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

[Tom Johnson]

I think the first thing to do is to address the question of why we are
losing members.  I have a feeling it is because of declines in the newspaper
industry and particularly a decline in the number of traditional newspaper
readers among the young.  It shouldn¹t be surprising, then, that there is a
decline in numbers of people joining the division.  I would think the most
effective way to solve the problem would be to go with News Division,
although I can¹t imagine that RTV and the magazine division would go along
with that.  The most realistic solution, I think, is what Clyde and some
others have suggested.  Keep the name newspaper, but reposition it so it is
clear we are not only talking about print newspapers, but as Clyde suggests,
issues, technologies and media employed by newspapers today. Tom


On 7/18/08 10:13 AM, "Clyde Bentley" <bentleycl at missouri.edu> wrote:

> Is it possible to address our identity concerns in the subtext that usually
> follows a name on a Web page or stationary?  We are in the land of colonated
> titles, after all:
> 
> Newspaper Division
> Addressing the full range of issues, technologies and media employed by 21st
> Century newspapers
> 
> Clyde
> 
> 
> 
> ­ ­ ­ 
> Clyde Bentley
> Missouri School of Journalism
>  
> 
> Wilson Lowrey7/17/08 3:52 PM
> 
>> Thanks so much, Susan for raising this issue. I¹ve really enjoyed
>> reading these thoughtful posts. At this point I¹m open to a couple of
>> possibilities: 
>> 
>> (1) Keeping the present name but supplementing it with outreach efforts
>> to help AEJMC members and students better understand the division¹s
>> inclusiveness. Bill Reader suggested something similar in an earlier
>> post. And I agree with him that we shouldn¹t so quickly dismiss the
>> valuable cultural capital and public legitimacy of newspapers.
>> (2) Changing the name to something simple and rooted in the division¹s
>> conceptual focus ­ the News Division or the Journalism Division, or some
>> such. However, if the Division were to pursue this approach, I think
>> we'd need to discuss the plans with RTVJ, Community J and Civic J, etc.
>> Probably any name change will lead to bruised toes, but if it¹s done in
>> an open manner ­ if we at least invite others to speak their mind, even
>> at our meeting -- maybe we could minimize the fallout. And it would only
>> be fair.
>> 
>> I don¹t think it¹s a good idea to incorporate some other technological
>> platform into the name ­ Newspapers and Online News, for example. We¹d
>> still be tying ourselves to the caprice of changing technologies and
>> changing labels for these technologies (and to the latest industry
>> interpretation of what the problem is). And we¹ll soon be having this
>> conversation all over again. I remember working on a Sunday Perspective
>> section front in the early Œ90s (seems like yesterday) that focused on
>> the then new phenomenon of the Internet. Thinking ourselves Œwith it,¹
>> we went with an arthed like ³Surfing the Internet² ­ at that time, a
>> cutting-edge term. I don¹t remember the last time I heard someone
>> actually say, ³well, I think I¹ll go surf the Internet.²
>> 
> 
> 
> 
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