| ASNE on the move - ASNE’s committees launch their initiatives for 1997-98
Published: June 01, 1997
Last Updated: May 26, 1999
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ASNE on the move
ASNE’s committees launch their initiatives for 1997-98
The ASNE committees in the coming year are tackling a broad range of
issues and developing projects to strengthen and improve daily newspapers.
Members who have not joined a committee may do so through ASNE’s Reston
headquarters.
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Change. The Change Committee will explore ways in which newsroom
change influences, or is influenced by, broader social trends for change
in community life. A project to understand how newspapers can engage hard-to-reach
community segments in constructive, mutual understanding is ongoing.
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Diversity. ASNE will continue to be a major player in efforts to
improve newsroom diversity. Projects to put editors in contact with aspiring
minority applicants include job fairs and short courses on campuses with
large minority enrollments. The committee will focus on placing more minorities
in internships at small newspapers and strengthening high school journalism
programs.
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Education for Journalism. ASNE plays an important role in the accreditation
of journalism schools and supports the free-speech rights of the collegiate
press. A major project is the Institute for Journalism Excellence, which
engages college journalism teachers in an intensive seven-week program
and immerses them in newspaper operations. The John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation funds the project. The committee also will focus on censorship
of high school journalism and organize sessions during the journalism educators’
annual convention. Another objective of the committee is to communicate
concepts developed through ASNE’s Journalism Values Institute to journalism
educators.
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Ethics and Values. The committee has begun a three-year examination
of credibility/public trust, involving studies, surveys, discussions and
several conferences of newspaper leaders and others who can help editors
understand this issue. The principal goal is to determine what actions
can be taken to improve public trust in newspapers. A proposal is before
the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation to fund the project.
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Freedom of Information. The committee has developed an aggressive
action plan on a host of FOI issues confronting editors daily, including
free speech in cyberspace and at the local level. They include the "Your
Right to Know" project to focus public attention on the Freedom of Information
Act, and monitoring First Amendment issues in cyberspace, the U.S. military,
and at the local and state levels. ASNE is taking a leading role in the
continuing effort to discourage Congress from amending the Constitution
to outlaw desecration of the U.S. flag. A dialog is being maintained with
Attorney General Janet Reno regarding free speech and access to information
at the federal level. ASNE looks for relationships with other groups —
including the Associated Press Managing Editors, Society of Professional
Journalists, and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — to advance
FOI efforts.
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International. The committee responds to intrusions on press freedom
around the world and maintains a close relationship with organizations
that monitor press freedom, including the Committee to Protect Journalists
and the World Press Freedom Committee. An ASNE trip to Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland is being considered. The Freedom Forum-ASNE
International Journalism Exchange brings 10 foreign editors to the United
States each year to stimulate international understanding and to help ASNE’s
colleagues from abroad develop their skills as newsroom managers.
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Management and Human Resources. The committee will explore new ways
to improve job satisfaction on the copy desk, including a National Copy
Editors Conference in October, a videotape and a research project.
Other issues being examined by the committee include newsroom isolation
from the community, the relationship between stress and retention, the
status of women, hours and schedules, as revealed in ASNE’s "The newspaper
journalists of the ’90s" report.
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New Media. ASNE will examine partnerships between newspapers and
non-newspaper entities and explore the uncharted legal waters of online
publication.
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Nominations. A slate of candidates will be offered for the spring
1998 ASNE board of directors election. Nominees will reflect the core values
of the Society, including diversity and service to ASNE, and will represent
large and small newspapers.
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Readership Issues. The committee is developing an analysis of the
large study of readers, intended to focus on newspapers’ competitive strategies.
A readership conference in October in Chicago will dig into that research
and discuss implications and will also launch a new project: developing
case studies of four newspapers which are growing their readership.
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Small Newspapers. ASNE focuses on practical ways to help editors
of small- and medium-sized newspapers improve quality, lead and deal with
change, and move their newspapers toward excellence. One key 1997-98 project
will be to assist small newspapers in selecting new front-end pagination
systems.
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Wire Content. The committee will focus on the quality of writing
and expertise of reporting of each of the wire services, by examining in
detail the coverage of the Timothy McVeigh verdict and by reviewing all
of the a.m. cycle coverage on one particular story of the year. Also, the
committee will survey ASNE members to measure their satisfaction with the
Associated Press’ coverage of their particular state.
Other ASNE committees are developing the convention program, producing
The American Editor, promoting membership applications, and selecting winners
of the annual Writing Awards and Jesse Laventhol Prizes.
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