14- 18 March 2016, 19-23 September 2016
The seminar is intended for print media managers – new, not-so-new, and aspirants – who are willing to invest a week of their time to take a critical look at themselves and their jobs. The course will not seek to turn the print media manager into a Jack-of-all-trades but will put each participant into the shoes of his or her departmental chiefs. In other words, it will give participants the chance to learn what makes their colleagues and subordinates tick.
Case studies will be employed to demonstrate and examine the flaws and foibles of our contemporaries in this challenging business of print media publishing.
The course will provide participants with insights and practical skills to help them make direct interventions in their print media and covers the following key modules:
What are the characteristics of good leaders? Organisation versus chaos. Managing or meddling?
A brief review of today’s print media industry. The reader as customer. Circulation and Distribution. Design as a sales aid and Facing up to competition.
Ad/ed ratios. Volumes, values and discounts. Why advertise? National and local RoP. The private customer and the classified market. Golden rules to get results. Copy writing.
This module is aimed at print media managers with a non-editorial background. Some people believe that journalists are the most difficult group to handle, given their seeming preoccupation with truth, integrity, balance, fairness, ethics and standards….But are they team players? How do we ensure they make a positive contribution to a business plan? In a case study we ponder whether journalists themselves make good management material.
“A sale is not a sale until the money is in the bank.” We confront the challenges involved in creating a realistic budget, ensuring its success by regular scrutiny and analysis, and devolving some financial responsibility down to departmental levels. The important area of credit control and bad debts is also discussed.
Why do people come to work?
Recruitment and selection, Induction and Motivation. Training and Reward Structures. Grievances and Discipline and Managing the Owners.
Questions on ethics and the media have taken pole position in an increasingly more informed and transparent world. In South Africa, some analysts say the media is under siege and around the world the vibrations from the phone hacking scandal of the News of the World in London are still being felt. The protection of sources and the sanctity of off-the-record briefings have dominated debates in recent years. But there’s whole lot more …as we focus on journalism’s credibility as a source of media firms’ survival.
Last Modified: Tue, 09 Feb 2016 10:45:38 SAST