Developing the ability to find the stories in the data is the key to a successful career in media industry research. That was the message Dr. Jim Smith, Vice President of Research and Development for Morris Publishing Group, shared with the seven graduate students in the Grady College’s new Certificate Program in Media Industry Research.

Dr. Smith visited the Grady College for three days as part of the Department of Journalism’s Professional in Residence program. During his stay, he met with Certificate Program students and faculty during a luncheon marking the first official gathering of participants in the new graduate program. Dr. Smith, who is responsible for strategic research, product development and market selection for Morris newspapers, said that the ability to understand the meaning of research and translate that into strategic business decisions is not something everyone can do. “It’s a talent,” he said.

He added that the responsibilities of research professionals are expanding in the media industry as the result on increased competition and new technological developments. While his department conducts readership and market research for Morris Publishing as might be expected, it also is responsible for new product development, market analysis, and analyzing the performance of the company’s individual subsidiaries.

During his visit to Grady, Dr. Smith also spoke at the Grady College Graduate Research Colloquium. His presentation focused on how Morris Publishing has used research to develop new products and markets. He also met with the graduate seminar in Media Management (JRMC 8200) to discuss the strategic issues facing the newspaper industry as the result of new technologies and increased competition. In his visit with the Introduction to Telecommunications Programming and Management course (Tele3310), Dr. Smith told the undergraduate students in the course that his company no longer looks to hire newspaper journalists or broadcast journalists. “We want to hire multimedia journalists,” he said.

In response to his explanation of how Morris is incorporating video and audio into its online news sites, Dr. Hollifield said, “I wouldn’t have thought even five years ago that I’d be telling our telecommunications students to look for video news and production jobs in newspapers when they graduate.”

Dr. Smith was the first guest speaker in the Grady College’s graduate Media Industry Research Certificate Program this academic year. The Certificate Program, which was officially approved by the University of Georgia last spring, is designed to prepare people to work in the fast-growing field of audience and marketing research for media, advertising and public relations companies. The certificate is designed to prepare people for jobs such as Research Analyst, Research Director, and Director of Sales Research.

Although the program is officially being launched this year, a group of currently enrolled graduate students have been taking the courses required for the Certificate in anticipation of the University’s official approval of the program. The first group of those students is expected to complete the program and earn their Certificates in spring 2008.

Graduate students interested in careers in audience and marketing research can earn a masters or Ph.D. in any one of the Grady College’s graduate programs in Telecommunications, Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations or Mass Media Studies, and combine that with a Certificate in Media Industry Research. For more information on the Certificate program, go to: http://www.grady.uga.edu/Faherty/ or http://www.grady.uga.edu/ under “Graduate Studies” “Masters of Arts Degree.”