Where: McNamara Alumni Center, University of Minnesota

Visit the conference site for a full schedule, speaker information and additional registration information.

See Change is an annual gathering for communication professionals across the visual spectrum. It’s a variety show of sorts featuring talent who do remarkable work. It’s a visual scrapbook enabling concepts beyond our skill sets to cross-pollinate. It’s a think tank to recharge our abilities and thought.

Cost:

$75: Members of partner organizations (including SPJ)

$90: Non-members

$25: Students

Seating is limited! Reserve before May 12, 2010.

Please register online at the School of Journal & Mass Communication registration page.

What: CCE Headliners, December Edition featuring Nora Paul, Director of the Institute for New Media Studies at the University of Minnesota

When: Thursday, December 3 | 7:00 p.m.

Where: U of MN Continuing Education and Conference Center, 1890 Buford Ave., U of M St. Paul campus

Cost: $10

For most of the 20th century, newspapers were the primary source of information for the American public. At their best, they held governments and corporations to account and set the news agenda for the rest of the mass media. Until the early 1990s, the newspaper business was doing extremely well, earning staggering returns for its owners and shareholders. But more recently, it has been forced to rethink its place in a world of wireless communication.

Last year was the worst on record for the U.S. newspaper industry. Already hit hard by decreasing circulation and declining ad revenues, newspapers across the country laid off staff and cut editions to counter the combined effects of online competition and economic recession. Locally, the Star Tribune filed for bankruptcy protection in January, only emerging in late September. Just months after its workers agreed to concessions in bankruptcy, the St. Paul Pioneer Press opened discussions with its guild members seeking similar cuts.

Are today’s diminished news organizations capable of sustaining the informed citizenry on which democracy depends? Are newspapers an endangered species? Or are they just obsessing too much over the “paper” part of their names?

On December 3, join Nora Paul, founding director of the University of Minnesota’s Institute for New Media Studies, as she explores new models for the news.

Who

Nora Paul was named the first director of the Institute for New Media Studies at the University of Minnesota in 2000. A seasoned journalist, researcher, and news librarian, she worked for nine years at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, one of the top journalism schools in the country, and served as the editor of information services at the Miami Herald from 1979-91 where she developed one of the earliest electronic news archives. A national authority on new media, she is the author of several books on the subject including Computer Assisted Research: A Guide to Tapping Online Information, which is now in its fourth edition.

Where and When

Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 7 p.m.
Continuing Education and Conference Center, 1890 Buford Ave., U of M St. Paul campus

Purchase tickets

Download driving directions and parking information

More info on the CCE Web site: http://cce.umn.edu/Headliners/Upcoming-Headliners/index.html

Minnesota Job Skills Program grant will be used to retrain newspaper staff 

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 2/24/2009 ) — The University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communication (SJMC), in partnership with the Duluth News Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press, has received a $238,000 Minnesota Job Skills Program Grant to help newspapers revolutionize their business model and to thrive in an increasingly Internet-based industry. In addition, the university and the newspapers will contribute $469,330 in-kind funds, bringing the total project budget to approximately $700,000.

The project will offer a series of training programs for staff in the advertising and editorial operations of the newspapers, both of which have undergone considerable downsizing in the past year. It is believed to be the first job training grant to help the news industry with the assistance of a journalism school. The goal of the partnership is not only to train employees with new technical, computer-based skills, but also to reassess the way in which news and advertising is delivered.

Those involved with the grant believe that these two facets of training will help the newspapers adapt and ensure their ability to successfully evolve into a new type of operation. The project will support the recent Newspaper Guild contract stipulation that called for a commitment to paid time for staff training — a first in the Guild’s history.

The project will also benefit students at the university, since the curriculum being developed for the training program has direct relevance for and transferability to the SJMC, as it continues to grapple with how to best prepare the next generation of news, information professionals and advertising staffs.

Kathleen Hansen, director of the university’s Minnesota Journalism Center, said that the program is meant to be transformational and not a “quick-fix” for ailing newsrooms. “We believe this type of training that combines both new technology skills and new conceptual mindsets is essential in these changing times,” said Hansen. “In order to have real, substantial change in the newspaper industry, we have to really understand people’s news and information consumption habits and change the approach to address these new realities.”

Contacts: 

Jen Keavy, School of Journalism & Mass Communication, (612) 625-8095, jkeavy@umn.edu
Ryan Maus, University News Service, (612) 624-1690, maus@umn.edu

Teams from major Twin Cities media organizations will battle for the championship in the 5th annual Quiz Bowl organized by the Alumni Board of the University of Minnesota’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Mike Gelfand—“Stretch” from the KQRS Morning Show—will turn up the heat on the contestants with questions on Minnesota politics, sports, arts and entertainment, and more.

WHO: Teams from WCCO-TV, Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, MinnPost, Weber Shandwick, Risdall Marketing Group

WHERE: A.I. Johnson Great Room, McNamara Alumni Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis campus

WHAT: SJMC Alumni Board’s annual Twin Cities Media Stars Quiz Bowl

WHEN: Thursday, January 29, 2009 7:00 PM

WHY: Plenty of mirth and no mercy. (Also coffee, mini-desserts and a cash bar.)

