If it seems like I’ve had journalism and the future of media on the brain lately, there’s a good reason: it’s all a lot of folks are talking about these days, and I keep getting asked what I think. In fact, I’m going to be a panelist on two upcoming conferences dealing with the future of journalism.

The first is this weekend: The Chicago Media Future Conference, June 13 from 1:30pm to 5pm at Columbia College’s Film Row Cinema, 1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor. I’ll be part of the first panel, entitled “How do people consume the news, and what do they do with it?” My fellow panelists will be Rich Gordon, Medill Readership Institute and the Medill School at Northwestern; Amanda Maurer, social media producer at Chicago Tribune; Daniel X. O’Neil, Everyblock‘s “people person”; and Hilary Sizemore, interactive content manager at Barrington Broadcasting Group, and the moderator will be Dan Sinker, founder of Punk Planet and current journalism faculty at Columbia College.

The other panel is titled “How do you make money selling the news and who is willing to pay for it?” and features Eric Easter, chief of digital strategy for Johnson Publishing; Brad Flora, publisher of The Windy Citizen; Tom Lynch, director of Client Satisfaction at IMP!; Steve Rhodes, Founder of The Beachwood Reporter; and Patrick Spain, CEO of Newser. The moderator is Barbara Iverson, Columbia College professor and co-publisher of ChicagoTalks.

The idea is to continue the discussion started at the Chicago Journalism Town Hall — but rather than continue to dwell on how newspapers are dying, actually talk about solutions for moving forward. You should come. It’s free.

The second talk is Thursday, June 18, at 6:30pm at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Blvd. It’s sponsored by the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association, and here’s how it’s being pitched:

For more than a century, Chicago has reigned as perhaps the most vibrant news town in America. But with both major newspapers in the city in bankruptcy, the fate of the reporting trade is murky, here and throughout America. Join some of Chicago’s most prominent reporters, editors and columnists on Thursday, June 18th for a discussion on the fast-changing state of the profession – and the strategies for survival – sponsored by the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association.

I’ll be on the panel along with Mark Brown, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times; Ray Long, investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune; Eileen Brown, innovations editor at the Daily Herald; Monroe Anderson, blogger and columnist for EbonyJet; and Tom McNamee, editorial page editor for the Chicago Sun-Times. Dirk Johnson, former bureau chief for The New York Times and Newsweek magazine and lecturer at Northern Illinois University, moderates. Hopefully they don’t all gang up on me at once.

It’s also free, but seating is limited. If you’re interested in attending, please RSVP by June 15 to Dirk Johnson at dejohnson@niu.edu or 815-761-6579.

I sort of accidentally started a tumblr a couple weeks back (blame Raza) and decided to run with it for awhile. I’m liking it quite a bit — it’s a lot easier to just add bits and pieces on the fly, so I’m actually using it. As a result, the delicious sidebar here has been suffering. So if you’ve been wondering what’s up, that’s the deal. Go check it out.

At the Chicago Journalism Town Hall, a micropayment service called Kachingle was brought up as a novel way to pay for online content. (The Reader’s Michael Miner really dug it.) More recently, ForgottenChicago signed on with Contenture.

Not surprisingly, Kachingle has gone back to the drawing board with its concept. I haven’t heard of Contenture before, but I doubt it’ll have much momentum. And that’s the problem with these and every other micropayment system along their lines: inertia.

Instead of a traditional ad model, wherein a visitor views an ad and the publisher makes a little money off that view (or possibly only when a visitor clicks), the micropayment model requires several additional steps. The visitor must go to some other site, decide to create an account, and either add money to it or associate it with a money account such as PayPal. That’s three extra steps to expect visitors to complete, any of which may be a deal-breaker that disconnects the pay model. Kachingle adds yet another step — requiring visitors to not just sign up with their system but actively click a button on participating sites. Even if readers are engaged, making sure they remember to click a button somewhere on the page would be difficult without being intrusive.

