Policy experts, scholars, politicians and media providers will gather at UNC on Friday to tackle a critical question: How can digital communications providers help meet the information needs of local communities and fill gaps in accountability journalism?

The panel takes place Friday, Jan. 19, 2012, in Carroll Hall, room 305, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The FCC published a report in July examining the impact of the digital revolution on local news media. The report points to shrinking newsrooms as a cause for concern, predicting that a lack of watchdog reporting will lead to increased government inefficiency and ineffective education systems, among other community problems.

The full report is posted on the FCC page.

The panel is funded in part through the Knight Foundation, as part of an attempt to adapt Carnegie-Knight journalism schools to the changing state of media.

Some of the attendants and participants at Friday’s panel include:

• Steve Waldman, the author of the FCC report on the information needs of communities
• Sarah Cohen, Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy at Duke University
• Ferrel Guillory, the director of the Program on Public Life at UNC
• Penny Abernathy, the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at UNC
• Damon Circosta, executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education
• Floyd B. McKissick, Jr., N.C. State Senator
• Larry D. Conrad, UNC’s vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer

The full list of participants can be found on the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy site.