Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute

Research Perspectives on the Future of Print Media

Who: Jim Smith, Vice President for Research and Development, Morris Publishing Group
When: 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
     Monday, November 9, 2009
Where: Fred W. Smith Forum, Room 200, RJI

Join us for a discussion with Jim Smith as he discusses the challenges to the business model of print media and the prospects for developing a sustainable model to replace it.  Smith will focus on some of the groundbreaking research being done in Morris markets by scholars at the Reynolds Journalism Institute and the business schools at the University of Missouri and Michigan State to help Morris and the newspaper industry to develop a new model.  Smith will also review the work of the Morris Innovation Team in their efforts to transform the business.

Smith began his newspaper career in 1980 as Research Manager at the Florida Sun-Sentinel and became Vice President and Director of Marketing there in 1990. In 1998 Smith joined Morris as Director of Research. Now Vice President of Research and Development, he helps lead the company’s Innovation Group, charged with reinventing the company’s business model. Smith currently serves on the NNA Research Council Board of Directors and formerly served on the INMA North American Board. He is the 2009 recipient of the NAA Research Award of Merit. Smith received an MA and PhD in Demography and Urban Planning from Cornell University and taught Sociology at the University of Miami prior to his newspaper career.

Learn more about Morris Communications at http://morriscomm.com/.