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Pulitzer Center Executive Director Jon Sawyer and Contributing Editor Kem Knapp Sawyer spoke at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, on January 29, as part of the College’s Forum on Government and Public Policy.
The two gave a public lecture "Brave New World: Telling Global Stories in a New Media Age" in which they addressed the challenges of covering global news at a time of web overload and under-resourced legacy media. During the visit, the two Pulitzer Center editors also spoke with News and Information Coordinator Bobbie Stewart about how the Center is evolving in today's media.
"It’s been tremendously liberating for us that early on—we did not see ourselves as a news destination site... We wanted to be in the position that those outlets, with the big audiences, would see the value of running our work. This means that unlike those organizations, we don’t wake up in the morning, thinking what can we do to get an extra thousand hits on our site today," Jon Sawyer said.
"I think we are shaping what we want the audience to hear and see, just by our choices, but we’re not necessarily telling them what to think about the issue. We’re introducing them, and letting them see issues more in-depth. We do have strong beliefs about what are the important issues to cover. By selecting gateways, we’re highlighting areas that we think need more examination, whether it be water and sanitation, or public health issues related to women and children," Kem Knapp Sawyer said.
Read the full conversation on the Flagler College website.