start the dialogue is to build tools



that promote this momentum. On the reader side, not everyone wants to participate. There will

always be those who simply close the tab. Roundtable’s mission is to steadily lessen this number, one

reader at a time.

Cost of maintenance: The sunk cost of building the project’s interface and technology is not the

biggest point of concern -- it’s curating the community that comes afterwards. Roundtable is aplatform, inherently diverse and applicable to a wide range of topics. Maintenance costs, such as

hiring discussion moderators or manually cleaning up content, have been considered in Roundtable’s

user interface design. The structured discussion format and posting limits will work to create a self-

selecting participant pool, minimizing the potential for spammers and trollers by maximizing the

amount of eff ort required to post.



Discover

Individual Roundtable page

Impress Discuss Resolve

Vote

Topics Landing Page

News Organization Home(BBC)

Roundtable Landing Page

BBC Article Page



21 PEOPLE are attending the table. RSVP NOW

Roundtable

THE ISSUE:

Education | How can colleges be

improved to combat the trend of

The next roundtable will take place on August 20.UPCOMING /

Round table

SIGN UP TO BE NOTIFIED!

HOSTED BY:

Morton O. Schapiro, President of

Northwestern University

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DISCOVER IMPRESS DISCUSS RESOLVE VOTE

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