In my mind the group finds itself in exactly the right place at the right time to answer the big question of what distinguishes news from other forms of information. ICA continues to be the premiere venue for communication theory, and that means JSIG is in the right place, and the timing couldn’t be better. The task facing JSIG is to come to grips with the issue of explicating news as a (very) special form of information in terms of its “meaning” or “content.”

Whose language should we employ? The answer to that question is a big issue that JSIG’s membership has to work out. In my mind it should be a multilingual dialogue, ranging across all ontological and methodological perspectives – really. But it should do so with clarity and rigor, and in a way that will not intimidate or deter participation. Further, it should be interactive. That means we are all challenged to be at least nominally conversant in the substance and style of others’ discourse.

In my mind JSIG is historically and intellectually positioned to help accomplish the feat, and provide the framework and foundation for a dialogue anyone interested in journalism desperately needs to hear right away.

John E. Newhagen, Ph.D., Vice Chair
Journalism Studies Interest Group
International Communication Association