Research notes
University of Nebraska professor Matt Waite (and a former developer at Poynter's St. Petersburg Times) proposes "super panels" to address the shortcomings of the standard "News Nerd/technical journalism panel," which end up "inspiring people and then giving them little direction after they walk out." The problem, as Washington Post developer Jeremy Bowers (also a former St. Pete Times developer) puts it, is that there's plenty of intro training, but "but there's a big gap between that and proficiency." Waite's idea: Start with a panel aimed at informing and inspiring, then move to an "unconference" setup in which the panelists and others recruited to help decide on next moves -- "Install some software? Map out a group project? Start hacking away? Up to those who show up." Afterward, the super panel speakers and other recruits agree to run a study group or mentoring program. || Related: Michelle Minkoff says she wishes more conferences made her "feel dumb," because that's when she knows she's learning something

Journal-isms
The Society of Professional Journalists passed a resolution at its conference earlier this week urging journalists and style guide editors to stop using the term "illegal alien" and to reconsider using "illegal immigrant." The resolution states that only a court can judge whether someone has "committed an illegal act," and that "the National Association of Hispanic Journalists is also concerned with the increasing use of pejorative and potentially inaccurate terms to describe the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the United States." SPJ president-elect Sonny Albarado said he hopes the resolution "shows people that journalists are concerned about being accurate when they refer to people, plus I hope it helps shape the discussion."

The SPJ resolution doesn't state what term journalists should use instead. The AP Stylebook states that "illegal immigrant" is the preferred term, rather than "illegal alien" or "undocumented worker," and it tells journalists not to use "illegals." || Related: Colorlines.com reports increased use of "illegal" and "alien" in media coverage | Jose Antonio Vargas plans to report on immigration issues as he lobbies for policy changes | Vargas’ essay renews attention to media’s use of ‘illegal’ & ‘undocumented’

Journal-isms
Joe Davidson, co-founder of the National Association of Black Journalists, says he has changed his mind about having NABJ rejoin Unity since the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association joined Unity last week. “NLGJA's inclusion in Unity changes the mission of Unity,” he tells Journal-isms’ Richard Prince. “Throughout Unity's history, its mission has been to advance the interests of journalists of color, as its full name now, but perhaps not for long, indicates." There's been talk recently about Unity dropping "journalists of color" from its description. NABJ President Gregory Lee has appointed a commission to examine Unity’s governmental and financial structures and help the organization decide whether it should reunite with Unity. NABJ withdrew from Unity in April, saying it was no longer financially prudent to be part of the alliance.

Online News Association | Excellence in Journalism | Journalism & Women Symposium
Journalists had their pick of conventions this weekend. The Online News Association closed its 12th annual gathering by announcing its award-winners Saturday night; Flipboard won an award for technical innovation and the Asbury Park Press won the Knight Award for Public Service for "Barnegat Bay Under Stress." The Huffington Post's Craig Kanalley noted that Twitter, Facebook, Google and Storify were omnipresent at the convention. At the Excellence in Journalism convention (co-sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association and Society of Professional Journalists), CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien said Sunday, "When I got into this business in 1988 I was told the evening news is dead. It's still not. Avoid the naysayers." You can follow tweets from the convention, which goes through Tuesday, with #EIJ11. | And Susan Mernit pulled out some of the conversation from the Journalism & Women Symposium, including this: "Objectivity is like virginity: Once it's gone, it's gone." (She also called on ONA to create a community media category in its awards.) Post additional wrapups and takeaways in the comments.

The New York Times / Journal-isms
The New York Times won't support the 2012 National Association of Black Journalists convention and instead will attend UNITY. The Times made the choice after NABJ decided to break away from UNITY, which brings members of minority journalism associations together every four years for a convention. The larger convention was convenient for media companies because they only had to attend one event rather than four. "This was never a debate about not supporting NABJ, of course. It's about attending an alternate convention in a UNITY year," Dana Canedy, a senior editor at the Times, said by phone. "We have every intention of returning to the NABJ convention in non-UNITY years." (more...)

LAT || USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
The gift will pay for a new 90,000-square-foot building with studios and newsrooms for the digital age. || Read the release.

Poynter’s Colleen Eddy and I will be at the Asian American Journalists Association‘s convention this week, talking with people about their careers.

We feel privileged to be included in such important conversations. We look forward to seeing old friends … Read more

I have had a few online conversations recently with people who are trying to decide whether to attend journalism conventions this year.

It is not an easy call. Registration, airfare and hotel can easily cost up to $2,000. But the … Read more