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September 29, 2011
Some thoughts about COMJIG from AEJMC
I post this to solicit comments from members about COMJIG. We recently went through an assessment process and then the top officers met with an AEJMC team that interpreted our self-assessment and they, in turn, made some suggestions. But it's the very last line that may cause some concern.
I've asked other COMJIG officers for their views and all agree that we need to do more on diversity, but then we seem to differ. Officers say the report can be viewed as either a wake-up call to do more and do it better, to keep doing what we're doing and do more reaching out, or to provide AEJMC with a remedial education on what COMJIG is all about. Please read over the following report and comment on what you think it means for COMJIG, as well as any thoughts on what we can do more of, &/or how we can do things better.
Thanks,
Joe
AEJMC Assessment of the Community Journalism Interest Group (2006-2011)
2010-11 Assessment Committee members: Tony DeMars, Council of Divisions; Marianne Barrett, Standing Committee on Teaching; Ann Hollifield, Standing Committee on Research; and Randall Beam, Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility.
I. Overview: The Community Journalism Interest Group (COMJIG) was formed in 2004 and in its early years was quite strong. Its status was renewed in 2007 and that year, the group created a 24-page teaching booklet, “Community as a Teaching Resource” and collaborated with other groups and divisions on panels. In 2008 the group had five PF&R sessions including a mini-plenary. Currently though, the group faces some challenges. Perhaps the most significant in terms of its long-term prospects is the confusion over its mission and its ability to differentiate itself from the Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group.
Over the past five years, COMJIG has co-sponsored a number of activities with Civic and Citizen Journalism including the annual J-Lab luncheon. The two groups have discussed merging, but have decided to remain separate. When asked by the assessment team what its mission is, the group’s officers were not clear. They seemed to be defining community very broadly—ethnic, religious, geographical and other communities. The team suggested the group narrow its focus, and concentrate on becoming specialists in what it means to be a community. COMJIG, like many other AEJMC divisions and interest groups, also needs to devote attention to improving its diversity. In 2010-2011 there was no ethnic diversity among the group’s officers, panelists, moderators or discussants. Further, there is only one woman officer. Women, have, however, served as paper judges (3), panelists (3) and moderators (1).
II. Research: COMJIG has consistently struggled with research paper submissions. It received 12 in 2010, but only 8 in 2011. The difficulty in attracting submissions may in part be due to the confusion over what the group is and how it differs from Civic and Citizen Journalism. The assessment team offered the group several suggestions for bolstering the number of submissions, many of which are linked to focusing on what it means to be a community. The team also suggested the group consider participating in the mid-winter conference as a way of raising its research profile, particularly among graduate students.
III. Teaching: Over the last five years, COMJIG has largely focused on Teaching and PF&R, alternately between the two one year to the next. It has occasionally devoted some of limited programming slots to research. Most notably, in 2006-2007, COMJIG participated in a mini-plenary in which its contribution was “Community as a Resource.” As noted in the overview, the group compiled a 24-page booklet that provided teaching tips. In 2010 COMJIG co-sponsored three panels on teaching. The group has as one of its goals a syllabus sharing clearinghouse. Outside of the convention, the group produces a blog and each officer is responsible for posting to the blog at least once a month.
IV. Professional Freedom and Responsibility: As noted above, because of its limited number of programming slots, COMJIG focuses on PF&R and Teaching in alternating years. In 2011, it concentrated on PF&R with a particular emphasis on public service. Among its activities was co-sponsorship of the J-Lab luncheon, something it has done for the last several years, and was sole sponsor of a panel on community newspapers’ efforts to move content online. The group also launched a survey of state newspaper and broadcast associations and ethnic community news organizations to get input on how COMJIG and the academy could better serve the industry. Although the group is to be commended for its efforts in this regard, the assessment team wondered about the efficacy of the survey especially given the group’s limited resources. In its 2010 report, COMJIG noted its “orientation as a bridge between the academic and professional worlds means much of what we do has PF&R aspects. . .” That orientation is clearly reflected in the group’s activities.
