Lauterer brings community journalism expertise to NNA

The National Newspaper Association (NNA) named University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Jock Lauterer its point person on community journalism for the trade association’s nationwide membership primarily of non-daily newspapers.

Lauterer teaches community journalism and photojournalism at the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where he directs the Carolina Community Media Project, the school’s outreach program to 192 small North Carolina newspapers.

“I’m delighted to be a part of the NNA,” said Lauterer. “I believe so strongly in the fundamental importance of great newspapers and their Web sites because they play a critical role in the promotion and maintenance of civic life and high livability in a free democratic society.”

The NNA is the nation’s oldest and largest newspaper organization. Its mission is to protect, promote and enhance America's community newspapers through government relation programs, business and educational programs, and its national publication for community newspapers.

Lauterer will specialize in community journalism newsroom issues, complementing the NNA’s specialists in postal service, public policy and legal issues. “Jock has a real cache and expertise in the newsroom,” said Brian Steffens, executive director of the NNA. “He will be a great ambassador and resource for the NNA and its members.”

Each summer, Lauterer conducts free, on-site journalism workshops at newspaper offices across the state. His “community journalism roadshow” has visited more than 120 newspapers during the last seven summers. Lauterer records his travels in the Blue Highways Journal blog at weblogs.jomc.unc.edu:16080/bluehighways/.

UNC selected Lauterer for its first class of Faculty Engaged Scholars, an initiative that recognizes and encourages scholarship that strengthens community relationships and contributes to the common good.

Lauterer is the 2005 recipient of the Robert E. Bryan Public Service Award and the 2004 winner of the Edward Vick Prize for Innovation in Teaching. He was awarded the faculty fellowship at National Geographic magazine in 1998.

For information about the NNA, visit www.nna.org.