COMJIG minutes 2014

Here are the draft minutes from our meeting in Montreal. They will not become final until next year's meeting in San Francisco. Please let me know of any corrections.
- Doug

Minutes, Community Journalism Interest Group
Aug. 8, 2014
Montreal

Convened 7 p.m.
Dianne Garyantes, vice head/programming called the meeting to order in place of IG head Eileen Gilligan, who could not attend because of health issues. A total of 13 people, including officers and guests, attended.

Minutes 2013
These were discussed. A suggestion was made to ask Barbara Selvin to do a post on the COMJIG blog about her experience at the ISWNE meeting.

A correction was suggested: page 2, "future sites," line 3 change to "in Santiago, Chile."

Moved and seconded the minutes be approved as corrected. Passed unanimously on show of hands.

Financials
Garyantes asked whether we should consider raising yearly dues from the current $10. Apparently AEJMC was asking groups to pose the question. After some discussion there was no motion to change the current levels.

As of July 31, 2014, COMJIG had a credit of $1,664.67 in AEJMC's accounting.

Membership
Garyantes reported membership at 86, a slight increase from last year. There should be better numbers by Sept. 30 once AEJMC goes through conference registrations.

Research/convention
Research chair Hans Meyer reported we received 15 papers and eight were accepted, for just over a 50% rate. He says there were nine really good papers, but it was decided to accept only eight to keep the acceptance rate near 50%. There were 17 reviewers, and each paper got at least two reviews.

Awards were presented for the top faculty and student papers. Checks and plaques were not immediately available but will be forwarded to the recipients, Patrick Ferrucci of Bradley for the top faculty paper and Joseph Kasko of South Carolina for top student paper. Each received a certificate at the meeting.

Community Journalism journal
Garyantes reported Vol. 3 of the journal came out today. Note the special call (also posted on our blog) for papers on international perspectives on community journalism. Sept. 2 deadline and March 15 publication. Will be published both in Community Journalism and Grassroots Editor.

Next year
Garyantes said the theme of the meeting in San Francisco, Aug. 5-9, will be "Global Bridges." So think in those terms for panels and papers.

Need to think about panels early – we'll put out a call with a Sept. 30 deadline because AEJMC will want our thoughts by mid-October. Look for panels that can be attractive to other divisions or IGs.

A discussion ensued about several panel possibilities. Those include tools for community journalism, community journalism internships and their challenges both in getting students interested and then getting them ready, and a PF&R panel on homeless/street papers since San Francisco is home to the oldest such paper (noted by audience member). Individuals will hopefully pursue such initiatives in time for the call.

Southeast Colloquium
Garyantes and Meyer noted it will be in in late March with an early December submission. We were unable to participate last year. A discussion ensued and it was the general consensus that we want to participate in 2015 because it is a fertile ground for getting graduate students interested in our IG. The colloquium will be at Tennessee-Knoxville, and several people volunteered to represent COMJIG, as it is within easy driving distance.

The new research chair will need to pursue.

ISWNE
David Gordon said it would be June 24-28 at Missouri-Columbia. He said he expects a scholarship to be available. There was discussion. We will put it on the blog and listserv seeking someone to attend. Will need to know by February or March.

Update from Council of Divisions
Garyantes said the council reminded everyone of the regional conference planned for Santiago, Chile, Oct. 15-17, 2015, and National News Engagement Day this coming Oct. 7. The COD hopes everyone will be involved.

Other discussions
Meyer suggested that when possible we consider using #communityjournalism in tweets. He said it is used more widely than just #comjig and by other groups, so it may widen our brand.

Garyantes called on Doug Fisher to discuss some suggestions he had circulated among the officers. Fisher noted there are many times to promote COMJIG as a home for research, especially among grad students. For instance, while doing Job Hub interviews, he has noticed several candidates with work fitting nicely into our research agenda. Many did not know of COMJIG. Their eyes lit up when he noted the number of papers we get compared with, say, Mass Comm and Society. He asked all COMJIG members to be alert to these opportunities because "community" is showing in a lot more research and solid research submission numbers make our renewal efforts easier.