HOW: Donate $5.00 at the door. For more information, contact jkeavy@umn.edu

The National Press Club, the world’s leading professional organization for journalists, and the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication‘s Minnesota Journalism Center are teaming up to look at the future of the news media and how to protect its core values.

The Nov. 17 event will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the University’s Coffman Memorial Union on the east bank of the Minneapolis campus. The event is free and open to the public. Parking information is available at http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/maps/CMU/CMU-map.html.

This NPC Centennial Forum on The First Amendment, Freedom of the Press and the Future of Journalism will feature leading Minnesota journalists: Nancy Barnes, editor and senior vice president, Minneapolis Star Tribune ; Thom Fladung, editor and vice president, St. Paul Pioneer Press; Joel Kramer, chief executive officer and editor, MinnPost; and Nora Paul, director, University of Minnesota Institute for New Media Studies. The panel will be moderated by Alan Bjerga, a Bloomberg News correspondent, the Club’s treasurer, and a University of Minnesota alum.

“In these tumultuous times for journalism, the Club is pleased to have such a prominent group of Minnesota journalists join us at the university,” said NPC president Sylvia Smith.

“We are honored to host this NPC forum for the regional community.  We can’t think of a more important topic for those who care about the role of journalism in sustaining a representative democracy,” said professor Kathleen Hansen, director of the Minnesota Journalism Center.

This forum is part of a nationwide conversation the National Press Club is holding during its 100^th anniversary to look at where the news business is going and what news consumers should be demanding. Schedules and video highlights of forums in other states can be found on the Club’s Web site: www.press.org.

During the same week as the University of Minnesota event, the Club will be holding forums at Arizona State University on Nov. 17, at San Diego State University on Nov. 18, with the San Diego Press Club and with the Los Angeles Press Club on Nov. 19.

The event begins with a preview of the Club’s centennial documentary, “The National Press Club: A Century of Headlines,” which follows the history of American journalism through the lens of one of its leading institutions. Everyone who attends this forum will get a copy of the documentary.

The NPC Centennial Forums program is sponsored by Aviva USA, one of the nation’s fastest-growing life insurers (www.AvivaUSA.com). In addition, the company is funding the production and distribution of 12,000 DVD copies of the “The Century of Headlines” documentary and supplemental education materials. Tom Godlasky, chief executive officer, Aviva North America, said, “Our partnership with the National Press Club is based on shared values and a belief that the First Amendment, freedom of speech and professional journalism are fundamental to democracy, personal freedom and free enterprise.”

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Gil Klein – National Press Club Centennial project director, 703-338-2721. E-mail gklein@press.org.

Jen Keavy – communications manager, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, 612-625-8095.  E-mail jkeavy@umn.edu

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

The National Press Club is the world’s leading professional organization for journalists. Founded in 1908, the Club has 3,700 members representing most major news organizations. Each year, the Club holds more than 2,000 events including news conferences, luncheons and panels, and more than 250,000 guests come through its doors.

ABOUT THE MINNESOTA JOURNALISM CENTER

The Minnesota Journalism Center was established in 1979 through a gift to the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication from the late John Cowles, Sr., chairman of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company, and his wife, the late Elizabeth Bates Cowles.  The Center’s purpose is to improve the practice of journalism, promote interaction between media professionals and the academy, and serve as the outreach arm of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

2008 SCHEDULE OF NATIONAL PRESS CLUB FORUMS

May 23, Washington D.C.

June 4, Chicago, Ill.

Sept. 9 Denver, Co.

Sept. 15, Washington, D.C. with two-way satellite communication with West Virginia University.

Sept. 18 Syracuse, N.Y.

Sept. 22 Providence, R.I.

Sept. 22 Kingston, R.I.

Sept. 23 Boston, Mass.

Sept. 25 Northfield, Vt.

Oct. 1 New Orleans, La.

Oct. 3 Birmingham, Ala.

Oct. 6 Richmond, Va.

Oct. 6 College Park, Md.

Oct. 7 Chapel Hill, N.C.

Oct. 8 Columbia, S.C.

Oct. 14 Atlanta, Ga.

Oct. 16 New York, N.Y.

Oct. 21 Portland, Ore.

Oct. 22 Seattle, Wash.

Oct. 23 Spokane, Wash.

Oct. 27 Columbia, Mo.

Oct. 29 Des Moines, Iowa

Oct. 30 Milwaukee, Wis.

Nov. 6 Salt Lake City, Utah

Nov. 10 Washington D.C. Webcast to the University of Alaska (Anchorage and Fairbanks) University of Nebraska, University of Idaho, University of South Dakota, and University of Montana

Nov 12 Cleveland, Ohio

Nov. 13 Norman, Okla.

Nov. 13 Houston, Tex.

Nov. 17 Phoenix, Ariz.

Nov. 17 Minneapolis, Minn.

Nov. 18 San Diego, Ca.

Nov. 19 Los Angeles, Ca.

Nov. 19 Philadelphia, Pa.

Dec. 2 Indianapolis, Ind.

Dec. 3 Ann Arbor, Mich.

Dec. 8 Naples, Fla.