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| Wednesday, August 8, 2001 CONTACT: Conrad Fink, 542-5031, cfink@arches.uga.edu WRITER: Allyson Mann, 583-0914, tiny@arches.uga.edu UGA HOSTS NEWSPAPER MANAGEMENT SEMINAR FOR COLLEGE EDITORS ATHENS, Ga. — More than 50 collegiate journalists arrived at the University of Georgia this week to study a topic not usually covered in journalism classrooms: management. Hosted by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Management Seminar for College Newspaper Editors — the only one of its kind — attracted collegiate newspaper editors from 29 states. Conrad Fink, director of UGA's James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Newspaper Management Studies, founded the MSCNE six years ago after a newly appointed student editor complained that he was ill-prepared to handle management issues. Fink, with 20 years of experience as a reporter and manager with The Associated Press, is the keynoter and lead faculty member for a seminar that offers participants — who will be editors-in-chief for collegiate student newspapers in the fall — basic instruction in management techniques. “We teach new editors how to use the resources of their newsrooms to best advantage,” he said. “The focus is on managing people, time, money and news hole.” The 54 editors who were lucky enough to get in registration closed after about 48 hours — will attend sessions through Saturday at the Grady College and the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. The classes will be led by media professionals and cover topics from market research to résumés and interviewing to conflict management. But the predominant challenge faced by student editors is managing people, said MSCNE Director Melinda Hawley. “Recruiting and retaining writers and keeping them motivated is a particularly great challenge when you don't have the resources to compensate people financially,” she said. “Students are also challenged by the responsibility of supervising their former peers. They spend the week learning from professionals and also comparing notes with each other, forming a long-lasting network that endures past graduation.” A high rate of turnover makes programs like MSCNE essential for student publications, which don't have the resources to educate a new staff each year. A large percentage of this year's attendees are from college newspapers that have sent previous editors to MSCNE, according to Fink. “The students are coming in with the same questions and problems every year,” he said. “There are some new wrinkles — new media, for example — but the issues are essentially the same.” And repeat business means that students are getting valuable management advice at MSCNE. “The word is out that this is unique, and UGA is the place to get it,” Fink said. |