Feder: Chicago Journalism Town Hall 2020 to convene Feb. 23

On a wintry Sunday afternoon in 2009, Ken Davis and Linda Paul assembled a roomful of media elders and innovators to share their thoughts about the uncertain future of journalism in Chicago.

The first Chicago Journalism Town Hall, as it was called, proved to be a lively exchange of ideas and a unique opportunity to vent some of the hopes and fears of a business facing historic challenges.

"If there was a consensus at the end of the Chicago Journalism Town Hall Sunday, it's that journalism, in some fashion, will always be with us," veteran media critic Michael Miner wrote the following day. "However, something - God knows exactly what - is either slouching or bounding toward Bethlehem to be born."

For Davis and Paul, their abiding interest in the state of local media goes back to the early '80s when the couple worked together at Chicago Public Radio WBEZ 91.5-FM, where Davis was news director, program director and talk show host, and Paul was a producer.

They most recently collaborated on "Chicago Newsroom," the weekly roundtable of journalists and newsmakers that aired for nine years on Chicago Access Network TV.

Now they're at it again.

Alarmed by the latest existential threats to local journalism, Davis and Paul are organizing another gathering. ("A group of big thinkers and decision-makers in Chicago's media and journalism constellation discuss the challenges they face in 2020 and beyond," they say.)

Billed as Chicago Journalism Town Hall 2020, the event will be Feb. 23 from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in the Walnut Room of the Allegro Hotel, 171 West Randolph Street, Chicago - the same venue as 2009.

Get the full report, and more Chicago media news, at robertfeder.com.