V. General Comments and Suggestions:
The Community Journalism Interest Group seems to be at a crossroads. It continues to struggle with attracting paper submissions, has seen turnover in its membership, although its membership seems to have stabilized somewhat in 2011, and is having difficulty clearly defining its mission and differentiating itself from the Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group. The group recognizes the need to recruit new members who can help revitalize the group. The assessment team suggested narrowing what the group is trying to do and focusing on becoming specialists in what it means to be a community. The group should also make an effort to reach out to women and people of color. The team suggested finding a place in the group’s officer ranks for everyone who volunteers to review papers or perform other tasks during the year. To date, except for its blog, the group does not participate in any out -of-convention activities. The team suggested the group consider participating in mid-winter as a way of raising its research profile and attracting paper submissions, especially from graduate students. Given the group’s challenges, particularly with respect to its mission, AEJMC should closely examine whether the group’s status should be renewed.
I've asked other COMJIG officers for their views and all agree that we need to do more on diversity, but then we seem to differ. Officers say the report can be viewed as either a wake-up call to do more and do it better, to keep doing what we're doing and do more reaching out, or to provide AEJMC with a remedial education on what COMJIG is all about. Please read over the following report and comment on what you think it means for COMJIG, as well as any thoughts on what we can do more of, &/or how we can do things better.
Thanks,
Joe
AEJMC Assessment of the Community Journalism Interest Group (2006-2011)
2010-11 Assessment Committee members: Tony DeMars, Council of Divisions; Marianne Barrett, Standing Committee on Teaching; Ann Hollifield, Standing Committee on Research; and Randall Beam, Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility.
I. Overview: The Community Journalism Interest Group (COMJIG) was formed in 2004 and in its early years was quite strong. Its status was renewed in 2007 and that year, the group created a 24-page teaching booklet, “Community as a Teaching Resource” and collaborated with other groups and divisions on panels. In 2008 the group had five PF&R sessions including a mini-plenary. Currently though, the group faces some challenges. Perhaps the most significant in terms of its long-term prospects is the confusion over its mission and its ability to differentiate itself from the Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group.
Over the past five years, COMJIG has co-sponsored a number of activities with Civic and Citizen Journalism including the annual J-Lab luncheon. The two groups have discussed merging, but have decided to remain separate. When asked by the assessment team what its mission is, the group’s officers were not clear. They seemed to be defining community very broadly—ethnic, religious, geographical and other communities. The team suggested the group narrow its focus, and concentrate on becoming specialists in what it means to be a community. COMJIG, like many other AEJMC divisions and interest groups, also needs to devote attention to improving its diversity. In 2010-2011 there was no ethnic diversity among the group’s officers, panelists, moderators or discussants. Further, there is only one woman officer. Women, have, however, served as paper judges (3), panelists (3) and moderators (1).
II. Research: COMJIG has consistently struggled with research paper submissions. It received 12 in 2010, but only 8 in 2011. The difficulty in attracting submissions may in part be due to the confusion over what the group is and how it differs from Civic and Citizen Journalism. The assessment team offered the group several suggestions for bolstering the number of submissions, many of which are linked to focusing on what it means to be a community. The team also suggested the group consider participating in the mid-winter conference as a way of raising its research profile, particularly among graduate students.
III. Teaching: Over the last five years, COMJIG has largely focused on Teaching and PF&R, alternately between the two one year to the next. It has occasionally devoted some of limited programming slots to research. Most notably, in 2006-2007, COMJIG participated in a mini-plenary in which its contribution was “Community as a Resource.” As noted in the overview, the group compiled a 24-page booklet that provided teaching tips. In 2010 COMJIG co-sponsored three panels on teaching. The group has as one of its goals a syllabus sharing clearinghouse. Outside of the convention, the group produces a blog and each officer is responsible for posting to the blog at least once a month.