Officers 2014-15T
he following slate of officers was proposed:
Dianne Garyantes, Rowan, head
Hans Meyer, Ohio, vice head/programming
David Schreindl, Dickinson State, research chair
Clay Carey, Samford, professional freedom & responsibility (PF&R) chair
Al Cross, Kentucky, teaching standards chair
Doug Fisher, South Carolina, secretary/membership/communications
Joseph Kasko, South Carolina, graduate student liaison

There were no further nominations from the floor. The slate of officers was moved and seconded, and it was approved unanimously on a show of hands.

Talk by Penny Abernathy
Abernathy, author of Saving Community Journalism: The Path to Profitability and the website savingcommunityjournalism.com, presented a summation of her research and book and some of the ways community news outlets must change to be successful in the digital age.

She said the website has a special section with teaching tools for professors and that a case study from her work has been made available for free on Columbia University's journalism case studies site.

Adjourned 8:40 p.m. and members retired to COMJIG's off-site social.

Respectfully submitted,

Douglas J. Fisher
Aug. 8, 2014

COMJIG Minutes, 2010 Denver

Community Journalism Interest Group minutes, Aug. 5, 2010, Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel
(Updated and corrected Aug. 26)

The meeting began with a joint meeting with the Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group. COMJIG Head Doug Fisher, South Carolina, called the meeting to order in Governor’s Square Room 16 at 8:36 p.m. Pending arrival of CCJIG Head Mary Beth Cahill Callie, Fisher asked if anyone had announcements.

Chip Stewart, Texas Christian, announced that he is co-editor of a new online Community Journalism journal that is assembling an editorial board, will start seeking submissions this fall and will try to get its first issue out next summer. The journal will define community broadly, not just geographically; civic-and-citizen submissions are welcome if they have a community connection.

Fisher told the joint meeting that the two groups were asked last year to consider merger, but study has shown that they have less overlap than believed, only 24 out of the approximately 100 members in each group. He said he and Cahill Callie see no benefit from merger; a combined group would get no more programming chips, and the two groups work together well already. (In a later communication, Callie said the conclusion on CCJIG's part came out of a conference call among their officers.)

Fisher proposed that both groups do a joint paper call to explore interstices of the two interests.

Glenn Scott, former research chair of CCJIG, said the groups need to make commitment to spend chips on a session and agree to have a team of reviewers for just those papers. Fisher said each group would commit a half chip each, and might even be able to bring in the Newspaper Division or another group and have a mini-plenary.
The joint meeting was dissolved and the COMJIG meeting was called back to order in Governor’s Square 9 at 8:45 p.m.

Minutes from the meeting at Boston, which were posted on the COMJIG blog, were approved.

Fisher thanked the officers for their help in the past year. He said research being presented at the conference showed a broadening of the group beyond traditional labels of rural and geographic, a message that he said members need to get out. He reported a balance of $1,025.92 in the group’s account.

Vice-Head Andris Straumanis, Wisconsin River Falls, said the group’s sessions so far had been good, with good attendance. Research Chair Joe Marren, Buffalo State, said the group attracted more papers than normal, 12 (one couldn’t be accepted because she identified herself), little more than half from grad students. Six were accepted, three for the research session and three for scholar-to-scholar.

Teaching Chair Eileen Gilligan, SUNY Oswego, announced that her university’s Center for Community Journalism had officially closed.

The group unanimously elected the following slate of officers: Joe Marren, vice-head and program chair; Eileen Gilligan, teaching standards chair; Ralph Hanson, Nebraska-Kearney, professional freedom and responsibility chair; Al Cross, Kentucky, secretary and membership chair; John Hatcher, Minnesota-Duluth, research chair.

