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

[guido stempel]

Prof. Keith:
   I think you are right about the division name.  I would suggest News 
Media Division.
                       Guido Stempel

--On Thursday, July 17, 2008 11:16 AM -0400 Susan Keith 
<susank at scils.rutgers.edu> 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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