Medium's Evan Williams & Steven Levy in Conversation with the Museum's John Hollar

The written word is the most accessible yet powerful form of media there is.Evan Williams
Wired, April 2015

One of the things that I love about Medium is its commitment to experimentation, one that I fully embrace. So a precise description of what this new venture [Backchannel] is going to eventually become is gleefully elusive. But I can tell you this – it will feature not only my own best writing but the work of contributors who share my belief in deeply reported, colorfully rendered stories in and around the tech explosion.Steven Levy
Medium, June 2014

Tonight we continue our Re/New: The Future of News track, a series of conversations with news leaders and innovators about how technology is disrupting the news and journalism industries – from gathering to disseminating, to audience behavior and participation as well.

John Hollar, a former journalist himself, will sit down for an in-depth conversation with Medium's CEO Evan Williams, and the editor-in-chief of its tech hub Backchannel, Steven Levy. Medium was launched in 2012 as a beautiful platform for writers. Levy joined its ranks in 2014 after a distinguished career at Wired Magazine, among other traditional publishing outlets, because of the opportunity to work with Williams, and to create quality content. Why are over 25 million people visiting Medium monthly and why is that not the only metric Medium uses to measure its success? Medium uses the term 'platishing' to describe this form of journalism – an amalgam of "publishing" and "platform." What is 'platishing,' and how will it influence the future of journalism?

Join us tonight to learn the answers to these and so many other questions about Williams' and Levy's vision for Medium and Backchannel, and how they view this "hybrid" company’s place within the ranks of other news and media companies.

We are pleased that KQED Radio will be recording this program for future broadcast.

This event is part of the Museum's acclaimed Revolutionaries speaker series, featuring renowned innovators, business and technology leaders, and authors in enthralling conversations often with leading journalists. Our audiences learn about the process of innovation, its risks and rewards, and failure that led to ultimate success.