'Digital' series explores social media channels changing news production, March 16

The Freelance Committee and the Events Committee are teaming up for the next installment of the National Press Club’s “Digital” series at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, in the conference rooms and has recently announced the confirmed panelists

The session -- “Where should news be and how do we get there?” -- will explore the trend of social media channels that have moved or are moving into news production. The panel discussion will feature the multimedia journalists listed below.

The event kicks off with networking at 6:30 p.m. followed by the panel discussion from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m. and then Q&A from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Carmen Russell, a freelancer whose work has appeared on National Geographic, NBCNews, PBS and in various publications will moderate.

Confirmed panelists include Rajiv Mody, vice president of social media for National Geographic Partners. Mody is responsible for overseeing all social media across the Society. National Geographic Society has a combined fan base of over 100 million across all its social platforms and is the No. 1 non-celebrity brand in the world in terms of followers on Instagram. National Geographic was named the top U.S. Social Brand in 2014 by Shareable and consistently ranks No. 1 for total fans and engagement in the magazine industry across major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram.

Mody will be joined on the panel by Margarita Noriega, who is currently the director of social media for Newsweek. Prior to joining Newsweek, Margarita wrote and edited breaking news, video, and Internet culture stories for Vox.com in Washington, D.C., oversaw social media strategy for Fusion, including launching the network's international Snapchat Discover channel, and oversaw both breaking news and social media for Reuters News Agency. Margarita studied international affairs at George Washington University. She is based in New York.

Nicholas Johnston, a Bloomberg News managing editor will round out the panel.

The journalists will explain how firms like Twitter, Facebook and Buzzfeed have transformed the culture by defining the rules for social media and are now dispensing news in one form or another.

Among the questions that will be tackled: Does the brand name behind the news matter to those who are consuming it? Where is the news actually coming from? What does the future hold for newspapers, broadcast news organizations and cable news channels?

The event will also be live tweeted at #NPCLive.