- We should look at becoming scientists, not just former reporters who want
to teach. If this division as it stands (and AEJMC at large) is the
future of jouralism education, then we should relegate the function
to a technical college and quite requiring former journalists to get
a research degree. If everyone in the division is content to be former
jouralists who teach, then that is where the field is - VoTec.
There is both an art and a science to communication. If you have a Ph.D.,
you should care about the latter. This is sadly missing from this division.
What research that is done largely consists of taking two overused theories
and applying them to new situations. (e.g., "Wow, framing works with
breast cancer stories, too"). If you have a research degree at a research
instituition, then you should be concerned with more than teaching a
30-word summary news lede.
- how to convey to public the significance of a free and responsible
press. how to encourage young people to enter the newspaper profession.
- plagiarism, personal opinion in newspaper stories (and in broadcast stories?). note: i don't hold that the newspaper division should help me with curriculum, technology, ethics, and socializing.
- convergence
- More on educating journalists who think they want to teach. You do a great job though!
- Topics relevant to teaching of print journalism and to the state of newspapers.
- How to improve and update curriculum, and how to establish contacts with the industry by focusing on research that is relevant to professionals.
- Race and gender diversity; ways professors can use technology in the classroom.
- clarifying its role & relationship with other divisions; does the division need subcommittees focused on research/information regarding technology, diversity, ethics, etc., to focus on those issues *in* the newspaper industry rather than in mass comm as a whole? Or are the aejmc interest groups related to those topics enough?
- All the talk about "convergence" makes no sense. Universities and
mixed departments (broadcast, speech and journalism)seem to be using
the term to deplete important writing and reporting courses from the
curriculum. Texas Tech even called for help to save the program. My
university recently diminished the number of newswriting and reporting
courses required of a journalism major to 2 (yes, that's only two).
I have been very active in another, but want to reactivate my participation
in the newspaper division of AEJMC, which I see as the primary news
division.
AEJMC has been a great support in terms of information and arguments
about opposing this wholesale reconstruction of journalism education.
The convergence in the field is, to me, more a technological convergence,
but it is being treated (even by some on the accrediting committee)
as converged curriculum that deviates greatly from the basics of good
print and broadcast journalism.
- The changing environment at the media companies due to internet and mergings
- I think the Division should work at upgrading the journal to something that is not embarrassing to the division and the association. I am interested in newspapers and newspaper-type research, but it doesn't seem to be a very vital, rigorous or interesting area as it is presently defined. I have no idea how or why things have gotten to the present state of affairs, but I think a great deal of change is necessary. I'm sorry to have to say all this. But the division needs to refocus upgrading the quality, rigor and significance of its research. If you could take care of that, issues like teaching and industry contacts would take care of themselves since students and professionals would be beating a path to our door. They are not doing that now.
- In my humble opinion, and not very original (but so important), actively
exploring -- via research, panel discussions, and any other realistic
avenues -- the seemingly eternal question of the role of the news media
as watchdogs or guard dogs should be placed at the top of the list.
Newspaper journalism, especially, seems to be the "last bastion" as
watchdog, yet reports indicate a great sleep on newspapers' parts, particularly
during the current presidential administration's term.
I would like to see more probing studies on this topic by we in academe
(and for many of us who also have newspaper backgrounds, we *should*
be excellent investigators) as well as hear more from the newspaper
industry about this and filter-down effects; in other words, I would
like to hear from and about not just the Beltway insiders, but the journalists
around the country and globe who work hard every day to uphold democractic
principles. And I would appreciate it if panel discussions promised
to wrap up with at least theoretical plans of action or lists of solutions,
if it is concluded that they are needed.
- Convergence, journalism practices, journalism as a profession
- Covering war in the new post-Iraq environment, i.e., the era of "embeds," etc. Also, an examination of ethics in the business--especially the recent spate of fabrication and plagiarism.
- ownership consolidation; public perceptions of newspapers; attracting young readers and attracting bright young people to journalism schools; problems of small accredited prgrams
- More research presentations. AEJ is supposed to be a research organization. Question 10, by the way, should have a response category for "much too much for my needs."
- I am interested in weekly newspapers as a factor in "community" in the United States, which (in my opinion) is under stress right now.
- Critical examination of the culture of journalism. Do journalists understand where they are prsonally coming from when they conduct an interview or select stories? I.e. what cultural or political lens are they using?
- Reluctance of some university search committees to inform unsuccessful job candidates; they just repost or ignore you altogether. What terrible PR! A postcard or email would be better than nothing! (Note: Above #9 does not apply to me).
- getting our journal online on a generally accessible service
- How to use its resources to influence or be engaged with issues facing the newspaper industry.
- Teaching ethics
- Research areas of practical use to the industry.
- The nexus among ethics, diversity and affirmative action.
- Ethics.
