Call for Chicago panel proposals – deadline Oct. 15

The AEJMC Newspaper and Online News Division (our new name, as of Oct. 1) is accepting panel proposals for the 2012 convention in Chicago, Aug. 9-12.

The deadline for panel proposals is Oct. 15.

Panel proposals must include:

1. A working title and panel description.
2. A statement of whether the panel would be a Teaching, Research or Professional Freedom and Responsibility panel. PF&R panels focus on free expression, ethics, media criticism and accountability, racial/gender/cultural inclusiveness or public service.
3. Suggestions for divisions or interest groups that might be interested in co-sponsoring the panel. Panels that include co-sponsoring divisions/interest groups have a better chance of being accepted, because they are likely to be of wider interest at the convention and give the division a chance to take part in more sessions. In fact, all of the division’s 2010 and 2011 convention panels involved co-sponsors.You should submit your proposal to only one division, and we invite you to submit it to the Newspaper and Online News Division.For ideas on co-sponsoring opportunities, you can find a list of divisions and groups at http://www.aejmc.com/?page_id=190.
4. A statement of why the topic is important.
5. A brief description of issues the panelists could discuss.If your panel is chosen for presentation with a co-sponsoring division or interest group, you will work with a representative from the co-sponsor to make sure that the interests of both divisions/interest groups are represented on the panel.
6. Names or descriptions of possible panelists. If you have specific people in mind, please identify them. Firm commitments are not needed, but it helps to know if those people would be willing to serve. If you don’t have names, say what type of panelist you are aiming for – a scholar with a particular expertise or someone from a particular media company. AEJMC tracks diversity among panelists, moderators and discussants, so please keep that in mind when planning.Limited funds for travel reimbursement are available for panel participants who are not AEJMC members. The deadline for those requests is late January. Whenever possible, please try to find local panelists or AEJMC members whom you expect will be attending the convention anyhow.
7. Your name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address.

Please send proposals as attachments to:

Jin Yang <jinyang@memphis.edu>.

Mailing address:
Room 310, Meeman Journalism Building,
3711 Veterans Ave.,
Memphis, TN 37152.
Office Telephone: 901-678-5148

Start thinking about panel ideas you can submit. To help you think along creative lines, ideas include:

• The future of investigative journalism
• Economic challenges facing newspapers
• Community News and Online Media
• Changes in journalism education/pedagogy
• Changing political coverage in the runup to the 2012 election.
• Ethical issues & controversial cases
• Visuals on the online news
• Evolving income models for Web content
• Public perceptions of journalists within a highly fractured news culture
• Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and news
• The threat from Google or other similar services
• Implications of staffing cuts, furloughs
• Diversity and fairness issues

Our division sponsored or co-sponsored several panels at the 2011 convention in St. Louis, including:

• Are print narratives over: A look at the storytelling movement in Newsrooms (Newspaper and Magazine Divisions) (Teaching Panel)
• Studying the New News Ecosystem (Newspaper and Community Journalism Interest Group (Research Panel)
• The transformational newspaper: How newspapers are coping with the digital news revolution n 2010-2011- A current snapshot of newspaper practices across the United States (Newspaper and Media Management Economics Divisions) (Research Panel )
• Student Open Records Audits as a Teaching Tool (Law & Policy and Newspaper Divisions) (Teaching Panel)
• Going Digital, Going Mobile with Community Newspapers (Community Journalism Interest Group and Newspaper Divisions)
•  Managing Innovation: Online News Professionals Talk about what’s ahead (Media Management Economics and Newspaper Divisions) (PF&R Panel)

To see ideas from previous years, look at Leadtime editions from Winter 2011 (page 6), Summer 2010 (p. 7), Summer 2009 (page 4), Summer 2008 (page 6), and Summer 2007(page 4).

– From Jin Yang, University of Memphis, the newspaper and online news division vice-chair, via the division mailing list