A discussion paper by Melanie Sill, Executive in Residence, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, December 2011

This paper and web presentation are based on Melanie Sill’s work as journalism department Executive in Residence at the USC Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism from June through December 2011. They draw from extensive reading, conversations and observations prior to and during the residency.

Before joining USC Annenberg Sill was senior vice president and top editor at the Sacramento Bee in California and The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. In these and prior leadership roles she watched over digital innovation in newsgathering and storytelling and specialized in enterprise and investigative editing, freedom of information and open government issues and in efforts to connect journalism with community needs. As projects editor she directed the N&O’s 1995 enterprise series on industrial pork production, “Boss Hog,” which was recognized the following year with the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Raised in Hawaii, Sill earned her journalism degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in 1993-94.

Contact Sill via email at melanias@usc.edu through December 2011 or at msill@melaniesill.com thereafter.

My greatest appreciation and thanks go to Geneva Overholser, director of journalism and professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, and to Dean Ernest J. Wilson III for inviting me to explore my journalism ideas alongside some of the field’s leading thinkers and educators. Gabriel Kahn, associate professor of journalism, was extremely generous with his time and gave me what every writer needs: a smart and demanding editor.

Special thanks as well to the Annenberg Innovation Lab and in particular to Dale MacDonald and Erin Reilly; to Laura Castaneda and Bill Celis, associate journalism directors; and to journalism and communication faculty members Robert Hernandez, Michael Parks, Jennifer Taylor, Burghardt Tenderich, Kjerstin Thorson and Diane Winston for their encouragement, advice and insights. Sharath Upadhya built the web interface to allow this work on open journalism to become an open conversation. Elisheva Weiss did the copy editing.

Dozens of people also shared time and insight to inform this report. In addition to people who are identified and quoted, thanks to Emily Bell, Jim Brady, David Cohn, David Eaves, Pam Fine, Rebecca Galloway, Megan Garber, Mark Glaser, Anders Gyllenhaal, Andrew Haeg, Morgan Holm, Ben Ifeld, Kafi Kareem, Scott Karp, Mark Katches, Bill Kovach, Michelle Levander, Ellen Martin, Dori Maynard, Mindy McAdams, Sue Mernit, Phil Meyer, John Mooney, Vikki Porter, Jay Rosen, Robert Rosenthal, Nancy Ruiz, J.C. Stearns, Jane Stevens, Conor White-Sullivan, Mark Surman, Howard Weaver, Daniel Weintraub, David Westphal and Jose Zamora.