- The Impact of the Readership Institute Impact studies and initiatives on the industry and their implications for preparing students to move into a changing industry
- New writing styles, ways to connect with young readers, newsroom management
- Changing demands on newspaper journalists-burnout, instilling accuracy, interactivity, instilling ethics, reporting to write, editing for accuracy.
- Maintaining the integrity of strong print oriented journalism programs in the face of misguided over-emphasis on convergence to the exclusion and detriment of print.
- I think a big issues is the potential changes in the media landscape with the new FCC ruling and how it is affecting the newspaper industry
- Pack journalism and corporate servitude to the plutocrats
- Increasing corporatization of media and its affects on: staffing and responsibilities on news desks, the ways that stories are identified and told, the ways that visual journalism (photography/graphics) have changed in their content and importance in story-telling/reportage and a number of other issues that are associated with an increasing emphasis on profitability at the expense of strong journalism. Also, it would be good for the Newspaper Division to examine the problems encountered (and ways of overcoming the problems) when government has become increasingly sophisticated at manipulating news.
- 1. How and why to monitor the newspaper indsutry; 2. How to monitor it in a way that would lead to useful research; 3)How to promote more intern experiences for students. 4) Cooperate with the Media Ethics Division (MED) and newspapers to promote more joint participation in pre-convention workshop offered by MED.
- Integrity. No change of editors at the NYT or anywhere else will generate integrity in reporters. IF we send reporters out of our J schools who don't have it, the probably never will. And, it wold be good to recruit students who have it to begin with.
- 1)Get Newspapers to give up details on race in the annual survey done by papers. 2) How do we teach our students the importance of accuracy? 3)Do we need to be teaching across media? That is should we try to turn out students that can go into a newspaper or tv station? 5) Should our programs be 5 years instead of 4 to produce better journalists? 6)How are midsized papers doing on diversity among reporters? 7) Is the daily paper continuing to be the watch dog? 8) Is there too much government control of information in the time of Homeland Security Police tacts?
- expand emphasis on ethics
- showcasing cutting edge research about news
- Obviously, I guess, ethics. Continued emphasis on various industry analysis and problems.
- ethics, industry-academic relations
- Economic effects of cross-ownership of broadcast and newspaper (new FCC rules).
|
- hubris at the NYTimes shifting roles for newspapers vis-a-vis the Web
- Whither newspapers and newspapering -- i.e., more on where newspapering needs to and will go
- Industry Relations/Support/Interest
- Converging media and the effect on classroom teaching and curriculum.
- This might outside of the realm with which the division can assist. However,
I was wondering if anything could be done to encourage journalism depts.
to provide a less demanding teaching load. I usually have 4 or 5 courses
per semester with 3-4 different preparations. I also have a heavy advisement
load and committee assignments. However, I would love to do newspaper
research and be more involved with the division.
- Reporting methods post Blair and Bragg. We pay almost no attention to our reporting methods and editing verification systems.
- Issues of staffing, workload and conflicting values in light of changes coming with convergence
- Effect of convergence on J-School curriculum. Development of journalism as a legitimate profession.
- Low starting salaries for new grads going into newspaper work.
- 1.Convergence of media 2. Helping teachers cope with convergence
- Jayson Blair; the lapdog role of coverage of George Bush;convergence
- Embedded reporters in Iraq. Staffing cutbacks at newspapers -- a real effect, or not?
- Why were research papers given such a low priority at this year's
convention. People attend the convention to see papers presented, not
some dopey panel. Paper presentations are also important for faculty
tenure cases.
Also, why do we get so many emails? Most of them are useless. I didn't
want to answer question 10 because communication from the division is
certainly not inadequate, and it's not adequate either -- there is way,
way too much communication coming out of the division. Why did you force
me to answer question 10 when there was no response category of "much,
much, much more than I want"?
- Whether affirmative action leads to problems in the newsroom, such as the Blair case. Whether AEJMC, as a whole, reflects an objective view of society or whether it has been hijacked by a leftwing agenda.
- 1. convergence 2. ethics/objectivity
- Ethics, in the wake of the supervisory failures at The New York Times!
- convergence, teaching standards, the role of journalism in society
- how to teach journalism in light of the recent scandals at the NYT and other newspapers.
- Getting more access to proprietary research conducted within the
newspaper industry, even if it's old or masked. There's no reason for
Newspaper Division members to be reinventing wheels, and generally doing
a poorer job of it. Second, the Newspaper Division should encourage
its members to be media critics through various fora such as local newspaper
columns, alternative newsweekly columns, radio & TV show appearances,
writing books of media criticism, giving speeches about journalism standards
and practices, etc.
The Newspaper Division should foster mass communication educators as
"public intellectuals" rather than allowing journalism professors to
let the industry decay while keeping their mouths shut because they
they think they may lose a donation from a newspaper or newspaper chain
for an endowed chair or a scholarship fund that may not ever come anyway.