IV. Professional Freedom and Responsibility: As noted above, because of its limited number of programming slots, COMJIG focuses on PF&R and Teaching in alternating years. In 2011, it concentrated on PF&R with a particular emphasis on public service. Among its activities was co-sponsorship of the J-Lab luncheon, something it has done for the last several years, and was sole sponsor of a panel on community newspapers’ efforts to move content online. The group also launched a survey of state newspaper and broadcast associations and ethnic community news organizations to get input on how COMJIG and the academy could better serve the industry. Although the group is to be commended for its efforts in this regard, the assessment team wondered about the efficacy of the survey especially given the group’s limited resources. In its 2010 report, COMJIG noted its “orientation as a bridge between the academic and professional worlds means much of what we do has PF&R aspects. . .” That orientation is clearly reflected in the group’s activities.
V. General Comments and Suggestions:
The Community Journalism Interest Group seems to be at a crossroads. It continues to struggle with attracting paper submissions, has seen turnover in its membership, although its membership seems to have stabilized somewhat in 2011, and is having difficulty clearly defining its mission and differentiating itself from the Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group. The group recognizes the need to recruit new members who can help revitalize the group. The assessment team suggested narrowing what the group is trying to do and focusing on becoming specialists in what it means to be a community. The group should also make an effort to reach out to women and people of color. The team suggested finding a place in the group’s officer ranks for everyone who volunteers to review papers or perform other tasks during the year. To date, except for its blog, the group does not participate in any out -of-convention activities. The team suggested the group consider participating in mid-winter as a way of raising its research profile and attracting paper submissions, especially from graduate students. Given the group’s challenges, particularly with respect to its mission, AEJMC should closely examine whether the group’s status should be renewed.
September 22, 2011
What's the word?
Community journalists may be wondering what the Project for Excellence in Journalism will say when PEJ on Monday unveils what it terms "groundbreaking research that paints a new, more nuanced portrait than captured before of how people learn about their community." That quote comes from PEJ Director Tom Rosenstiel. He says the research is groundbreaking because of a paradigm shift in methodology of data collection. Instead of the traditional method of simply asking people where they got their news about their community, the researchers took a path less traveled. It wasn't exactly a "Eureka!" moment, but the new approach instead asked people to say where they got their info in 16 different areas, from the all-important weather report (according to Paul Simon, we get all the news we need on the weather report) to where is a good place to eat (that's right, restaurant reviews).
The research of the sublime to the mundane was done with help from Pew's Internet and American Life Project and the Knight Foundation.
"The results paint an entirely different picture of local news than we have seen before, one that pinpoints the role of the newspapers more completely versus television, the internet and even volunteer newsletters and word of mouth," Rosenstiel said. "We can see a whole ecosystem of local news and information. This should help different media understand and communicate their role."
The report can be found here on Monday.
The research of the sublime to the mundane was done with help from Pew's Internet and American Life Project and the Knight Foundation.
"The results paint an entirely different picture of local news than we have seen before, one that pinpoints the role of the newspapers more completely versus television, the internet and even volunteer newsletters and word of mouth," Rosenstiel said. "We can see a whole ecosystem of local news and information. This should help different media understand and communicate their role."
The report can be found here on Monday.
Will print be dead by 2020?
Russell Viers contends much of print will be dead by 2020 - and he's making the argument aimed at community papers, not the big metros. Interesting debate at his blog with Kevin Slimp and others. Worth considering the graphs.
September 19, 2011
Welcome, COMJIG members
If yo are coming here as a result of the postcard sent in cooperation with the Texas Center for Community Journalism, welcome. Whether you are a new member or one returning and rediscovering the blog, we're happy you're here.
If you are a new member, you also should have received an email from me (Doug Fisher) about our Yahoo group, which we use like a listserv to get information out to members from time to time (no, we don't bombard you with emails).
Please read that email closely. We need you to select one of three options so I can get you on the list.
And don't forget to visit here often, or to put our RSS feed in your reader or to subscribe to an email feed of posts.
-Doug Fisher
If you are a new member, you also should have received an email from me (Doug Fisher) about our Yahoo group, which we use like a listserv to get information out to members from time to time (no, we don't bombard you with emails).
Please read that email closely. We need you to select one of three options so I can get you on the list.
