Department appoints UKís first chair in digital journalism

By UK Journalism

The Journalism department and Johnston Press plc have appointed Professor Jane Singer as the Johnston Press Chair in Digital Journalism.

Jane, an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa, will play a pivotal role in enabling the UCLan/JP collaboration to exploit the benefits of new and emerging digital technology.

Fundamental change

Commenting on her appointment Jane said: "I'm very excited to have the opportunity to work with the University of Central Lancashire and Johnston Press to explore how newspapers, and the people who rely on them, can benefit from the ongoing shift to a world of digital information. This is a period of fundamental change for the news media, so there are lots of possibilities!"

Janeís research into digital journalism has been published widely, including analysis of newsroom convergence, journalist bloggers and online newspaper coverage of U.S. elections. She is on the editorial board of a number of influential academic journals and is associate editor of Convergence: The Journal of Research into New Media Technologies.

At Iowa, she teaches conceptual and hands-on classes in online media, as well as undergraduate courses in editing, journalism ethics and political coverage, and graduate courses in communication technology and theory.

Janeís professional experience included 10 years in the editorial department of what evolved into the Prodigy interactive service. She was Prodigy's first news manager, in charge of one of the first around-the-clock news products ever to be delivered to Americans' homes through a computer. She also has five years experience as a reporter and editor at three daily newspapers in the eastern United States.

Tim Bowdler, Chief Executive of Johnston Press (JP) said: "We are delighted to welcome Jane Singer to the Johnston Press Chair in Digital Journalism. We look forward to working with her in the essential task of exploring, developing and implementing new digital forms of factual content creation, production and dissemination."

Growing relationship

The appointment marks another step in the growing relationship between JP and the department who advised and supported JP in the development of their multi-media newsroom at the Lancashire Evening Post in Preston this year. Following the success of this pilot, JP is now rolling out digital newsrooms across the group, again with dedicated support from the journalism department.

Head of Department Mike Ward said: ìJaneís appointment is a significant development. The digital future holds many uncertainties for journalists and the news industry. To address these, we need to be guided by rigorous research and analysis, not simply gut instinct and anecdotal evidence. Johnston Press is to be commended for its commitment and far-sightedness in making this investment. We are excited by Janeís arrival and our future collaboration in this critically important area.î

The Chair's work will be supported by the development of a Digital Media Centre at UCLan. This £1.2 million facility will undertake cutting-edge applied research, examining digital applications such as the development of user-generated content. An announcement on the funding for the Centre is imminent.

Research will also inform curriculum development and teaching across postgraduate and undergraduate courses in the department, one of the largest and longest-established journalism schools in the UK.

More info
BA (Hons) Digital Journalism Production
Johnston Press Plc

Related news
Department's digital collaboration with Johnston Press

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