With election of new officers, Straumanis succeeded Fisher as head. He asked for an got a round of applause for Fisher for work as head, including a 53-pp. renewal report. He said renewal of the interest group is expected. He said the report is good overview of what the group is, what it stands for, where it has been and where it is going.

Straumanis said his goals for this year are : (1) raise research submissions to 18 from 12, partly by soliciting more from individuals; (2) revive the discussion on having COMJIG develop a closer, ongoing relationship among professionals in community journalism, beyond our individual relationships, starting with survey of professionals to see what they need and how we might help; (3) create the long-discussed syllabus and assignment exchange, particularly assignments, to get good examples that might help teaching.

Under old business, the group discussed dues, still at $5. Straumanis said raising the dues to $7.50 or $10 could fund more speakers, and he noted that travel of the head and vice-head to the winter meeting can consume up to $500. This winter’s meeting is in Albuquerque.

Fisher said it would be appropriate to raise dues, especially since the new Sports Division is starting at $10, and in light of programming costs. Hansen moved that dues be set at $10 for faculty and $5 for graduate students. The motion was seconded by Andrea Bonner Frantz of Robert Morris and was approved without dissent.

Fisher said the bylaws call for a nominating committee of two, one to be named by the head and one named by the membership, and asked for a volunteer. Hansen volunteered. Fisher moved to appoint her, and after several seconds the appointment was approved without dissent.

Under new business, Fisher reported on candidate cities for the 2014 conference: Atlanta (with a guaranteed room rate of $149-179), Jacksonville ($109 plus a $32,500 donation), Miami ($242 with an escalator clause), Tampa ($163 w/escalator), Montreal ($169-189 Canadian, plus C$30,600 in incentives). Fisher moved that the group recommend Montreal, and Jock Lauterer, North Carolina, seconded. The motion was approved without dissent. The conference will be held St, Louis next year, then in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Fisher reported on the idea of a joint paper call and research session with CCJIG, noting that the groups have areas with ties and areas with friction. He said Cahill and he agreed to spend a half-chip apiece for a dedicated session, and asked for motion to give the Executive Committee authority to move ahead. Lauterer so moved, and after two seconds the motion was approved without dissent.

On proper motion and second, the group adjourned at 9:21 p.m.

SIGNUP SHEET
    Joe Marren        marrenjj@buffalostate.edu
    Jock Lauterer        jock@email.unc.edu
    Andris Straumanis    andris.straumanis@uwrf.edu
    Andrea Frantz        frantz@rmu.edu
    Tommy Thomason    t.thomason@tcu.edu
    Brian Steffens        steffensb@missouri.edu
    Eileen Gilligan        eileengilligan@oswego.edu
    Pam Fine        pamfine@ku.edu
    Liz Hansen        liz.hansen@eku.edu
    Gary Hansen        ghansen@uky.edu
    Chip Stewart        d.stewart@tcu.edu
    Al Cross            al.cross@uky.edu
    Doug Fisher        fisherdj@mailbox.sc.edu

Submitted by Al Cross, Secretary/Membership

COMJIG draft meeting minutes from Boston 2009

In preparation for our upcoming meeting in Denver, here is a copy of last year's meeting minutes. Please e-mail me with any corrections or comments.
Doug

Community Journalism Interest Group
Annual Meeting, Boston, Mass., Aug. 6, 2009
6:45 p.m.

These meeting minutes should be considered a draft until they are approved or amended and approved at the 2010 annual meeting in Denver.

Joint meeting – COMJIG/CCJIG

We again began with a joint meeting with the Civic and Citizen Journalism IG. Liz Hansen, COMJIG head, and Nikhil Moro, CCJIG head, presided with 24 people attending.

Discussion items:

Possible combination of the IGs
Discussion about possibly combining CCJIG and COMJIG to form a division. Moro says it is a good time to discuss given the expanding research in both areas.

