News in the Digital Age @ Columbia

From there I caught the number 1 train and went to the completely opposite end of the Island and landed at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. AT&T sponsored a panel discussion on "News in the Digital Age" moderated by Lesley Stahl. Dr. Thomas Middlehoff of Bertelsmann, Steve Case of America Online, and Bob Wright of NBC were among the panelists. Attendees included John Pavlik, director of Columbia University's Center for New Media, Sreenath Sreenivasan, associate prof. at the school, the dynamic Renee Edelman of PR21, Jennifer Michalski of Antenna Group, and Katherine Cavenaugh. Jeff Ratner of Brand Dialogue, Dana Blankenhorn (www.a-clue.com), and Robert Silverman (NBC.com) came up for the delicious, hearty, yummy, filling hors d'ouevres. I certainly enjoyed them as I chatted with these interesting thinkers. And what did they think of the panel? Well, it seemed to most that Ms. Stahl hadn't done her homework and many wondered if she'd ever been online. While the topic "The Information Revolution: What comes next?" was ripe for discussion, most panelists managed to get through it without committing to much and reverted to topics comfortable, familiar, and safe -- their companies and personal anecdotes.