COMJIG response

What follows below is my e-mail to the Council of Divisions about its written report following the COMJIG interview with COD reps this past August in St. Louis.

Comments?


> Hello Tony,
>
> I'd like to take a bit of your time to respond to the report "AEJMC
> Assessment of the Community Journalism Interest Group." The report
> came out of the oral interview the Council of Divisions
> representatives had with Andris Straumanis and me back in August in
> St. Louis. I consulted with past and present COMJIG officers and we
> would like you and the committee and the COD to know our thoughts.
>
> To be honest, we were surprised by the report. Personally, I thought
> it was negative and that the last line, "AEJMC should closely examine
> whether the group's status should be renewed" was threatening.
>
> I thought that Andris and I stated quite well why COMJIG's original
> mission and charge has changed and grown. The committee seemed to be
> asking us to continue to define ourselves along the old model of
> COMJIG being the "small newspaper" interest group/division. It's true
> that COMJIG grew out of the Newspaper Division (as a founding member I
> remember the meetings quite well), but COMJIG has had to grow with
> technology. Thus, we feel that we have to be the group that is open to
> all. COMJIG isn't just about the legacy media communicating with the
> audience along the traditional gatekeeper model, it also has to
> incorporate the non-traditional media seeking a dialogue with the
> audience ­ textual and non-textual. Being hyperlcoal has to include broadcasting, the 'Net, etc.
>
> Andris and I were asked what separates COMJIG from the Civic and
> Citizen Journalism Interest Group. So, then, I'd like to answer that
> question again by pointing out our call for papers for the past
> several years, which I and other officers helped write:
>
> The Community Journalism Interest Group (COMJIG) is interested in
> research focused on any and all aspects of community journalism. We
> emphasize that community need not just be defined as within
> traditional geographical or social boundaries, but that given
> technological advances it may also be applied to journalism and its relationship to communities of interest online.
>
> Our goal is to identify and present original, meaningful research that
> advances the understanding of the role of journalists and news
> organizations as members of communities, geographic or digital. We
> have particular interest in issues unique to those situations where as
> a function of geography or technology the community and news
> organization tend to be or have the potential to become highly engaged.
>
> I believe from that it's obvious that COMJIG isn¹t really about
> citizen journalism, per se. The key is that COMJIG is the place where
> people can discuss both "community" and "journalism" at a critical
> juncture of the media history timeline.
>
> Two new books, "Foundations of Community Journalism," by Bill Reader
> (former COMJIG head) and John Hatcher (current COMJIG program chair
> and vice head), and "Emus Loose in Egnar: Big Stories From Small
> Towns," make the distinction better than I do. Each also points out
> the distinction between community and citizen journalism. The latter
> book reports what many of us have noted for a few years now, that
> community journalism is the bright spot in traditional journalism,
> having been less affected by the digital transformation than
> metropolitan media. But it also must adapt to the digital era, and
> much of the research and service activity of COMJIG members is
> directed to that end. Also, the current issue of AJR has an article that places "hyperlocal" news sites (as more and more spring up) in context with community journalism.
>
> There is also a new journal put out by the Texas Center for Community
> Journalism that is now looking into key research on community
> journalism and it is partnering with COMJIG. And there is also the
> Convergence Newsletter run out of the University of South Carolina
> that highlights some community journalism efforts since convergence
> levels the playing field between the daily monopolies on the block and
> community news organizations, print and broadcast and websites.
>
> I would also note that we are trying to address some of the issues
> raised in the report. For example, the report says we (and all
> divisions and IGs
> actually) have to be more aware of diversity. We are thinking about
> this when we seek paper judges and panel members. Going hand-in-hand
> with that are recruitment efforts to draw in a more diverse group,
> both in their research interests and in their backgrounds.
>
> We also:
>
> * Have plans in the works for a syllabus exchange. It will likely be on our
> Yahoo page.
> * Are trying to drive traffic to the blog and our Facebook page where we
> can communicate better and more efficiently.
> * Are looking into "recruiting" grad students at either the mid-year in
> Oklahoma in March or the Southeast Colloquium (also in March) in
> Virginia. As a former COMJIG officer put it, we're probably better
> able to help budding scholars because our smaller size can easily
> translate into more care and nurturance of grad students than some of the larger divisions.
> * Are working to increase our research presence by having the vice chair
> and research chair "recruit" people. For example, when I was research
> chair I sent out a couple e-mails a day to those who had presented at
> AEJMC in the past reminding them that we existed. We can also deepen
> our research presence by having a stronger push for research papers
> and panels that couple with other divisions and interest groups and
> which look at both the research aspects of our field, as well as
> issues of diversity and international comparisons of community journalism.
> * Will get better with our blog postings.
>
> Taken all together I think that we not only stated our case clearly in St.
> Louis, but are working on necessarily expanding our core mission. The
> lack of research papers may not show this, but we can concentrate on,
> say, PF&R and/or teaching to validate our presence, as was mentioned at the meeting in St.
> Louis.

