By Todd Chambers, Texas Tech University | Media Management and Economics
Wow. Have you heard the news? Television is making a comeback! From viewers spending more time in front of their new HDTVs (Stelter, 2010) to double-digit increases in spot television advertising revenues (Elliott, 2010), it appears that the good ole’ days are back. Despite these positive indicators for an important cog in the media wheel, significant challenges remain for an industry struggling to stay relevant to younger media consumers. It’s within these challenges where new theoretical and applied research studies can inform the next generation of media management and economics teachers and scholars.
In addition to the implications of policy and regulatory issues, the adoption of digital television by the industry and the consumer has provided numerous opportunities to think through some of the research opportunities in management and economics. Just on the consumption side, media managers are constantly trying to justify ‘new’ strategies for new ‘revenue streams’ from an active audience that is using multiple media concurrently. From applied studies related to managing multiple media platforms to theoretical studies about competition in local television markets, the digital era provides unique prospects for scholarship. [Read more...]

Social Media and Copy Editing
By Yanick Rice Lamb, Howard University, Associate Professor/Sequence Coordinator, @yrlamb
Students use social media in their daily lives, but they don’t always think about using those skills as journalists. We are revamping how we teach Copy Editing to place a greater emphasis on Interactive Editing for newspapers, magazines and the Internet in print, on the Internet and on mobile devices. Social media is also a key part of the curriculum. However, we stress the importance of solid reporting, sound editing and high journalistic standards so that students don’t focus on speed, bells and whistles at the expense of quality.
[Read more...]