[AEJMC Newspaper Division list] NWSP Division Name Change?

[Susan Keith]

Bill Cassidy makes a good point that I think may have gotten lost in our
discussion of the possibility of a name change for the division. In my
original call in 2007 for us to reconsider the division's name, I never
suggested that we do away with the word "Newspaper" -- though several
division members did, sparking the concern that has been revisited in this
discussion. As someone who spent 16 years working for newspapers
(including a couple of community newspapers) and is married to a
newspaperman, I see  value in keeping the word. However, that doesn't mean
we couldn't *add* a word to the division's name (just as newspaper
companies have added online components to their journalistic practice) to
accurately reflect to others in AEJMC--especially incoming graduate
students--the full range of what we already study and discuss. As several
members have suggested, it's true that a newspaper can be called a
"newspaper," no matter where it is published. But the long-term decline in
the division's membership I saw in 2007 made me wonder whether people take
that into account when choosing their division affiliations.

Susan Keith
Rutgers University