- More consistency in the AEJMC paper reviewing process. I have had papers rejected that were published and other colleagues have won awards in other divisions for papers that were rejected. The comments on the rejected paper made little sense and showed little knowledge of the subject matter or the methodology. Such evaluations may be inherent in a system that relies on those who do not submit papers to evaluate those who do. If a person is not submitting a paper, what does that say about that person's research prioities? Further, the listserv should allow two-way posting of messages, i.e from members to all as well as from officers to members. Allowing only one-way transmission of messages is absurd. Discusssion of issues is an important part of our jobs, and we need to discuss them with colleagues.
- better communication with its members
- teaching news writing to non-readers
- Convergence. Oligopoly.
- Improving the quality of research paper submissions. I regularly
read papers for the newspaper and other divisions, and I've noticed
a drop in overall quality as the number of submissions has increased.
In some cases, the problems are simply proofreading, spelling, grammar,
clarity, or other basic writing issues. In others, there are problems
with fuzzy conceptualization or inappropriate methodology.
I wonder whether the division, given its size, could take a leadership
role in promoting quality submissions. One way might be to have a session
at the next conference on how to prepare good papers. One example --
grad students who are being told to submit, submit, submit should all
ask professors/mentors to edit their papers before submission. It's
not a bad idea for faculty to ask other faculty for comments before
submitting papers too.
- Ethics, the "glass ceiling," future of daily newspapers, ownership trends in light of the recent FCC decisions.
- 1.political coverage of 2004 election 2. fallout from the jayson blair disaster 3. diversity progress (also within the division, with outreach to MAC and individual AEJMC members of color)4. Development of a division "Events Calendar" that we could all post to (would help with communication)
- Convergence, decreasing newspaper circulation, Re-connecting newspapers with young readers, NIE programs, on-line newspapers.
- connections with industry
- effects of the recent FCC decision on cross-ownership; regaining public trust
- 1. Encouraging research of practical value to the industry by creating a clearinghouse to help partner people strong in research with those strong in practitioner experience. 2. Providing more rewards, tips or other ideas that would encourag financing and willingess for greater reliance on intimiate sections of core classes taught by full-time faculty rather than graduate students and adjuncts.
- I think we should use websites and listservs more effectively to list: A) research and colloborative opportunities B) innovative teaching approaches C) media/industry contacts D) have some real dialogues on pedagogy, ethics, diversity, etc. E) we REALLY need to DO something about diversity, not just pay the issue lip service ..or decide to back off. AEJ overall mostly talks about diversity but really does very little.
- Plagiarism and fabrication obviously should be a major concern.
- How to integrate journalism education and research into university culture. How to make sure that people are hired in journalism schools who have BOTH practical professional experience and the doctorate. How to insert critical and intellectual meat into a largely too vocational educational program.
- buildling stronger, ongoing relations with industry.
- Ethics and diversity (in wake of Jayson Blair fiasco at NYT)
- Be aware of the Impact study by the Readership Institute at Northwestern. Biggest and best national readership study ever done -- 100 newspapers, 370,000 readers, 74,000 pieces content-analyzed. Measures many variables among newspapers and readers. Massive findings -- and potential.
- Focus of the Newspaper Research Journal -- are online newspapers part of this? Are online broadcast stations? Online news in general?
- This may be a sore subject, but my department discourages me from
submitting manuscripts to the Newspaper Research Journal. They consider
it to be lightweight, non-theoretical, and to have too high an acceptance
rate to meet their (snobby) standards. This pisses me off because
a) I have had several pieces published in NRJ, and they're not going
to help me much at tenure review time,
b) Much of my research is a perfect fit for NRJ and I would like to
send them more manuscripts and
c) I really like the fact that the journal is accessible to, and directed
at, professionals as well as academics. I personally think that's a
strength.
At the same time, as an untenured faculty member, I feel I can't afford
to send NRJ anything else. Bummer -- for me and for the journal, which
is going to continue to lose publishable manuscripts to both long-standing
competitors and new ones such as Journalism, Journalism Studies and
others. Any way to address these concerns, or should we all just bite
the bullet until we get tenure, then do what we like (at least until
it's time to worry about going up for full)? :-)
- Effects of global conglomeration. Apllication of nonlinear dynamics to study news flow, newsroom operation, etc.
- diversity, links with professionals,
- Why are there still so many newspaper professors nationwide when the number of magazine students is growing while the number of newspaper students is falling?
- Future of newspapers (in face of advancing technology and declining readership). Academic preparation of journalists.
- no suggestions
- How to Improve News Writing
- teaching newswriting
- Hispanics in the readership of American newspapers; Religion in the coverage of American culture; Crossovers between print and electronic media; Effects of the FCC ruling on cross-media ownership; Effects of plagiarism and unethical research/reporting on the credibility of newspapers; The effects of visual media on the future of newspapers
|