On April 6, Helen Thomas and Bob Schieffer will appear as avatars in Second Life, for a Q&A sponsored by Washington State's Edward R. Murrow College of Communication and the McCormick Foundation. They'll be at the school to receive lifetime achievement awards during a Murrow event on journalism in virtual spaces. I'm honored to say I'll also be at the event, speaking and hosting a roundtable, along with CNN's Lila King (who runs the network's Second Life presence), award-winning machinima reportor Draxtor Despres, SL founder Philip Rosedale, the co-founder of Club Penguin Lane Merrifield, and Erica Driver of Think Balm. Here's the full schedule.
Details of the in-world appearance of Thomas/Schieffer on the Murrow's Second Life campus are still being worked out, though it'll probably be open to some outside media and bloggers. Bob Schieffer is the host of Face the Nation and Helen Thomas has been a legendary presence in the White House press room since the Kennedy Administration, so it'll be fascinating to watch them make this transition to the metaverse. (Then again, Helen Thomas is a recurring personality on the Daily Show, so I imagine she'll take it in stride.) They're in good hands: acclaimed SL content creator Haver Cole, who previously made Justin Timberlake's official metaverse persona, will give Thomas and Schieffer their avatar forms.
To request a reservation to the in-world event, send an Instant Message in SL to Washington State University's avatar-based representative, Paley Westinghouse.
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