The Canadian Association of Journalists held its annual conference this week in Montreal. In recent weeks the CAJ president has made clear that the association is in the fight of its life. Membership is down to less than 1,000 from much higher historic levels. In keeping with the times, corporate support is down. But the most stark sign of challenge was the conference itself, with only about 65 registrants and fewer in attendance. (Self-promotional moment: I was one and contributed to three panels here and here and here.) The annual dinner was downgraded to a cocktail party with a cash bar. The awards evening itself attracted more, but some of those hadn't gone to the conference itself. Organizationally you cannot criticize the event. The panels had focus, plenty of content, and have made the step into a much better discussion of the digital age than last year. (Rob Curley of the Las Vegas Sun breathed great life into the event from the outset and Calgary Herald editor in chief Lorne Motley presented a very moving story of the loss in Afghanistan of journalist Michelle Lang.) As the CAJ holds its annual general meeting today, it has to wonder what it can do to revitalize the organization. In discussing this over the weekend with colleagues, they seemed to point to a need for the association to put even more between-conferences emphasis on skills training through workshops, seminars, webinars and resources. There seemed little appetite for the CAJ to spend time on advocacy, except for its fight against institutional secrecy. But these training initiatives don't come without a cost and it would be interesting to see if the craft responds, given there are other free or near-free resources emerging for the journalist in transition. Given its diminished numbers, it'll also be interesting to see if the association can rally corporate media support. About all everyone (even those with historic grievances with the association) could agree on at the conference was that something needed to be done to ensure the organization endures and sustains. CommentsLisa Lynch 05/30/2010 13:20
Agreed. As one of those who actually attended, I thought the conference was great, especially the discussions about digital transition and moving in to the future. I know that these conversations are happening at journalism schools (since I teach at one). But I have gotten a sense from many journalists that I've spoken with that in Canada, with its lack of foundation-funded journalism events, collegial conversations about the profession are far less common than in the US. So it seems doubly tragic that the CAJ was so poorly attended, at a moment when such conversations are so crucial to moving the industry forward. 05/30/2010 23:54
Hhe article's content rich variety which make us move for our mood after reading this article. surprise, here you will find what you want! Recently, I found some wedsites which commodity is colorful of fashion. Didn't go--here's why 05/31/2010 17:19
You say that the conference can't be faulted organizationally. Well, yes, it can: the awards nominees were announced so late that it was past the point of getting cheap flights. I had to search out the nominees list--there was no newsletter announcing the nominees. I received only one email promoting the conference. (Belong to any other organizations with conferences? I do, and I get multiple reminders/solicitions/announcements). All in all, dismal promotional efforts. Doesn't matter how good the conference is if you don't make the effort to actually get people interested and excited about it. Ditto 06/01/2010 09:18
I didn't go either 06/01/2010 12:10
Kirk, you seem to have fallen under the spell of those who surrounded you on the weekend. The organizers certainly can be held accountable. I've been a member of the CAJ for just under a year. In that time I have received perhaps one missive from the organization. Comments are closed. |   
I am the Ombudsman of the CBC and Executive-in-Residence as an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at University of British Columbia.
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