Reminder: Deadline for panel proposals Oct. 21

Dear COMJIG members,
A reminder that the deadline to submit panel proposals is on Friday, Oct. 21. Please take a moment and reflect back on what we've presented in the past and on the direction you'd like to see this interest group go when we meet in Chicago in August of 2012.
If you've read the report from AEJMC on our self assessment, you know that they would like to see our interest group give greater emphasis to research and to diversity. I'm sure those are things many COMJIG members also want for our group.
Panel presentations offer a great vehicle for exploring these areas. We can have panels that focus on areas of research and theories we think are important to the understanding of the community-journalism relationship. We can explore these ideas in collaborative discussions with other AEJMC interest groups and panels.
Please consider submitting an idea -- either as a more formal panel proposal, or a simple email with your thoughts on a panel you'd like to see happen.
You can read the details of the call here.
Question? Contact program chair John Hatcher.

Community Journalism Conference

From Brian Steffens:

These are challenging economic times for all of us. But this is also a time of opportunity for community journalism.

The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, the Missouri School of Journalism, and the Missouri Press Association have put together a free conference for community newspaper publishers and editors.

While only a few seats remain available for onsite participation, you, your management team and your staff are invited to watch LIVE on Thursday, October 20, beginning at 10 am Central and ending at 5 pm; and again Friday, October 21, beginning at 9 am Central and ending at 2:30 pm.

Your link to watch is: http://www.rjionline.org/live

To learn more about "Community Newspapers: Tomorrow Has Arrived," please review the agenda, speaker bios, etc.:
http://www.rjionline.org/events/community-newspapers-tomorrow-has-arrived

Heath: 'Postalgeddon' for community papers

Max Heath, postal expert for the National Newspaper Association, has a column laying out dire consequences for community newspapers under the Postal Service's consolidation plans.

Late in the column he mentions the push to get online paid PDF subscriptions counted for circulation.

Given that we've held several discussions during the past two AEJMC conventions where there were clearly those saying they won't touch the Web, this might be the thing that starts tipping the balance.

Interesting question: If the holdouts are forced online over something like this, even with a paid PDF for formerly outlying circulation, where's the tipping point where other subscribers start migrating?

Community Journalism and Steve Jobs

Just read a moving tribute to Steve Jobs by Lisen Stromberg of the Palo Alto Patch, a hyperlocal news service. What's great about this post is that it isn't about how Jobs' technology affected community journalism. It's about what Steve Jobs was like as a neighbor.

Small markets, big careers

"Downsizing is the new normal in journalism, whether it means going from staff to freelance or from covering a larger market to a smaller niche," writes Nicole Martinelli on IJNet.org.

She interviewed Gregg McLachlan, communications consultant and author of the 2010 book Big stories, Small towns: The essential journalism guide for working and thriving in smaller markets.

McLachlan, who runs WorkCabin Communications in Ontario, Canada, advises journalists in small towns to not get too comfortable from the lack of competition. "Try not to follow into a trap so common in smaller markets too -- getting too comfortable and going to the same sources time and again... Yes, you may be in a smaller market, but there’s still a big community of sources out there," he said in the interview.

He also echoed themes heard in COMJIG sessions during the last two AEJMC conventions, where the role of digital media in community journalism has been discussed.

"In many smaller markets, the web and social media continue to be tools that are not being used effectively," McLachlan said. "There is still that mentality that the 'newspaper comes out tomorrow, so read the whole story then.'"

Read the full interview at IJNet.org.