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

[Alma Corley]

Here, here, Phil Meyer!!!  I contribute a slogan if anyone wants it.  Leaders are readers.  Readers become leaders.

     
Alma Corley
University of Central Arkansas

>>> Phil Meyer <pmeyer at email.unc.edu> 7/19/2008 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

Rosenberry, Jack wrote:
> Bob:
>   My point -- which maybe was not stated as clearly as it could have been -- is that if we are going to change the name I'd prefer to select one that AVOIDS turf fights, i.e., avoids language that sounds like are repositioning the division in ways that encroach on the work of other units.
>
> Jack
>
>
>   


_______________________________________________
News-list mailing list
News-list at aejmc.net 
http://aejmc.net/mailman/listinfo/news-list_aejmc.net