Research finds that nearly 60% of shopping carts are abandoned before purchase is completed — and that’s for actual products they’re interested in buying, not websites that would otherwise be free and hassle-free. Imagine what the abandonment rate would be for a system in which people are billed for something they once got for free, and in most cases still will since micropayment is generally not used as a subscription service but rather as a voluntary payment. And when it has been used as a subscription service, it still failed.

The micropayment model has been tried several times over the past 10 or 12 years. It has never developed into something substantial and successful, even when Amazon did it. As Clay Shirky says:

The threat from micropayments isn’t that they will come to pass. The threat is that talking about them will waste our time, and now is not the time to be wasting time. The internet really is a revolution for the media ecology, and the changes it is forcing on existing models are large. What matters at newspapers and magazines isn’t publishing, it’s reporting. We should be talking about new models for employing reporters rather than resuscitating old models for employing publishers; the more time we waste fantasizing about magic solutions for the latter problem, the less time we have to figure out real solutions to the former one.

All this and more will no doubt be discussed at the Chicago Media Future Conference, which is coming up on June 13 and which I will be speaking at (though not on this topic). Come on out and join the conversation.

Been awhile. Lots going on. Here’re some recent happenings.

1.

I was interviewed by Jason Pettus for his Chicago Center for Literature and Photography podcast earlier this month. We cover everything from college to my years in PR to Gapers Block, Out of 5, SXSW and more.

2.
Cinnamon and I helped Naz and Jen move out to San Francisco earlier this month, too. Cinnamon and Jen drove across the country with Shaun the Dog™ in our car, which Naz and I flew with his two cats, Monty and Loki. We all met at their new apartment on Saturday, and Cin and I helped them traipse around town picking up the essentials while we waited for their stuff to show up on the ABF shared semi trailer on Tuesday. We helped them unload the truck, had lunch and took off, to finally arrive on Friday back in Chicago. Much more about the whole excursion shortly, once I’ve got the multitude of photos uploaded and sorted.

3.
On Saturday, Cinnamon and I both appeared on a panel at the Pilcrow Lit Fest: “Niches, Tech Writing and Event Coverage.” Cinnamon was a panelist, along with David Barringer, Theresa Carter, Lynn Haller, Tim Jahn, Sarah Stanley and Kate Zimmer; I was the moderator. We didn’t have a huge audience — we were up against the sex in writing panel — but it was a good conversation I was glad to be a part of.

4.
Lastly, my profile of Adrian Holovaty and EveryBlock is now out in the June issue of Chicago Magazine, in the Arena section up front. Unfortunately, it’s not online yet — I plan to post more of the interview here on me3dia once it is, to help fill out the story a bit further.

I’ll be participating in a discussion of social media, blogs, online news, Twitter, etc. and how they affect the lives of individuals and businesses on Wed., April 29 at North Pond Cafe, 2610 N. Cannon Dr. in Chicago — and you’re invited. Here’s the invitation copy:

Please join us on Wednesday, April 29 for another unique event.
Become a Fan/Follower/Friend of the all-star panel gathering here to discuss this social mediathing.

After a nationally-networked, regionally-inspired dinner, join:
Andrew Huff – Editor and Publisher, Gapers Block online magazine
David Huffaker – Ph.D. Candidate, Media, Technology and Society; Northwestern University
Darrell Jursa – Vice-President, Interpublic Group of Companies; Non-Traditional Marketer
Akili Lee – Director, Digital Youth Network, University of Chicago

for a fascinating, tweeted “conversation” with the evening’s guests.

Seating at 6 P.M., we’ll be serving:
Midwestern Beer, Smoked Sausage, Cheese, Pickles
New England Seafood Chowder, Guanciale, “Oyster Crackers”
Pacific Northwest Alaskan Halibut Gravlax, Asparagus Vinaigrette, Wild Greens
Southwest Hardwood-Grilled Pork, Fruit Salsa, Beans, Chiles
Gulf Coast Key Lime Sabayon, Strawberries, Toasted Oats, Almonds

$59 per person
(exclusive of additional beverages, tax, tip)

There were still reservations available as of this writing — call 773-477-5845 to save your seat.

UPDATE: You may need to leave a message; someone should get back to you to confirm.