Journalists and Journalism Educators Discuss Issues of Change in Media Organizationsr
In a workshop in Concepción in May, faculty from the Catholic University of Chile and the University of Georgia encouraged 30 Chilean journalists and journalism educators to accept and even embrace change.
Change in media organizations today is inevitable, the Chilean and U.S. educators said. They provided tips on how to manage change, how to develop leadership in organizations that is creative and facilitative, and how to manage conflict.
The three-day workshop was sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Press in the School of Journalism at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the Cox Center. It was held at the El Sur newspaper in Concepción and attended by journalists at that paper, its sister paper, Crónica, Diario el Centro in Talca, and faculty members at four different universities in the region.
Dr. Melinda Hawley, director of public service and outreach at the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, and Dr. C. Ann Hollifield, a professor in the Department of Telecommunications in the Grady College, participated in the workshop.
The Catholic University in Chile was represented by Prof. Bernadita Grove, formerly in the School of Management and now involved in university outreach programs, and Prof. Paulina Gomez from the School of Communication. Prof. Eduardo Arriagada, head of the Center for the Study of the Press at the Catholic University, and Dr. Lee B. Becker, director of the Cox Center, also participated in the program, which ran from May 10 to 12. Prof. Eduardo Arriagada, head of the Center for the Study of the Press at the Catholic University, and Dr. Lee B. Becker, director of the Cox Center, also participated in the program, which ran from May 10 to 12. The workshop sessions covered managing newsroom conflict, time management, techniques for motivating journalists, recruiting and retaining journalists, teamwork, and leadership.
Tips offered the workshop participants included:
On conflict Hawley said: "Don't take positions in conflicts...Put yourself in others' places to understand where they are coming from...Separate the person from the problem...Look at individual interests...Find mutual interests and maximize areas of mutual interest."
On time management Hawley advised: "Handle paper that crosses your desk only once."
On creativity, Hollifield advised: "The biggest barriers to being creative are those we put up ourselves that really don't exist...We often ask, 'What does it cost you to be creative?' We should ask, 'What does it cost you not to be creative?' In a competitive world, we cannot afford not to be creative."
On personnel management, Hollifield said: "The key to motivation is knowing that every human being is differently motivated. You have to motivate them where they are, not where you are."
On teamwork, Grove observed: "We are programmed to work individually from grade school. We worked for our own marks. In university it is the same. But it is also true we need each other. Even driving down the street requires cooperation of all the drivers."
On leadership, Gomez noted: "The legitimacy of a leader is in her or his followers. She or he grows with them. The productivity of the group is based on the talents of the group, not only on the talents of the leader."
On the future of the industry, Arriagada argued: "The future will involve more and more competition. This will make it more and more difficult to make a profit...The media that see themselves as a business persist over time. Others do not."
In the closing comments for the sessions Cox Center Director Becker thanked Rafael Maira, director of El Sur, for hosting the joint Catholic University-University of Georgia workshop. He also praised the work of Prof. Arriagada and his assistant, Paulina Bakovic.
"This has been a wonderful, equal collaboration between our two universities," Dr. Becker said.
Prior to the workshop in Concepción, Becker and Hollifield met with Arriagada and other faculty at the Catholic University to discuss areas of future cooperation. Included were discussions of faculty and student exchange and collaboration on research projects. Dr. Maria Soledad Puente, director of School of Journalism at the Catholic University, organized that session.
Becker and Arriagada also discussed the possibility of future collaboration on journalism training workshops.
Dr. Hawley, who participated in an earlier workshop of the Cox Center in Latvia, is associate director of the James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Newspaper Management Studies, a sister organization to the Cox Center in the College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
Dr. Hollifield is coordinator of the Michael J. Faherty Broadcast Management Laboratory in the Department of Telecommunications in the College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
