There’s no debate that journalism is in the midst of an alarming transition. Newspaper circulation figures, advertising revenues, job openings and journalists' wages have been in a downward slide for several years. Laments for the loss of "quality journalism" are a constant refrain. New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller describes a decline in journalism "that involves experienced reporters going places, bearing witness, digging into the records, developing sources, checking and double-checking, backed by editors who try to enforce high standards."

At the same time, the internet has given birth to new forms of journalism. Green shoots are emerging in the form of online news gathering and reporting, the rise of social media, citizen journalism and crowdsourced news.

This is where the debate begins. What will these changes mean for democracy? Is there a business model for quality journalism? And what will the jobs of the future look like?

Join Rem Rieder, editor and publisher of the American Journalism Review, in conversation with Ira Basen, CBC writer and producer of News 2.0: The Future of News in the Age of Social Media, as they explore these questions and more.

After the presentation there will be a Q&A with the audience followed by a cocktail reception. For more information, visit http://cjf-fjc.ca/programs.htm.

Ira Basen

Ira Basen joined CBC Radio in 1984. He has created and produced several network programs and special series, including "Spin Cycles", an award winning, six-part look at PR and the media, that was broadcast on CBC Radio One in January/February 2007, and "News 2.0", a two-part examination of the the future of news in an age of social media broadcast in June 2009. Ira has also written for Saturday Night, The Globe and Mail, The Walrus, Maisonneuve, and the Canadian Journal of Communication, and is a columnist for cbc.ca. He currently teaches at Ryerson University, and the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. He is also the co-author of the Canadian edition of The Book of Lists (Knopf Canada, 2005).

Rem Rieder

Rem Rieder has been editor of American Journalism Review since 1991 and writes columns on media issues for the magazine and its website (ajr.org). Rieder has held senior editing positions at a number of major newspapers, including the Washington Post (deputy metropolitan editor), Miami Herald (national editor and city editor) and Milwaukee Journal (assistant managing editor/news). Rieder has taught media industry reporting, journalism ethics, magazine editing and production, and advanced public affairs reporting as an adjunct professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. A Philadelphia native, he is a graduate of Harvard University and lives in Washington, D.C.