Vickey L. Williams has joined the Media Management Center as director of a new initiative that will look at the staffing and development needs of media companies as they transition and grow in the digital future.

A newspaper and training veteran, Williams comes to Northwestern’s executive education and research center from running a three-year project for the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the American Press Institute.

“We are delighted that Vickey has joined us at a time when we are launching multiple new initiatives,” said Center Executive Director Michael P. Smith. “She brings very practical experience from her Learning Newsroom projects, and many success stories.”

“One of the continuing questions both old and new media companies are asking us,” said Smith, “is where will we find the talent to be successful in the future?” Williams’ new initiative will build on her Learning Newsroom project work and expand the thinking of transformative cultural change to all areas of the newspaper company, and then to other media.

She will work closely with the directors of two other Media Management Center initiatives – one on digital best practices and the other on old and new communities in a digital age – to look at the future of media companies and how they will compete in a digital environment.

Williams’ primary recent experience has been helping newspaper newsrooms change and restructure to meet the increasing demands of the marketplace. Her work resulted in the publication of the book, All Eyes Forward: How to Help Your Newsroom Get Where it Wants to Go Faster.”

In the forward to her book, she wrote: “Our industry is rife with talk about the need for transformation in order to succeed in a digital information age. We understand declining consumption and the need to consider different approaches to news, alternative delivery methods and a portfolio of products beyond the print core. But to date there has been little focus on the people factors in news organizations that must be addressed in order for such reinvention to occur with any likelihood of success.”

Williams said the Media Management Center is ideally suited to further the lessons gained to date on workforce change issues in media organizations. “It was the center’s work through the Readership Institute’s Impact Study that first signaled a burning need to find ways to help staff adapt more quickly to shifting audience needs. This is essential to both protecting the journalism and preserving the franchise. The resources, knowledge base and new directions being pursued by MMC make it the perfect site for continuing these important conversations.”

“Vickey has not only intellectually embraced the research of the Readership Institute of the Media Management Center, she has lived the research and built upon it,” said Smith. A key finding in the Readership Institute’s Impact Study was how current newspaper cultures inhibited change and growth.

Williams formerly was corporate editorial director at Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., based in Birmingham, Ala. There she worked closely with the Readership Institute to train CNHI editors, publishers and other executives on readership research findings and to develop responses to the changing needs of today’s news consumer.

Previously she held editing or reporting positions at seven daily newspapers ranging in circulation from 7,500 to more than 300,000, including The Tampa Tribune, The Oakland Tribune and The Birmingham News. Williams also has trained on a host of editorial subjects in more than 100 newsrooms and for numerous industry organizations. She is a journalism graduate of Auburn University.

Located at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, Media Management Center draws on the expertise of the two premier educational institutions in their fields -- the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the Medill School of Journalism – to develop executive education programs and address the pressing demands of media companies through research and partnerships.


Contact information:
Michael P. Smith
Executive Director
Media Management Center
m-smith3@northwestern.edu
847-467-2065

Vickey L. Williams
vickey-williams@northwestern.edu
847-467-5281

Web sites:
www.MediaManagementCenter.org
www.MediaInfoCenter.org
www.Readership.org