Discuss the Newspaper Division’s Name

Ed.: HOW TO JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Register, login, then click the blog’s title to get back here. Read to the bottom to Speak Your Mind on Bill’s original message, or click a blue “Reply” tag to respond to a specific comment. The discussion will be open until September. The same topic on the division’s e-mail list is archived here. Additional notes from Bill appear in the Summer 2010 LeadTime. Links to the 2008 e-mail discussion appear at the end of the comment list.

by Bill Cassidy, division chair

I thought of beginning with some pithy little saying that would accurately describe the issue I want to address in this column. I could have written something like “It’s the elephant in the room,” or “We’ve been down this road before,” or maybe even some reference to “stirring up a hornet’s nest.” Well, it seems I’ve gone and done just that. But, here’s the bottom line: I strongly believe that we need to revisit the issue of changing our division’s name and bring the conversation to some kind of conclusion.

Indeed, we have been down this road before. In her Summer 2008 column, former division head Susan Keith stated “I believe we need a name that better embraces the full range of what our scholars study and what our industry does.” From there a spirited discussion about a possible name change ensued on the division’s listserv… Read more