Go back in time to the start of online journalism discussions

The ISOJ Time Machine series, launched to commemorate the 25th edition of this global journalism conference, features important discussions from ISOJ dating back to its start in 1999.

In eight videos, the ISOJ Time Machine revisits early discussions about online journalism and predictions about where the industry was headed.

The ISOJ Time Machine series is possible because of ISOJ’s unique archive of videos, transcripts and other materials of all symposia, dating back to 1999, that are available online on this conference website.

So, take a trip across more than two decades of journalism history — all in under 25 minutes!

Our first ISOJ Time Machine video features ISOJ speakers from the very first symposium, in 1999, debating everything from whether news websites were really viable to forecasts about the integration of traditional (print and broadcast) and online newsrooms.

In the second episode of our ISOJ Time Machine video series, in which we highlight what journalism leaders had to say about technology, we go back to 2002 and 2003, showing that topics of debate then remain relevant today.

The third episode of the ISOJ Time Machine video series revisits conferences from 2004, 2005 and 2006. Speakers predicted the trajectory of online journalism, foreshadowing the dominance of mobile devices as a primary source for news and urging journalists to become adaptable to even more emerging technologies to meet readers’ needs.

With video clips from 2007, 2008, and 2009, the fourth episode of the ISOJ Time Machine video series is a fascinating look back at speakers’ perspectives about the news industry’s shift from a print-first approach to video and mobile.

Spanning 2010, 2011 and 2012, the 5th episode of the ISOJ Time Machine video looks back at speakers’ perspectives on the challenges of information overload, trust issues in new media, mobile dominance and evolving business models.

The sixth episode of the ISOJ Time Machine video series covers the conferences held in 2013, 2014 and 2015, looking back at how speakers encouraged attendees to embrace experimentation, engage with audiences, invest in content and overcome the fear of failure – all strategies to address the rapidly evolving media landscape shaped by the dominance of social media platforms.

With the seventh episode, which spans 2016 – 2019, speakers at ISOJ discussed the risks and advantages associated with the growth of social media platforms, along with the concerning spread of misinformation and false news.

In the eighth and final episode of the ISOJ Time Machine series, that looks back at the period from 2020 – 2023, speakers discussed the challenges of fact-checking and stressed the importance of adaptability of journalism int he rapidly changing media landscape.