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

Thu Jul 17 11:23:56 CDT 2008

As one of the few practicing (and still-employed) newspaper
professionals on the marketing/business side in the AEJMC Newspaper
Division (who dabbles part-time on the academic side periodically), I
wanted to let you know those of us in The Real World have been debating
what to call our industry and our trade organizations, to reflect The
New Reality, for quite a while now.  Last I heard the Newspaper
Association of America (of which I am immediate past president of the
Research Federation) will still be called the Newspaper association
after a revamping of the organization is finalized this year; however,
the INMA, formerly International Newspaper Marketing Association, is now
the International NEWSMEDIA Marketing Association (damn the other "news"
media except internet, full speed ahead).  For whatever it's worth in
THIS discussion, see the press release from INMA in which it announced
the change below.

Gary R. Kromer, Ph.D.
Director of Research, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Immediate Past President, Research Federation
Newspaper Association of America
400 West Seventh Street, Fort Worth, TX  USA  76102
1-817-390-7558 (V); 817-390-7250 (FX); 817-937-5155 (C)
gkromer at star-telegram.com

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit
there."-- Will Rogers

========================================================================
===================== 

INMA Changes Name to International Newsmedia Marketing Association

DALLAS (9 May 2008) - INMA is changing its name to reflect the evolution
of its member newspapers and lead the newspaper industry toward its
multi-media future.

Effective immediately, the International Newspaper Marketing Association
will become the International Newsmedia Marketing Association.

The INMA Board of Directors voted unanimously May 6 for the name change
after more than a year of internal discussions about a name that fully
reflects the breadth of media owned and operated by newspaper companies.
INMA President Ed Efchak made the announcement May 9 at the 78th Annual
INMA World Congress in Beverly Hills.

"We are an association evolving to meet the evolving requirements of our
members in a changing information landscape," said Earl J. Wilkinson,
executive director of the 1,300-member global association. "Our roots
and our origins remain intact. Most of our members continue to make the
preponderance of their revenues from print newspapers, and we believe
this will resume growing in the future. Yet the online, mobile, digital,
and niche publishing canvasses are vital, growing and important to news
consumers and advertisers who want to reach them. We want to be an
association inclusive of professionals in our larger industry not be
tied specifically to those of one medium."

The association's Board wanted to keep its familiar and powerful acronym
and brand, INMA, as it is well known among news media professionals
worldwide. And it decided upon "newsmedia" as a creative word that
encompasses journalism-rich news, information, and advertising media.

"We're the same association today as yesterday," Wilkinson said. "We're
just a bit more inclusive in our name. We are strong believers in
marketing and journalism. We continue to believe in a fundamental
repositioning of marketing at news companies. We're still the world's
leading provider of global best practices and marketing ideas for news
companies looking to grow amid profound market change. And our new name
makes us more welcoming to those who don't define their work within the
boundaries of newspapers alone."

INMA (www.inma.org) is the world's leading provider of global best
practices and marketing ideas for news companies looking to grow amid
profound market change. Based in Dallas with offices in New Delhi and
Antwerp, the association has 1,300 members in 82 countries worldwide.

#   #   #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
09 May 2008
	CONTACT
Maria Terrell
+1 214 373-9111
maria.terrell at inma.org 
Copyright (c) 2008 INMA

________________________________

From: news-list-bounces at aejmc.net on behalf of Susan Keith
Sent: Thu 7/17/2008 11:16 AM
To: news-list at aejmc.net
Subject: [AEJMC Newspaper Division list] New name for Newspaper
Division?

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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