A lengthy discussion ensued. Among the points:
•    What are the advantages? More papers – CCJIG papers up sharply from 18 last year. About double and more from students. COMJIG had about 10 papers but is renewing efforts to get more.
•    Membership – Overlap may not be as strong as first appears. CCJIG has 118, COMJIG  has 101.
•    Question raised about subject matter overlap. Hansen says COMJIG focuses more on smaller operations while CCJIG includes more non-journalist actors.
•    Disadvantages include loss of identity and leadership opportunities.
•    Among our guests was Ben Ilfeld, operations manager of the online site sacramentopress.com. He says "we exist at the intersection" of community and civic journalism. Says if he knew that was to be the version of the future, combine. But he's not sure of that, so might be best to be separate for now.
•    There were suggestions from Len Witt and others that the IGs might commission a paper to look at the changing times and how they might be converging or perhaps issue a special call for research into the intersection of CCJIG/COMJIG with a focus on theory and practice and a monetary award for best paper. (Doug Fisher noted the paper(s) could be published in the Convergence Newsletter.)

No decision was reached. The incoming COMJIG and CCJIG heads agreed to continue discussions. Fisher, incoming COMJIG head, agreed to get the membership lists analyzed as to overlap.

Industry workshops and other help to industry
Al Cross said he wants the NNA Foundation to promote research on how smaller news operations can adapt in a 24/7 world. Possible industry workshops that will take budget and organization. Possible hook-up also with SNPA. No action was taken.

COMJIG meeting
Both IGs then adjourned to their separate meetings; seven people attended the COMJIG session.

Minutes: The 2008 annual meeting minutes were adopted unanimously without change upon motion and second from the floor.

Research report: Nine papers, seven accepted. Discussion on increasing submissions included several options including special call and expanding cash awards of $100 or both student and faculty best papers. Doug said if named head he would work with expected incoming research head Joe Marren on possible special call or other wording that would emphasize community not only as geographic but also as community of interests, which is becoming more important digitally. Motion made from floor and seconded to expand cash awards to both student and faculty. Approved on voice vote.

Discussion of goals next year. It was concluded we should focus research, increase international participation, and emphasize the role of community journalism in the online and suburban newspaper areas.

Discussion continued on possible combination with CCJIG. Several people expressed misgivings. Andris Straumanis noted one of the reasons separate IGs were created was to differentiate the issues. Cross said it couldn't help hurt to give it further consideration and research. Hansen noted that COMJIG's bylaws, compared with CCJIG's, were very media centric.

Officers: The following slate was nominated and seconded
•    Doug Fisher, head (from vice head). Also will remain webmaster.
•    Andris Straumanis, vice head (from research)
•    Joe Marren, research
•    Eileen Gilligan, teaching (remains in position)
•    Ralph Hanson, PF&R

The secretary/membership position was open. Cross volunteered to do it and was added to the slate, which was approved by acclamation.

The new officers then assumed their positions, and Fisher accepted the golden pica pole as new IG head.

Hansen filled in the new officers that DIG news will change format and require one longer-form article a year from the IG head.

Hansen moved that dues be kept at $5 yearly. Seconded. Passed unanimously on a show of hands.

Discussion about COMJIG logos that Doug put together for use on Yahoo site and blog. Motion from floor to accept either. Seconded and approved unanimously by voice vote. Doug has chosen to use the one below:


[see blog header for image]


Motion to adjourn from the floor, duly seconded and approved. Meeting adjourned 8:23 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Doug Fisher

Minutes of the 2008 COMJIG meeting

The following are the draft minutes of the annual meeting of the Community Journalism Interest Group of AEJMC, 6:45 p.m., Thursday, August 7, 2008, Chicago, Ill. Minutes are unofficial until ratified at the 2009 annual meeting.

