Professor Muller and Canadian Record editor discuss small papers, new media

Journalism professor Judy Muller and editor of The Canadian Record Laurie Ezzell Brown discussed Muller’s book “Emus Loose in Egnar: Big Stories from Small Towns” at the Sept. 13 Journalism Director’s Forum. Muller talked about how small-town newspapers are thriving while the bigger, daily papers are struggling. “The small papers are doing what the big papers are not talking about. They have been doing hyper-local for decades,” said Muller, who teaches broadcast journalism. “They have got an audience that can’t get that news anywhere else.” Brown, who is from Canadian, Texas, addressed the challenge of becoming a journalist who knows more than how to write and can take pictures, record audio and edit video. “We are trying to figure out how to have four hands instead of two,” Brown said about the advent of the multimedia journalist. Brown also had some advice for students applying for jobs: Do research on the company you are applying to work for and watch what you post on Twitter and Facebook because recruiters look at social media sites to screen job candidates. The next Journalism Director's Forum is with Evelyn Larrubia, associate editor of the Los Angeles Daily Journal on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 12 p.m.