As some of you may know, The Media Center is a think tank dedicated to helping create a better informed society in a connected world. One of our activities, which we don’t get to do as often as we’d like, is presenting FREE online programs that explore critical issues at the intersection of media, technology and society.

Our next free webcast will take place March 9. I urge you to participate, as well as tell your colleagues, especially those in print journalism or those concerned with the enduring value of journalism in democratic societies.

Here’s the information:

FREE Webcast: The Vanishing Newspaper: Survival and Public Service in the Age of We Media

March 9, 2005, 2:00-3:30 ET, online.

The Media Center will take a good, hard look at the newspaper-business model and its viability in a digital world. How can historic mass-media institutions use new communications trends and tools to once again take possession of credibility and public service, replant them in journalism's firmament, and transform themselves into vibrant 21st-century media enterprises?

This online event will be lead by Jeff Jarvis, well-known blogger and president of Advance.net. Panelists are:

* Phil Meyer, Knight Chair in Journalism, UNC, Chapel Hill; author of The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age
* Stefan Dill, Online Editor, freenewmexican.com
* Mary Lou Fulton, Publisher, northwestvoice.com, the Bakersfield Californian
* Tim Porter, newspaper analyst and blogger

To find out more or to register, go here.

Media Center webcasts are free, designed to allow anyone to participate. We love them because they give us the chance to engage people we don’t normally see at our real-world events. We are particularly happy to see international participants who may be looking at similar issues where they are, who are able to bring insights and perspectives shaped by their unique circumstances.