An internationally renowned media economist will visit NIU today and Tuesday to speak with students about managing media companies.

Robert Picard is the senior manager of the Media Group Business, Research and Development Center at the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration in Finland.

He has devoted his life to researching media markets and advising companies and managers about how they operate their businesses.

“I thought it would be a really great opportunity if we could get him here to speak to my graduate and undergraduate classes,” said communication professor Angela Powers, the host for Picard’s visit. “He’s been very prominent in the field, so I kept track of his work and have [frequently] cited him.”

Students will learn about Picard’s visions for mass communication at four presentations. Today’s topics include the future of media convergence at 11 a.m. and the effectiveness of interactive advertising at 6 p.m. Both events are at DuSable Hall, Room 148.

On Tuesday, Picard will repeat his advertising presentation at 11 a.m. before discussing global copyright issues at 6 p.m. at DuSable hall, Room 176.

Picard works for one of the largest media economics research centers in Europe. The group does extensive analysis of markets for a variety of clients.

“They’ll go into a country like China, that is trying to better develop its media, and they’ll analyze what’s happening with newspaper media versus broadcast media,” Powers said. “They’ll do a structural analysis.”

Picard’s research isn’t always about broad market data, though.

“He’s worked in the newspaper business,” Powers said. “He is interested in quality issues, so he might look at the impact media economics has on the quality of a product.”

All students and faculty have been invited to see Picard’s lectures. Powers hopes that many people will take the opportunity to hear from the world-traveling business analyst.

Aside from the research he does for specific businesses, Picard also has written or edited 16 books and is the founding editor of The Journal of Media Economics.