At the opening of the Future of News and Civic Media conference at MIT, technologists and community organizers have come together to discuss new ways to communicate and trust one another.

‘Technology that exists for people seems to not be very realistic for most people. Nobody’s used to technological jargon,’ said Leo Burd, explaining that regardless of how much information is out there, it is only available to people who have access to it. Burd co-founded Department of Play, a working group of researchers whose goal is to support youth as active participants in their local communities.

Ingeborg Endter, former program manager at the Computer Clubhouse Network, explains how ‘the youth are neither technologists nor community people’they are both. They live in both worlds. They are the creative artists’.

Malia Lazu of The Urban Lab explained how important trust and a common language are in a political and social platform. ‘Before you go into a community, go into the local record store. Know your DJs, your barbershops. Find out what their community is about. Show them that you respect them enough to know what’s going on.’

More updates from the Future of News & Civic Media Conference @ MIT, including the 2010 Knight News Challenge winners, can be found at www.newschallenge.org. Follow the conversation on twitter at #fncm .