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

Sat Jul 19 14:53:34 CDT 2008

I agree with Phil Meyer and a number of others who say that it will be a futile and pointless effort to change the division name.  Whether it is online, offline and any other (excuse the pun!), let’s not forget that it is still the ‘newspaper.’ You hear all the time from all age groups, especially the young in the classroom, that he/she read the “newspaper” online.  With all the changes in technology, the basic work of a journalist remains the same – information gathering and sharing – writing and reporting the events of the day. There is change only in format, and now that the journalist must be able to work on a variety of platforms. Let’s be what we are!
-- Rama Tunuguntla, Professor of Mass Communication, Grambling State University, Grambling, LA 71245        

-----Original Message-----
From: news-list-bounces at aejmc.net on behalf of Susan Keith
Sent: Sat 7/19/2008 10:17 AM
To: News-List at Aejmc. Net
Subject: [AEJMC Newspaper Division list] FW: New name for Newspaper Division?

From: Raleigh Mann [mailto:rmann1 at nc.rr.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 11:45 AM
To: susank at scils.rutgers.edu
Subject: Re: [AEJMC Newspaper Division list] New name for Newspaper
Division?

Susan, if you would accept an opinion from a retired Newspaper Division
head, I certainly agree that a name change is long overdue, but, like you,
wouldn't want our name to appear to move us into the territory of the
technology folks. My suggestion would be to keep it simple but accurate and
sufficiently broad, perhaps something like the News Media Division.

Warm regards,
Raleigh Mann

Raleigh and Betsy Mann
rmann1 at nc.rr.com
101 Stateside Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-6631
(919) 942-7035

"There is nothing in the world so much like prayer as music is." - William
P. Merrill

On Jul 17, 2008, at 11:16 AM, 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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