Members’ meeting
The members meeting began with a gathering of both the Community Journalism Interest Group members and members of the Citizen/Civic Journalism Interest Group. About 20 people were in attendance.
Bill Reader (Ohio University), outgoing chair of COMJIG, and Jack Rosenberry (St. John Fisher College), outgoing chair of CCJIG, proposed the idea of a collaborative project that would involve reaching out to daily newspapers in the U.S. to teach them how to effectively use both civic and community journalism in their news operations. The idea was proposed as a way of:
- raising the profile of the two interest groups
- putting members in touch with professionals in their regions
- allowing for conducting field research and as a way to get professors back into newsrooms to both study and refresh their skills

Bill Reader said that larger media are trying to embrace these concepts, but do not really know where to begin. They are seeing civic journalism organizations as competitors; they want to connect to community, but are not sure how. The idea proposed was to come up with short, three-hour training sessions with mid-level editors at these newspapers.

Discussion on this topic and the logistics of its execution continued for roughly 30 minutes. The question was raised as to whether this was something that members of both groups would like to pursue. Several members said they thought that newspapers would be interested in such programs. There was some discussion of previous models that had attempted these kinds of projects. Some questions were raised about whether these training visits would work best by visiting specific newsrooms or by hosting regional workshops. Brian Steffens, executive director of the National Newspaper Association, said newsroom budgets are making training efforts difficult. Bill Reader said that if 10 of these sessions could be completed in the next year, it would be outstanding. Another member explained a session done at his university that was a social media conference and has grown each year as people come to find out about citizen journalism and public relations. It had sponsors and grew to 300 in its most recent event. The next one will actually bring in money for the department.

Liz Hansen (Eastern Kentucky), outgoing vice chair of COMJIG, asked if the first step was to see if there was a demand for this kind of workshop and perhaps see if this can lead to the creation of a prototype for the training program. Another member said that the most exciting aspect of the program would be the creation of a curriculum that could be used by everyone. Discussion continued on topics including how this work would translate into research and how that research could be shared with people in the industry and whether such training could be given using online resources.

In summary, Bill Reader said that there did seem to interest in the idea, was unsure of who might take the lead on the project, but said a first step might be to see if there is a need and interest.

Several other topics were discussed during the general meeting including whether a Romenesko-like blog could be created for smaller newspapers, and whether such a thing could be done using the COMJIG blog. Another suggestion was made that an experts guide could be created by the incoming secretary of COMJIG that might include press releases when new research in community journalism was created.

The groups adjourned the group members' meeting and divided for their respective annual business meetings.

Business meeting

The minutes of the 2007 meeting were unanimously approved as submitted without comment or question.

Bill Reader reported that COMJIG had had a good year, and the annual report had been submitted. The AEJMC program was one of the best to date, including sessions including “profiles in courage” and a mini-plenary that was very strongly attended discussing the future of print journalism. He said next year’s programming should lean more toward research as a way of maintaining a balance. He said COMJIG members had been very active, including work of regional centers and institutes as well as work of independent scholars.

COMJIG has a current balance of $1,227.40.

The current membership is 110, with most members from the United States, but other members from Mumbai, Japan and China. A goal for the following year was to make the group more international and to explore panels that would look at the issue of community journalism in other countries. There was some discussion of how to make more international connections, including with neighboring Canada.

Bill Reader said that it would be useful to create a clearinghouse list of community journalism organizations and to enhance the list to get more international.

In all COMJIG had nine submissions of research papers, which was fewer than in 2007; five were accepted for presentation.

It was noted that AEJMC is re-examining its strategic plan, which means interest groups need to make themselves visible, partner with other organizations and make attempts to be more international.

Liz Hansen said there were many good submissions for panels from COMJIG members, but not enough spots for all of them.

There was no old business discussed.

Liz Hansen then took over running the meeting as the new Chair of COMJIG. She oversaw the election of new officers and opened the floor to nominations. She accepted the golden pica pole from Bill Reader.

Doug Fisher (South Carolina) was nominated by Bill Reader as Vice Chair and seconded by Al Cross (Kentucky). He was accepted by acclamation.

Bill Reader volunteered to occupy the position of Secretary and Membership Chair. He was accepted by acclamation.

