Center for Collaborative Journalism dedication, panel discussion set for Friday

The public is invited to the dedication of the Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University at 11:30 a.m. Friday outside the new building in Mercer Village.

The public is also invited to a panel discussion -- “Enhancing Local Journalism in the Digital Age: How You Do It and Why It’s Important.” That discussion will take place from 2-3:30 p.m. in Fickling Hall on the Mercer campus.

The CCJ’s mission is to train a new generation of journalists using a medical-school model in which students work alongside experienced journalists, meet the information needs of the community in a digital age and engage the community in identifying and reporting on critical issues.

The panel discussion will examine how digital advances from social media to mobile computing have fundamentally changed how people consume news and information and how those digital advances brought a seismic shift in the economics and operations of media organizations.

Panelists will talk about how the center and other programs are responding to these challenges. Panelists are Joaquin Alverado, chief strategy officer for the Center for Investigative Reporting; Jennifer Greer, chairwoman of the Department of Journalism at the University of Alabama; Telegraph Executive Editor Sherrie Marshall; CCJ Director Tim Regan-Porter and Teya Ryan, president and executive director of GPB Media. Eric Newton, senior adviser to the president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will moderate.

-- Staff reports