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Media Perspectives: How IDESG Can Tell Its Story

By Jim Barnett

Members of IDESG have been hard at work building the identity framework, and we've invested time and effort honing our mission and vision for the internet. Now comes the fun part: telling our story.

In the coming months, IDESG will work to make itself an essential voice in the broader societal conversation about data, privacy and the ability to conduct personal business online without fear. But how exactly does that happen?

As an organization and as individuals, we'll encounter another industry that is undergoing dramatic change: the news industry. It's more important than ever that we understand how the business of news works, and what we can expect IDESG's role to be.

To help us, we've invited some of the industry's best to join us at the Atlanta plenary on January 28th and give us their perspectives. They'll share their knowledge of how the industry works today, and how reporters and editors go about covering a complex story with many dimensions, including economic, social and human interest.

Here are our confirmed speakers for the keynote panel and their backgrounds:

  • Anita Sharpe currently is the Bureau Chief and Editor-at-Large for Bloomberg News. During her career, she has won multiple awards for her investigative journalism covering topics from AIDS, finance, and small loans. She is the founder of a national business magazine and has launched a new media company.
  • Hank Klibanoff is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and former director of the Journalism program at Emory University with over 35 years of journalism experience. Currently he is the Managing Editor of the Civil Rights Cold Case Project; an in-depth perspective on unsolved civil rights cases.
  • Matt Kempner currently writes and edits for the Atlanta Journal Constitution covering technology, entrepreneurs and business. During his 20-year tenure, Matt has held various positions including senior editor for accuracy, fairness and customer care issues.

I expect the conversation to be lively, informative and fun. And it should give us all with valuable perspective as IDESG launches its communications and marketing efforts. I hope you'll be able to join us, either in person or virtually.

Jim serves on the board of IDESG and works at AARP as Senior Strategic Advisor for Digital Identity Management. He is a former investigative newspaper reporter and Washington correspondent. He holds a Master’s in Journalism from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a Master’s of Public Administration from the George Washington University.