INVITATION: Meeting, Tues., 7:30 p.m., Selectmens' meeting room, Williamstown Town Hall

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The public is invited to attend an informal
discussion on Tues., Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m., in the Selectmens' Meeting
Room at Williamstown Town Hall, 31 North St., Williamstown, Mass., on the
community-information needs of the town and region.

"This is not a town-sanctioned or sponsored event," says town resident, a
future-of-jouranlism researcher who set up the meeting. "It's just some
people gathering to kick around ideas. We are using town hall merely
because the library closes early on Tuesday and we couldn't therefore seek
the meeting room there."

Invited participants include:

-- David Scribner, a Pittsfield-based writer and weekly newspaper editor.
Scribner, a former editor of The Berkshire Eagle and The Bennington
Banner, has applied to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for a
grant to launch "Newshare Commons" -- a journalist-guided, social news
network in libraries, cafes and public spaces. Scribner hopes the
Berkshires/SW Vermont will be one test region. See:
http://tinyurl.com/yacnxdn

-- Jeff Vander Clute, president of CircLabs Inc., a company part-owned by
the University of Missouri School of Journalism. CircLabs is working to
find solutions for sustaining the values, principles and purposes of
journalism in our rapidly evolving media ecosystem. Jeff is developing
the technology for a "news social network." Vander Clute is a 1994
Williams College graduate and was part of the core group at the start of
Tripod Inc. See: http://www.avanoo.com

ADVANCES A GATHERING IN BENNINGTON

This meeting also advances by two days a more formal gathering at the
Bennington (Vt.) Free Library organized by Shires Media Partnership Inc., a
501(c)3 non-profit which owns radio station WBTN in Bennington (I serve on its
volunteer board). The announcement of that event should give you a sense our
subject domain for Tuesday. See:

http://dbs.hosting.crocker.com/wiki/index.php/Community-bennington

"To get a feel for what a metropolitan area like Seattle can put together
to study its 'news ecosystem,' " said Densmore, "Review this page from the
Journalism That Matters Pacific Northwest gathering Jan. 7-10 --
http://www.rjiwiki.org . . . . "

Densmore may be reached at 413-458-8001 or
densmore@mediagiraffe.org.