And don't forget to visit here often, or to put our RSS feed in your reader or to subscribe to an email feed of posts.
-Doug Fisher
September 13, 2011
Judy Muller on weeklies
Judy Muller, whose latest book extols small-town papers, has a column in the L.A. Times: Where newspapers thrive: At a time when doomsayers are predicting the death of traditional journalism, thousands of small-town weeklies are doing just fine, thank you.
Among those mentioned is M.C. Sprengelmeyer, who was part of a COMJIG panel in Denver.
Among those mentioned is M.C. Sprengelmeyer, who was part of a COMJIG panel in Denver.
September 08, 2011
"Waiter, there's a lede in my soup"
Sometimes we get so caught up in our jargon that we forget that one person's escargot is another's plate of snails.
But what the link below represents is a chance for community journalists to connect with the people we talk to and write for. Sure, we define community journalism as hyperlocal journalism, but the idea of having a "bricks-and-morter" so-called news cafe with an online one is intriguing. It also gets us out in the street.
Anyone out there doing this? (That is, having a presence away from the newsroom in the community.) Is it a worthwhile idea, or something that the Daily Monopolies down the block need to think about more than community news organizations?
Have experiences to share? Let us know, please. Let's talk.
September 02, 2011
Community Journalism Interest Group Call for Panel Proposals
The Community Journalism Interest Group is seeking panel proposals for the AEJMC national conference in Chicago, Illinois. While the interest group will seek to offer a diverse program, we hope to receive some proposals that make a thematic connection to AEJMC’s centennial celebration in 2012. The panel proposals are due by Oct. 21, 2011. The proposals should include the following information:
• Summary of what the session topic will be
• Possible speakers, including names if possible
• Suggested co-sponsoring divisions/interest groups (A listing of other AEJMC groups can be found here.
• Estimated cost, if any
• Name of contact person for the session
• Email proposals to COMJIG vice chair John Hatcher.
As the vice chair of the Community Journalism Interest Group I'm here to facilitate ideas for panels and teaching sessions. This past August, Andris Straumanis and Joe Marren did a great job with our programming. You can see a summary of what we offered on the COMJIG blog.
Chicago is a city that is ripe for COMJIG-related panels thanks to the rich tradition in community journalism research via the Chicago School and the vibrant community media that include ethnic media, online communities and a vibrant neighborhood press. We are eager to create panels that explore these areas.
We are also hoping to explore panels that will look at issues related to diversity and to exploring community journalism as an international phenomenon. We have already had some initial discussions with interest groups and divisions interested in partnering with us in these areas.
I'm here to help you in this process as much as possible, but I need your ideas. Even if you do not have a formal panel proposal, please help us brainstorm a list of possible panels. The easiest way to do this is to comment at the end of this post. I’ve already tried to start the brainstorming with one blog entry here. You can also “like” our Facebook page and share your ideas there.
• Summary of what the session topic will be
• Possible speakers, including names if possible
• Suggested co-sponsoring divisions/interest groups (A listing of other AEJMC groups can be found here.
• Estimated cost, if any
• Name of contact person for the session
• Email proposals to COMJIG vice chair John Hatcher.
As the vice chair of the Community Journalism Interest Group I'm here to facilitate ideas for panels and teaching sessions. This past August, Andris Straumanis and Joe Marren did a great job with our programming. You can see a summary of what we offered on the COMJIG blog.
Chicago is a city that is ripe for COMJIG-related panels thanks to the rich tradition in community journalism research via the Chicago School and the vibrant community media that include ethnic media, online communities and a vibrant neighborhood press. We are eager to create panels that explore these areas.
We are also hoping to explore panels that will look at issues related to diversity and to exploring community journalism as an international phenomenon. We have already had some initial discussions with interest groups and divisions interested in partnering with us in these areas.
I'm here to help you in this process as much as possible, but I need your ideas. Even if you do not have a formal panel proposal, please help us brainstorm a list of possible panels. The easiest way to do this is to comment at the end of this post. I’ve already tried to start the brainstorming with one blog entry here. You can also “like” our Facebook page and share your ideas there.
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