Andris Straumanis (Wisconsin-River Falls) was nominated to keep his position as Research Chair. He was accepted by acclamation.

Jennifer Woods Adams (Auburn) was nominated to be the PF&R chair and was accepted by acclamation.

Eileen Gilligan was nominated to retain her position as Teaching Chair and was accepted by acclamation.

There was some discussion as to whether to raise the $5 dues for the group. After discussion, the group agreed to leave the dues at $5.

The group voted to add a cash prize to the top faculty paper award in 2009, to complement the $100 cash award we agreed in 2007 to give to the top student paper starting in 2008.

The group agreed that it would send out a call for research panels for the 2009 convention. It was suggested that a panel on research on community journalism and how that’s being done would be a useful discussion. It was also suggested that a panel on international aspects of community journalism would be useful.

A move to adjourn was made and seconded. All voted aye.


Minutes respectfully submitted by John Hatcher (Minnesota-Duluth), outgoing Secretary.

Minutes of the 2007 meeting of COMJIG

The following are the draft minutes of the annual meeting of the Community Journalism Interest Group of AEJMC. 8:34 p.m. Friday, August 10, 2007, Washington, D.C. Minutes are unofficial until ratified at the 2008 annual meeting.

Members' meeting
The members meeting began with a gathering of both the Community Journalism Interest Group members and members of the Citizen/Civic Journalism Interest Group. About 32 people were in attendance.

Peggy Kuhr (new dean of the School of Journalism at the University of Montana), outgoing chair of COMJIG, began the meeting by explaining that the Assessment Committee of AEJMC had asked the difference between COMJIG and CCJIG. Kuhr and Andrea Breemer Frantz (Wilkes University), outgoing chair of CCJIG, decided to hold a joint meeting at the 2007 convention of AEJMC so members could discuss shared interests and differences, recognizing that many AEJMC members belong to both interest groups.

As the discussion ran for more than 30 minutes, Bill Reader (Ohio University), vice chair of COMJIG, summarized some focal points that came from the discussion. CCJIG studied and discussed: New business models; social networking/diasporic community; process/approach; citizenship; deliberate/intentional efforts to engage communities. COMJIG, on the other hand, studied and discussed: The business side of local news media; journalism in small markets; the importance of local information (and geography); reflection of local culture; holistic approach.

Several members suggested the conversation could continue within each group and across the groups, and that "defining" both citizen/civic journalism and community journalism were important and perpetual tasks of both groups.

Breemer Frantz suggested a special issue of a journalism scholarly journal could be devoted to this discussion or perhaps an online journal (which would be easier to manage) could be created to handle these specific areas of journalism.

The groups adjourned the group members' meeting and divided for their respective annual business meetings.

Business meeting
The regular annual meeting of the executive committee of the Community Journalism Interest Group of AEJMC began at 9:20 p.m. Friday, August 10, 2007, Washington, D.C.

Thirteen members were in attendance.

Outgoing Chair Peggy Kuhr (Montana) said the minutes from the 2006 meeting are online at the COMJIG Web site. There were no questions or comments about the minutes and they were accepted as submitted.

Outgoing Vice Chair Bill Reader (Ohio) noted that the officers of the interest group had reviewed and approved the bylaws of the Interest Group, which are also at the Web site.

Kuhr said the interest group has 110 paid members (which is up from the initial 22, founding chair Jock Lauterer [North Carolina] noted). The treasury includes about $1,300 from dues.

Old Business

Reader reported that electronic submission of papers went quite well after Jack Rosenberry (St. John Fisher College) worked out some kinks with AEJMC headquarters. The electronic submission saves the research chair much work in mailing papers to reviewers.

Twelve papers were submitted and 7 were accepted for the 2007 conference. During the assessment process with AEJMC, Reader was told that AEJMC's traditional 50 percent acceptance rule was no longer a requirement. The assessment group also said the interest group does not have to worry about putting on more than one research session at the annual conferences.

