[AEJMC Newspaper Division list] New name for newspaper division: don't do it!

[Clyde Bentley]

As a former Newspaper Division head, I agree with Phil and many others that
we should not rush to a name change.  The name ³newspaper² is not the
challenge.  The definition of ³newspaper² is.

I would agree to a divisional name change if we will not accept papers or
panels dealing with online issues, multi-media efforts, video, photography
or even advertising.  Sure, all of those are claimed by other divisions.
But the modern newspaper is the only place where they all come together.

³Newspaper² today means the baseline for journalism.  This is the news
organization that delivers the comprehensive package on short notice, day
after day.  Unlike most ³new² media, it serves a well-defined
geographic/socioeconomic audience.  It comes in all sizes, from megosaurus
to minimytus and has helped develop technology from quill pens to plasma
screens.  It uses every communications medium it can, it supports a vital
local commercial community, it transforms ideas into history like nothing
else, it generally attracts more eyeballs-per-edition/product in individual
markets than anyone else ‹ and it makes a profit.  Damn, that¹s not bad for
a corpse.

I think it is too early to say that either the newspaper and its division
are dead.  Both are still evolving.  Give it some time before abandoning a
name that has served well through several molts.  But during that time open
our academic eyes to what the concept of ³newspaper² does and can imply.
There is much more there than dead trees.

Clyde Bentley
Missouri School of Journalism
Newspaper Division Head 2002-2003

---
Phil Meyer7/19/08 11:34 AM

> 
>      I've been traveling and haven't had time to read all the posts, but
> here's my take. Don't do it!
> 
>      We now have a historic opportunity. For decades, the newspaper
> industry ignored and/or belittled us. It was fat, happy, and prosperous
> and didn't need research. Now it is scared and eager to learn. And we
> and our journal can be just the help it needs. Plus the research
> questions are more interesting than ever now that the newspaper business
> is no longer in a steady state.
> 
>      Trust me, what comes out of all the turmoil will still be called a
> newspaper. MinnPost.com, the St. Louis Beacon, Chi-Town Daily News are
> all called newspapers even though their only distribution is online. The
> newspaper of the future might appear on Roger Fidler's tablet, on
> electronic paper, on old-fashioned wood pulp, or online. But it will
> still be a newspaper, and it will have learned to focus on the one thing
> it does best which is provide local public affairs coverage to validate
> and enable civic discussion.
> 
>     The name has too much history, too much significance to abandon just
> when the business is in trouble. Let's not walk away. We need to pitch
> in and help the owners and managers understand the fix they are in and
> to evaluate the outcomes of all the natural experiments that are
> starting to pop up. The name "newspaper division" need not constrain us
> as we explore all the permutations of the new technology. But it can
> help us stay grounded in our original purpose as we evaluate the myriad
> outcomes.
> 
> Phil Meyer
> 

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