February 2004
Randall Yip
Freelance Producer
2003 Maynard Management Fellow
Forward thinking. That's how I would describe the Maynard Management Program at Kellogg. I completed the four-week program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in the summer of 2003.
MMK taught me to look at journalism from outside my own box. It gave me the tools to look at what we do from a reader or viewer's perspective. It offered me a better understanding of what my co-workers outside the news department face and how we can work closer together to better serve our readers. It gave me a broader understanding of how a newspaper operates and the courage and foundation to look ahead to the day I might run my own department.
Five other people went through the program with me. A city editor and bureau chief joined me along with a circulation manager and a marketing manager. The sixth participant came from both an investigative reporter and sports background, but currently directs her paper's high school journalism program.
The MMK class of 2003 came not only from diverse professional backgrounds, but also culturally. Three of my classmates were African American; a Hispanic and a Jewish person rounded out the class.
MMK encouraged me to critically examine what we as journalists do daily. It revealed disturbing trends in our industry such as the decline in readership; especially among the young, and how many news outlets fail to connect with the changing demographics of our increasingly diverse society. It looked at how our profession addressed these problems in the past and how those solutions may not be working. It challenged me to look forward to new and better ways to address our industry's problems.
MMK gave me a futuristic glance at journalism. How will the public get its news? What role will the internet play in the future? How must newspapers and television news outlets change to keep up with these developments? Will convergence be the model of the future or is it already here? What's working and what not? What skills must I develop to keep up with these emerging trends?
MMK provided a refresher course of the management, team building and communication skills I learned at AAJA's Executive Leadership Program. A friend to ELP alumni, Ron Brown, is also part of the faculty at Maynard as is former AAJA treasurer, Dickson Louie. Although some of the topics may be similar to ELP, MMK gave me a fresh perspective to some of the concepts.
As part of MMK, I also spent a week at the Management Development Program at Northwestern's Media Management Center. The six of us from MMK joined 20 media people from around the United States, Canada and Italy. We got a close up look at the studies conducted by the Readership Institute. We learned among other things, negotiation, accounting and sales skills.
Those who know me may be wondering how I got involved in what is primarily a print program. As many of you know, I've been working in television news for 22 years. I joined the program to further develop my management skills, but I also found many similarities in the issues faced by both mediums. As print, broadcast and the web further converge, I will be that much more ahead in the game. Since completing Maynard, I've also freelanced as a print journalist and am considering possibly developing a web-based business. I also continue to work in broadcast news. I likely would not be pursuing these dreams if I had not completed MMK.
The MMK program helped me clarify my goals, expand my horizons, and increase my commitment to diversity. It helped to broaden my understanding of cultures outside my own Asian American community and reinforced that we have much in common and much more progress we can make together.
MMK gave me the confidence and skills to advance my career.
I am thankful to AAJA and the New York Times for awarding me the fellowship to attend this program. I am also grateful for the support and encouragement I continue to receive from the MMK family.