What Can Newsrooms Learn From Museums?

From audience engagement to changing technology, the challenges and opportunities facing newsrooms have a lot of crossover with those facing museums. At their core, both entities are on a mission to tell compelling stories. What can we learn from our counterparts in the museum space?

Join ONA Chicago for a panel discussion with exhibit developers, public program coordinators and digital experts from Chicago's museums. Our discussion will be moderated by WBEZ and Curious City multimedia producer Katherine Nagasawa. We'll learn how ideas for exhibits and programs take shape and are developed, how different museums are utilizing new technologies and how journalists can make use of museum resources to uncover new sources and approaches to storytelling.

About our panelists:

Ryan Schuessler is an exhibition developer at the Field Museum. Prior to working at the Field, Ryan worked as a freelance journalist for outlets including The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Al Jazeera America. He has continued to freelance while at the Museum, where his work has broadly been influenced by his background in journalism.

Fawn Ring is the Director of Lectures and Performance Programs at the Art Institute of Chicago. Fawn worked for more than 30 years as an executive producer, producer, writer, correspondent and program host in public media, at stations including KQED in San Francisco and WTTW here in Chicago.

Hananne Hanafi is the Programs Coordinator of Yollocalli Arts Reach, which provides support to teaching artists, mentorship to program participants and incorporates college and career training skills into the Yollocalli programs. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Media Arts and over 10 years of community programming experience in Chicago.

Erica Griffin is a Public and Community Engagement Manager at the Chicago History Museum. Prior to joining the History Museum, she spent nearly seven years at the DuSable Museum of African American History, in diverse roles spanning education, membership and marketing. She has additional experience working and volunteering with other museums around Chicago.

Mick Swasko is a senior editorial copywriter at Walker Sands, an integrated B2B marketing and communications agency in Chicago. Mick spent seven years as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune and it’s sister publication RedEye before moving on to communications roles at the Shedd Aquarium and technology incubator 1871. During his time in journalism, Mick’s work frequently intersected with the Chicago museum community and helped him realize the amount of untold stories that still exist even in some of the cities largest cultural institutions.

About ONA Chicago:
ONA Chicago is a local meetup group made up of writers, editors, innovators, photographers, producers, academics, entrepreneurs and technologists who produce news for and support digital news delivery systems. We're the Chicago outpost of the Online News Association, the world’s largest association of digital journalists. ONA’s mission is to inspire innovation and excellence among journalists to better serve the public. ONA Local programs are generously supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more information, check out http://journalists.org/ona-local