[AEJMC Newspaper Division list] New name for Newspaper Division?

[Kathleen Hansen]

"News Division" makes the most sense to me.  It eliminates the need to 
consider medium of delivery, but keeps the focus on journalistic 
content, regardless of format.  K.

Susan Keith wrote:
> Dear Newspaper Division colleagues,
>
> I'm writing to ask you to consider an issue that the division's executive
> committee will be discussing next month in Chicago: whether   the Newspaper
> Division of AEJMC should consider changing its name.
>
> In the July issue of our division newsletter, LeadTime, I argued that -- in
> keeping with AEJMC's focus this year on the future of our field -- our
> division should expand its name to clearly indicate that it embraces the
> study of online and other types of journalism practiced by newspaper
> companies. If you are away from the location where you receive your mailed
> copy, you can download a PDF of the newsletter from
> http://aejmc.net/newspaper/leadtime/leadtime_july_2008.pdf But I will
> briefly recap my reasons for suggesting a name change here:
>
> 1. "Newspaper" no longer accurately describes the full range of products
> that traditional print journalism outlets are producing.
>
> 2. "Newspaper" no longer accurately describes the full range of journalistic
> work that our division members study. At the Chicago convention, we will
> hear research presentations on newspaper online interactivity, copy editors'
> roles in the "digital revolution," online citizen journalism and reporters'
> blogs.
>
> 3. Giving the division a name that accurately reflects the breadth of our
> interests might help us stem a decline in membership. Although the Newspaper
> Division remains the largest in AEJMC (by just 20 members), membership has
> fallen 13.3 percent since 2004, from 684 to 593. It's impossible to say for
> sure what caused the decline, but it's possible that some AEJMC members are
> not joining our division or renewing membership in it because they think all
> we are concerned with is what some view as a dying medium. (I don't share
> that view, but it is out there.)
>
> 4. Giving the division a name that accurately reflects the breadth of our
> interests might help us stem a decline over the past few years in paper
> submissions. Again, it's impossible to say for sure why our submissions have
> been down, but it may be that scholars studying such topics as online news
> sites, for example, have perceived our division as being focused only on
> news printed on paper.
>
> 5. Expanding our division's name to something like "Newspaper and Online
> Journalism Division" or "Newspaper and Newer Media Division" -- or some
> better name members suggest -- would let us offer a division home to the
> scholars who study online and newer media journalism. Some of those people
> are now affiliated with AEJMC's Communication Technology Division. But for
> others, whose work is focused more on *journalism* than *technology,* that
> division may not seem like the perfect fit.
>
> 6. Expanding our division's name might help us better weather any internal
> reorganization that grows out of adopting the AEJMC Strategic Plan, which
> members will be asked to vote on in Chicago. (You can read more about it,
> from my perspective, here:
> http://aejmc.net/newspaper/leadtime/leadtime_march2008.pdf.)
>
> A few of you have already responded to my print column explaining why you do
> or do not support a name change. I will be sharing your opinions with the
> membership via this list (unless you asked me not to). I hope that this note
> in your e-mail box will prompt more of you to respond and share your
> opinions about whether changing the division's name is a good idea and, if
> so, what the new name should be.
>
> You can share your thoughts by sending a note to the Newspaper Division
> e-mail list at news-list at aejmc.net  I hope you'll share your opinions
> publically, but if you'd rather send them just to me, you may do so at
> susank at scils.rutgers.edu.
>
> I look forward to hearing from you!
>
> Susan Keith, Ph.D.
> 2007-2008 AEJMC Newspaper Division head
> Assistant professor
> Department of Journalism and Media Studies
> School of Communication, Information and Library Studies
> Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
> 4 Huntington Street
> New Brunswick, NJ 08901
> (732) 932-7500, ext. 8235
> susank at scils.rutgers.edu
> www.scils.rutgers.edu/~susank
> Office: CILS 106
>
>
>
>
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>   

-- 
Kathleen A. Hansen, Professor
Director, Minnesota Journalism Center
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of Minnesota
111 Murphy Hall, 206 Church St. SE
Minneapolis, MN  55455
PH. 612-625-3480; FAX 612-626-8251
k-hans at umn.edu