Engine28 Pop-up Newsroom

We are pleased to announce another visibility opportunity for participant productions at the Fringe. Read more below about Engine28…

Engine28 is a pop-up newsroom that is thinking theater thoughts. A pop-up newsroom brings together journalists who would not otherwise naturally be in the same venue, publishing on the same site — www.engine28.com — and having common aspirations, for a limited time, (June15-20).

That’s right. For six days, a reporting staff from 28 media outlets across America will produce reviews, analysis, forums, podcasts and videos. Material will include coverage of several coinciding theater festivals and conferences: the RADAR L.A. Festival, the 2011 Theatre Communications Group (TCG) National Conference and the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Engine28 reporters and critics are part of USC Annenberg’s seventh NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. They are affiliated with The New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, New York Magazine, Los Angeles Times, KCRW, The Salt Lake Tribune, LA Weekly, St. Louis Beacon, PRI and WNYC, among other publications and public radio stations (see complete list below).

Whereas most publications are driven by deadline, Engine28 is more about process. In concept, it actually started out as an idea to build “the ideal editor” experience. The goal is not to cover everything or to beat other publications to the punch. Engine28’s focus is on collaboration, editing and having compelling multimedia stories evolve out of the L.A. theater and performance scene.

Engine28 will be led by editor Jeff Weinstein, former arts editor and columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Village Voice and its digital editor, Douglas McLennan, editor and founder of ArtsJournal.com, and its publisher Sasha Anawalt, director of Arts Journalism Programs at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.

They have assembled a national team of editors to work with the USC/NEA Fellows: Susan Brenneman of the Los Angeles Times, Rebecca Haithcoat of LA Weekly, Edward Lifson, formerly of NPR, Steven Leigh Morris, critic-at-large for the LA Weekly, Laurie Ochoa, co-founder of Slake and former editor-in-chief of the LA Weekly, Dominic Papatola, lead theater critic for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Michael Phillips, film critic for the Chicago Tribune, Howard Shapiro, theater critic and editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Suzi Steffen of Stage Directions and MyEugene.org, and independent PBS producer/director Jennifer Maytorena Taylor.

The USC/NEA Fellows and Engine28 reporters are: Christopher Arnott The New Haven Advocate and New Mass Media, Inc., Martin Brady Nashville Scene, Anthony Byrnes KCRW, Linda Fowler nj.com and Advance Publications Inc., Nancy Fowler St. Louis Beacon, Ben Fulton The Salt Lake Tribune, Rachel Lee Harris The New York Times, Lou Harry Indianapolis Business Journal, Gerry Christopher Johnson Philadelphia Weekly and Philadelphia Tribune, Maura Judkis TBD.com, Jenny Lawton PRI and WNYC, Kerry Lengel The Arizona Republic, Rebecca Milzoff New York Magazine, Jesse North Stage Rush, Kathryn Osenlund CurtainUp.com, Julie Potter San Francisco Bay Guardian and In Dance, Walter Ryce Monterey County Weekly, Laura Spencer NPR and KCUR, Grace Suh The Pitch and The Flickcast, David Timberline Style Weekly, Benjamin Waterhouse Willamette Week.