It’s payback time

The year was 1989. Reagan had just ended his term as office and I was an undergraduate searching for a topic for my senior honors thesis. As editor of my college newspaper at Millikin University, I was interested in researching media ethics at college newspapers. After discovering the existence of College Media Review (actually College Press Review, before the name change) and finding several valuable ethics articles in the journal, I was on my way.

In the nearly quarter-century since that time, CMR has continued to be a valuable asset to me, providing useful tips for media advising, more helpful articles for research and a publishing venue for some of that research. Like many of you, I’ve been very grateful for the journal and all of the other support provided by College Media Association.

Apparently, it’s payback time. Robert Bohler has decided to step down as CMR Editor after more than six years of outstanding service. When CMA President David Swartzlander offered me the position, I was filled with mixed thoughts: I was humbled to be asked, leery of the time commitment, excited about the possibilities and honored to have the opportunity to continue the fine work of my predecessors, including Bohler, Pat Parish and my Missouri Western colleague, Ken Rosenauer. But integral to the decision to accept the offer was also a sense of obligation and responsibility, a desire to pay back a publication and organization that has given me much over the past 20-plus years.

My hope is that you, the readers and CMA members, have likewise benefitted and share that desire to give back to the journal. I hope that you will indeed give back, in the form of submissions. Do you have a great teaching idea or lesson?  Write it up and send it in. Have you read a great (or terrible!) textbook or online resource that your fellow advisers could benefit from knowing about? Draft a review and submit it to the journal. Have you recently conducted historical, qualitative or quantitative research that relates to college media advising? Submit your results to College Media Review.  Together, let’s work to continue the legacy of providing a valuable resource for current and future members of CMA.

Sincerely,
Dr. Robert Bergland