• Program 2007-08

Blogging Sustainability

Date: 

June 26, 2008

Time: 

6-8 pm

Venue: 

Green Spaces 33 Flatbush Ave (corner Flatbush & Livingston), Brooklyn, New York www.greenspacesny.com

Non-traditional media forums, such as blogs, have played a major role in furthering the message of sustainability - Blogging has become an influential form of information gathering, particularly in the green world. New media forums, websites, and blogs have played a major role in furthering the message of sustainability. In doing so, they have helped move sustainability to the mainstream, often covering issues before the traditional media gets to them. Websites vary from magazine offshoots to personal advice to the musings of corporate executives. What these websites often share is an informal and interactive readership.

On these websites writers are often more easily criticized and held accountable, and commentators evoke a wide range of perspectives. Yet, fact-checking is not mandatory, and people may seek out like-minded "communities of interest" and echo chambers, which can foster a narrower perspective.

How do today's citizens inform themselves? What are the effects of the shift away from one-to-many media formats?

This panel will examine how websites such as www.streetsblog.com, www.Inhabitat.com, www.Treehugger.com, and others further the message of sustainability. Panelists will discuss how new media can reach out to untapped audiences, and how to spread the message further.

Moderator: 

Bonnie Hulkower, Treehugger

Panelists: 

Jill Fehrenbacher, Editor, Inhabitat.com, Ken Rother, President/COO of Treehugger, Aaron Naparstek, Editor-in-chief Streetsblog.org