People from around the public broadcasting world descended on DC today to discuss the future of their industry. Particularly, radio and television broadcasters, content producers, and social benefit groups were talking about how the ever increasing presence of the Internet is changing what and how they do what they do. 

The theme for this year's Beyond Broadcast conference was mapping public media. This theme played out in a number of ways: most concretely one panel looked at how public content sites are using maps (like the NewsHour's) to channel information; and in the more abstract one panel mapped web-based distribution models for content. The consensus seemed to be that the descriptor 'public broadcasting' is becoming increasingly irrelevant as media creation and distribution collide on the Internet. A more apt term suggested by some panel members was 'public media', which includes media created by traditional content creators as well as the public. 

The big take away for me -- regarding Ask Your Lawmaker -- was a comment made by Lee Banville, editor for the Online NewsHour. He was talking about how the goal behind the NewsHour election map was to create a platform that allows locally created content to push onto the national stage, while "allowing national viewers to filter down to specific geographies." Banville's comment reflects my own ambitions for AYL. I'd like to see this site move national media by bringing questions asked by people across the country to the center stage, while still allowing room for CNC reporters to make national news stories relevant to local markets.

My only disappointment with the conference was that MIT Professor Henry Jenkins wasn't able to make an in person appearance, though we was able to Skype in. The research that Jenkins is conducting at MIT with his Comparative Media Studies program closely reflects the spirit of the work that I am trying to do with AYL. By identifying examples of how the Internet is allowing users and content producers to interact in new ways, Jenkins’s work (most popular in his book Convergence Culture) makes me believe that now is the right time and place for a project like AYL to succeed.