February proposal deadline for community news symposium
The National Newspaper Association 
and the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media at Kansas State University have issued a call for proposals for the 16th annual Newspapers and Community-Building Symposium.
The symposium will be Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010, in Omaha, at the community paper trade associaiton’s annual convention. The deadline to submit one-page proposals is Feb. 12, 2010. Suggested topic areas include newspapers encouraging community involvement, addressing a diverse audience, using new technology, and solving advertising, ethical and legal issues.
“The purpose of the symposium is to bring journalism educators and publishers together in a forum that encourages discussion about current research that is relevant to community newspapers. We seek research and case studies relevant to newspapers with less than 50,000 circulation,” according to the NNA announcement.
Each presenter whose proposal is selected will receive a $250 honorarium. Completed papers will be due July 7, 2010. For submission details and a PDF of the full call, see the NNA or Huck Boyd sites.
RIP: Washington Blade shuts down
Heartbreaking news: the oldest LGBT newspaper in the country, the Washington Blade, has dramatically and suddenly closed shop, along with a suite of other prominent gay-oriented publications. A sense of shock and sadness fills many of the reports on the closings in the LGBT media:
In a stunning development for gay media, Window Media has suddenly shut its doors. Window published the Washington Blade, one of the most respected local gay newspapers in the country, as well as the Southern Voice (Atlanta), the South Florida Blade, and going-out magazines David Atlanta and 411 (Southeast Florida).
That said, the closings seem to have stoked interest in protecting this important segment of the industry and its history:
Such news not only left our hearts heavy, as the newspaper of record of our nation’s capital has ceased operation, but it also left us and many others concerned about the fate of the respected newspaper’s historical archives – 40 years of GLBT history dating back to Stonewall – in the hands of a bankruptcy trustee.
The Sun also rises — again?
The defunct, center-right New York Sun newspaper has relaunched itself as — what else? — an online-only publication. Those of us who used to read and enjoy the Sun during its noisy print existence from 2002-2008 will obviously applaud. For what it’s worth, it seemed to be a terrific training ground for conservative journalist-wannabes (one of my former students, a dedicated neocon, did a stint at the Sun as a writer and went on to right-leaning cable news punditry greatness). Indeed, when the Sun was in print it was hard not to admire the wonderful chutzpah of the Sun’s indefatigable founder, Seth Lipsky, and his stated aim to challenge the New York Times’ local coverage. Besides, the Sun always seemed to be hiring back then. Smart young journalists around New York City had one more place to apply. Its local coverage sometimes possessed a pushy free-market perspective, but the overall package was slick, intelligent, and provocative.
Still, one has to wonder whether the online Sun can eek its way toward some kind of financial progress. At the moment, it’s almost more of a crossword puzzle with a newspaper cover; the Sun is heavily promoting its famous Peter Gordon crosswords, now gone interactive. There’s some well-reasoned opinion, a bit of knowing around-town light news, but — so far — this is early days. Lipsky clearly grasps this. “I understand that what is up on the site now is only the most modest of beginnings,” he told me.
Let’s hope it shines on.
Calls for papers: Newspapers, new media & election ’08
How did newspapers, their online counterparts and other “legacy media” cover — and use — Facebook and other interactive tools in the 2088 presidential campaign?
That’s one of the questions posed in a call for papers issued by Tom Johnson of Texas Tech, editor of a special issue of Mass Communication and Society on social media and the 2008 election.
Texas Tech also plans a mid-April conference on New Media Theory, which may be of interest to Newspaper Division members, Johnson said. Both the conference and the journal special issue have submission deadlines in January.
There’s a new kid in town in Texas
The entirely web-based and very credible-looking Texas Tribune launched yesterday. It’s slick, serious-minded , loaded with big guns from Texas journalism and elsewhere, and, for now, well-funded. It reports “more than $3.6 million” in funds raised so far. It will not accept advertising, but does welcome underwriting, which, as its website puts, is
“a fancy way of saying that if you support us with your contribution and don’t want to be anonymous, we’ll acknowledge your generosity on our site, much as underwriters of public radio and TV programs are given their few moments in the sun on air. You can’t sell anything in that brief spot, but you can take a bow.”
The “Trib,” as it wants to be affectionately known, has opened with a powerful and sobering mix of Texas-related news, analysis, and opinion-writing, and it clearly aims at civic engagement. Think Texas Monthly, but daily, and without the Life + Arts, Food, or Travel sections — and blogs, lots of blogs.
