For the flyer go here.


UC Berkeley journalists enter the virtual world of Second Life to showcase an innovative reporting project on the "Faces of Faith in America."


News21 Initiative funded by the Carnegie and Knight foundations explores ways of reaching the lost audience with web video, interactive games and personal stories about "God, Sex and Family."

Contact: Kara Andrade kara.andrade@yahoo.com
Phone: 510-384-0788
SL: KaraAndrade Writer

www.newsinitiative.org
News21 fellow Kara Andrade and religion writer Don Lattin will moderate a discussion with religious experts on the expression of faith in virtual worlds.


Fellows from the News21 journalism initiative and their faculty advisors launch a groundbreaking experiment bringing important journalism and ongoing discussions about faith to Second Life, the innovative virtual community.

The project, developed at the News 21 site at the University of California Graduate School of Journalism, Berkeley is part of the fellowship's 2007 program focusing on Religion and Private Life.

The purpose of the summer effort is to bring new approaches to religion coverage and present that coverage in innovative ways.

The team of journalists from the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley is exploring "God, Sex and Family." That's where choices about marriage, dating, the building of community, family and faith play out in private life. To see the stories as they unfold over the next three weeks, go to www.newsinitiative.org/ucb .

One of our goals is to find new ways to get our work out to a younger, tech-savvy audience. That's why we will be spending the next few weeks in Second Life -- a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, this massive video game of life has grown explosively and today is inhabited by more than eight million residents around the globe.

Starting on Monday, July 23, the programming will be showcased in Second
Life on NOWHEREVILLE ISLAND (http://slurl.com/secondlife/
Nowhereville/113/81/26/).

"God, Sex, Family" projects will be streamed (video, audio, content) into different tents created to look and feel like a church revival. Reporters will be available in each tent to speak or answer any questions from SL visitors. Dates and times of reporter availabilities will be posted in Second Life or can be obtained by contacting project coordinator Kara Andrade.

The final event will be a panel discussion on Sunday, July 29 from 1-2:30 PM PST held inworld and broadcast live through SLCN, the Second Life Cable Network, http://slcn.tv. Religion writer and News21 Senior Editor Don Lattin will moderate. Panelists include SL worshipers, spiritual leaders, and theologians.

News 21 is a national initiative led by five leading universities (UC Berkeley, USC, Columbia, Northwestern and Harvard) and funded by the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education. It seeks to prepare the next generation of news industry leaders to work in and cover an increasingly complex world. The program is funded by the Carnegie Corp. of New York and the John and James L. Knight Foundation.

PANEL SCHEDULE
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SCHEDULE: SUNDAY, JULY 29
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Pre-Event Mixer 12:00 PM PST " 1:00 PM PST
Live music by BradElectro www.myspace.com/bradelectro
+Free t-shirts and badges
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Event 1:00 PM PST -- 2:30 PM PST
Join Don Lattin and a panel of religious/spiritual leaders for a
conversation about faith and spirituality in virtual worlds
Live voice stream
Questions from the SL audience
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Post-Event Reception 2:OO PM PST -- 4:00 PM PST
Live musician BRADELECTRO
Free t-shirts

EVENT INFORMATION GROUP:
Stay updated by searching for and joining the GODSEXFAMILY SL
Events group: + "Search"-"Groups"-"GODSEXFAMILY"-NEWS21 Events-"Join(0L$)".

From our News Initiative site:

Student Journalists Share Their Work in Second Life
July 20th, 2007
By Kara Andrade

I spoke to Andre Foster this morning, literally five minutes after posting on the Second Life Educators mailing list and we chatted about our Faces of Faith SL project. Then I ran off to meet with our panel for the first time.

So at 1 am (eh, who needs sleep?) I saw on my google alerts for SL that we got written about!

Check it out on The Chronicle of Higher Education:
July 19, 2007
Student Journalists Share Their Work in Second Life

Journalism students at the University of California at Berkeley will show off their reporting, filming, and writing on religion in the virtual world, Second Life, beginning on Monday. In five revival-style tents on Nowhereville Island, people can view multimedia presentations on polygamy, Ave Maria College, the so-called lost boys of the Mormon faith, and other topics, says Kara Andrade, a Berkeley journalism student.

Students, represented by digital alter egos, will be available to answer questions about the work. The project, which explores religion in America, is financed by the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education.

In conjunction with the presentation, Ms. Andrade will help moderate a discussion on Sunday about spirituality in a virtual environment, featuring spiritual leaders from real and digital environments. The discussion takes place in Second Life and will be shown on the Second Life Cable Network at 1 p.m. Pacific time.

Ms. Andrade says there is a vibrant religious community in Second Life, with new forms of spirituality taking root there. –Andrea L. Foster