Journalism Needs a Lot More Rockwell and a Little Less Watergate, Thomson Newspapers Executive Says.

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 1999--

Head of Thomson j-school program addresses

state of newspaper journalism

It seems that nobody wants to be the Norman Rockwell small-town editor anymore. Instead, j-school graduates hunger to become the next Woodward or Bernstein, a top Thomson Newspapers executive told members of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Saturday.

Along with competition from metro papers for the low ratio of journalism grads seeking careers in print, that trend makes recruitment the biggest challenge community editors face, Jim Jennings says. A guest speaker at the AEJMC's 1999 Winter Meeting in Memphis, Tenn., Jennings, vice president and editorial director for Thomson Newspapers, says that community newspapers need trained journalists with an eye focused on the needs of their readers. He knows the necessity first hand, because newspapers serving small- and medium-sized markets comprise most of Thomson Newspapers' portfolio of dailies.

"At Thomson, we decided to tackle the problem by formalizing what we've always done" and that's train reporters to write for their readers," says Jennings, who heads up Thomson's Reader inc. Editorial Training Center. The company's 19-week training program encompasses 12 weeks of instruction at the Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based training center, with a practical component at Thomson's eight daily newspapers in Wisconsin, and seven weeks of online training through the American Press Institute. Trainees are recruited from communities Thomson serves, they're paid to attend the course, and, upon successful completion, they're placed in the newsrooms of their hometown newspapers.

"Editors often retrain reporters fresh from j-school in the basic skills of the trade, such as grammar, sentence structure, research techniques and statistical analysis. And they do that knowing that the reporters often aren't committed to their communities. These transient reporters will leave for larger newspapers as soon as their clips will allow," says Jennings. "Enter Reader inc. It provides real-world training from the top down, with the goal of producing journalists who care passionately about their communities and the readers they serve."

During his speech to about 100 mostly senior administrators of departments or schools of journalism from around the country, Jennings let the numbers do the talking with regard to Reader inc.:

-- J-schools strive to create a 16:1 student/teacher ratio but often accept 20:1. By rotating working journalists through the Reader inc. Editorial Training Center as guest speakers and instructors, Thomson offers a 4:1 or 5:1 student/teacher ratio.

-- J-schools work hard to put two or three guest speakers in front of their students for each course. Reader inc. averages four or five each week.

-- In 19 weeks' time, Reader inc. students will have covered the fundamentals of a college journalism program. During their intensive program, trainees learn about all aspects of the newspaper industry, including the digital and print environments, readership issues, the basics of reporting, editorial ethics, credibility issues, media law, advertising and circulation.

Before the first group of Reader inc. Editorial Training Center reporter-trainees returned to their hometowns last month, leading newspaper companies, organizations and individual publications were already contacting Thomson Newspapers to inquire about the program. To date, these include Cox Newspapers, Freedom Forum, Freedom Newspapers, Kentucky Press Association, Lee Enterprises, a.m. (Mexico City newspaper), Royal Gazette, Bermuda, and various Gannett newspapers.

The journalism school is part of Thomson Newspapers' company-wide Reader inc. program, which is designed to generate long-term readership growth through community-focused journalism aligned with the interest of readers. Reader inc. includes a comprehensive training effort that will reach all Thomson circulators, journalists and publishers over the next two years. The company will spend $1.2 million on Reader inc. training this year from a total training budget of $3.8 million.

Thomson Newspapers is a marketing and communications company serving 21 regional and national markets in the United States and Canada. From newspapers to syndicated niche publications to new media, Thomson Newspapers meets its customers' needs through a broad spectrum of print and electronic products and services. The company publishes 55 daily newspapers and numerous non-daily newspapers, specialty and advertising publications.

Thomson Newspapers is one of the main operating units of The Thomson Corporation, which is one of the world's leading information companies, with interests in specialized information worldwide and in newspaper publishing in North America. TTC has annual revenues of more than $6 billion US. The corporation's common shares are traded on the Toronto and London Stock Exchanges. For more information, visit The Thomson Corporation's Internet address at www.thomson.com.

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is an international association of more than 3,300 journalism/mass communication faculty, students, administrators and professionals. AEJMC's members come from more than 28 countries, with the majority working in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1912, AEJMC is the oldest and largest association of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. For more information, visit the Web site at www.facsnet.org/AEJMC.