Kuhr added that the assessment committee offered many helpful suggestions for boosting diversity in programming and for helping COMJIG remain an interst group in good standing. She suggested that renewal of the group was likely. Kuhr said that after the positive review with the assessments group of AEJMC, the interest group goes another three years before having to seek renewal.

New Business

Peggy Kuhr is the new dean of the School of Journalism at the University of Montana.

E. Vaughn Whitmore is the new vice head for the Council of Divisions and Kim Bissell is the new chair, Kuhr said.

Bill Reader then took over running the meeting as the new Chair of COMJIG.

Reader nominated Liz Hansen (Eastern Kentucky) to be vice chair. Lauterer seconded. Hansen was accepted by acclamation.

John Hatcher (Minnesota-Duluth) was nominated for secretary/membership chair by Reader and seconded by Brian Steffens (National Newspaper Association/Missouri). Hatcher was accepted by acclamation.

Andris Straumanis (Wisconsin-River Falls) was nominated for Research Chair by Reader and seconded by Ralph Hanson (West Virginia). He was accepted by acclamation.

Amanda Brozana (Stillman/Alabama) and Eileen Gilligan (SUNY Oswego) were nominated to be Teaching Standards Co-Chairs by Reader, and they were accepted by acclamation.

Ralph Hanson (West Virginia) was nominated by Reader to be chair of PF&R and seconded by Lauterer. Hanson was accepted by acclamation.

Kuhr bestowed the "golden pica pole" and knighted Reader chair of the interest group at 9:44 p.m.

Reader announced that member s should offer ideas for panels for the 2008 conference in Chicago.

Goals for the next year

1) The group needs “The Gimmick,” one or two sentences that explain what we are and distinguishes us from other groups and divisions in AEJMC.

2)Get the word out about this interest group; the assessment committee recommended that. As Kuhr says: “We are the small group with the big footprint.” Despite our size, interest group members have received 3 of the only 30 New Voices grants awarded so far (including one at West Virginia through Hanson and COMJIG member Maryanne Reed, and Reader’s at Ohio University); the new community journalism master’s program at the University of Alabama; four centers for community journalism (Huck Boyd Center at Kansas State, Carolina Community Media Projetc at North Carolina, and Center for Community Journalism at SUNY Oswego; and the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at Kentucky); and the growing interest group of scholars at AEJMC. (The assessment group loved the COMJIG blog, Kuhr noted.)

3) Stop worrying about quantity of research. One of our missions is to foster research into community journalism and help the profession.

Doug Fisher (South Carolina, COMJIG's Web master for four years) moved that we give a $100 award to the best student research paper each year; Al Cross (Kentucky) seconded that motion. It was unanimously approved.

4) Next year’s conference location in Chicago gives more opportunity for the urban and ethnic press to be represented in our interest group’s sessions.

5) It’s important that we document everything the interest group does. The annual reports are vitally important for renewal of COMJIG every three years.

6) Input is needed regarding the conference location for 2011. Future locations are scheduled as follows: 2008-Chicago, 2009-Boston, 2010-Denver, 2011-Open, and 2012-Chicago. Members decided the officers could vote as they see fit regarding the 2011 location.

Other Business

Doug Fisher (South Carolina) asked that the group pay about $5 per year to allow an e-mail module that would notify members who subscribed that there was a new posting to the ComJIG blog. The group agreed.

Brian Steffens announced that the Newspaper Foundation put out a book called “The Newspaper” and needs another 12 chapters written.

Kuhr noted that Reader bought the URL called: www.localnewscenter.org, which the group could use to feature the diversity of our group, such as the wide range of communities represented. Journalism classes each semester could host the site and pose questions for community journalists and members to answer, etc. The group should decide what should be done with this site.

Fisher moved to adjourn and Kuhr seconded it. All voted aye at approximately 10:10 p.m.

Minutes respectfully submitted by
Eileen Gilligan (outgoing Secretary)

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