Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is partnering with the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association (SNPA) to provide senior newspaper managers with tools to improve their company’s performance.
From May 20-22, as many as 40 senior newspaper managers will attend the Carmage Walls Leadership Forum at UGA’s Georgia Center for Continuing Education. After three years in other locales, the conference is moving to Athens.
“The Leadership Forum is a key program for SNPA,” said SNPA executive director Edward VanHorn. “It is designed specifically for high-level discussions on the essentials of publishing small town newspapers. Our goal is to provide publishers with resources that will strengthen their businesses, prepare them to meet the demands of technology, and develop the acumen to publish quality newspapers for readers and advertisers.”
E. Culpepper Clark, dean of the Grady College, said “The Grady College is pleased to host the Carmage Walls Leadership Forum. Partnering with SNPA strengthens the outreach arm of the college at a time when we all must do more to see newspapers through some very challenging times.”
The forum will be presented by John F. Greenman and Diane H. Murray. Greenman joined the Grady College in 2004 as the first Carolyn McKenzie and Don E. Carter Professor of Journalism and Murray is director of public service and outreach.
The conference will focus on strategy, organization and leadership.
“The approach is both why and how,” Greenman said. “The why is that the newspaper business model is under severe pressure. The model has been under pressure before and adapted. Indeed, the model is adapting now. Senior managers must manage these adaptations in their markets. The how is a set of tools that will help senior newspaper managers adapt: strategy tools to help senior managers figure out what they need to accomplish and to develop a plan; organization tools to help senior managers align their companies around the plan – and execute; and leadership tools and personal actions senior managers must take to become stronger leaders.”
“The tools are drawn from best-practice research that has already been applied successfully at smaller newspaper companies,” Murray said. “Each tool will be introduced in the context of a smaller-newspaper specific exercise. And, each exercise can be ‘taken home’ for use with key lieutenants.”
Greenman has been teaching management to aspiring and mid-level managers for 20 years, primarily at the American Press Institute and the Maynard Media Academy at Harvard and Northwestern universities.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to bring this work to senior managers,” Greenman said. “Diane and I are thrilled to be partnering with SNPA and its Carmage Walls Smaller Newspaper Initiative to do this.”
This is the most recent collaboration between Greenman and Murray. Since 2005 they’ve partnered with the Cox Institute for Newspaper Management Studies and the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism to produce three Specialized Reporting Conferences that have trained more than 100 journalists.
SNPA, a regional association of daily newspapers, was founded in 1903. Its 400 member newspapers are located primarily in 14 Southeastern states and the District of Columbia. The association is headquartered in Atlanta.
Established in 1915, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication offers seven undergraduate majors including advertising, broadcast news, magazines, newspapers, public relations, publication management and telecommunication arts. The college offers two graduate degrees, and is home to the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism and the Peabody Awards, internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. For more information, visit www.grady.uga.edu.