Journalism History and American Journalism Invite Applications for Microgrants to Support Research Related to Diversity and Media History

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Journalism History and American Journalism are offering a combined $4,800 in microgrant funding to encourage research relating to the intersection of diversity and media history. The microgrants are sponsored by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s History Division and the American Journalism Historians Association, respectively. Topics should incorporate any of the following or an intersection of the following with media history: race/ethnicity, gender/sexuality, class, religion, disability, mental health, and/or rural populations. Topics related to public relations and advertising diversity history are also welcome.

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Call for Nominations: Donald L. Shaw Senior Scholar Award

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Nominations are open for the AEJMC History Division’s 2025 Donald L. Shaw Senior Scholar Award. This division honor will recognize an individual for excellence in research on the history of journalism and mass communication. Nominees must have a minimum 15-year academic career and a record of division membership. To submit a nomination, please compile a single PDF file with the following items:

  • Cover letter that explains the nominee’s research contributions
  • Minimum of two letters of support
  • Nominee’s current C.V.

Self-nominations, with the accompanying supporting materials, are welcome. Nomination packets should be sent to committee chair Matthew Pressman at matthew.pressman@shu.edu. The deadline for submissions is February 15, 2025.

Award Call: Best Journalism and Mass Communication History Book

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s History Division is soliciting entries for its annual award for the best journalism and mass communication history book. The winning author will receive a plaque and a $500 prize at the August 2025 AEJMC conference in San Francisco. Attendance at the conference is encouraged as the winner will be honored at a History Division awards event. The author also will be invited to discuss the winning book during a live taping of the Journalism History podcast, which traditionally takes place during the reception.

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A headshot of Brian Creech

A Word from the Chair: November 2024

Greetings colleagues! It was so wonderful to see so many of you in Philadelphia, a city near and dear to my heart and our nation’s founding. The History Division is strong, and our research and teaching are more important than ever.

Though things have been quieter than during the conference flurry, we have been busy. Program Chair Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen has been pulling together a wonderful slate of panels; thanks to all of you who submitted ideas. The range of proposals engaged deeply with the 2025 conference host city, San Francisco. The call for 2025 will be live in the New Year, and keep an eye out for requests to review. Awards calls are coming together and we will be seeking nominees very soon. All of these activities persist thanks to the service from all of you, and perhaps the most valuable gift we can give the organization.

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2024-2025 Executive Committee

Brian Creech (Lehigh)
Division Chair

Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen (Idaho)
Vice Chair (Program Chair)

Autumn Linford (Auburn)
Second Vice Chair (Research Chair)

Jason Guthrie (Clayton State)
Professional Freedom and Responsibility Chair

Bailey Dick (Bowling Green)
Teaching Award Committee Chair

David Mindich (Temple)
Book Award Committee Chair 

Matt Pressman (Seton Hall)
Senior Scholar Committee Chair

Elisabeth Fondren (St. John’s) 
Covert Award Committee Chair

Carolina Velloso (Minnesota)
Membership Committee Chair

Maddie Liseblad (Cal State Long Beach)
Publications Committee Chair

Lisa Burns (Quinnipiac)
Mentorship Program Chair

Alexis Little (Georgia)
Graduate Student Liaison

Rachel Grant (Florida)
Immediate Past Chair

Notes from the History Division Business Meeting

Chair Rachel Grant (Florida) offered a welcome to the 35 members in attendance. Minutes from last year’s division business meeting were approved unanimously.

Leadership presented an overview of the division’s work during the past year: updating the AEJMC Community page for the division, maintaining the website minus a web administrator, continuing to expand international reach and membership, and celebrating 50 years of Journalism History, the division’s journal. There were no questions. Maddie Liseblad voiced the need for a website administrator.

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Panel Proposals for AEJMC 2025 due October 7

The History Division welcomes panel proposals for the 2025 AEJMC conference in San Francisco, Calif., August 6 – 10. The theme for next year’s event is “Leading in Times of Momentous Change: Individual and Collective Opportunities.” Panel proposals can be submitted via this link.

The History Division is one of the original divisions of AEJMC, having been established in 1966, and supports research into a variety of topics related to the journalism and mass communication industry, including but not limited to:

  • the newspaper industry (newspapers, editors, publishers, and reporters)
  • the broadcasting and cable industry (individual networks, stations, anchors, and reporters)
  • photojournalism and photography
  • advertising (advertising agencies, practitioners, campaigns)
  • public relations ( agencies, corporations, campaigns, practitioners, techniques and tactics)
  • media technologies (computerization, emerging digital technologies, and the early Internet)

Some History Division members focus on the history of media relationships with the government and other power-wielding entities, and some members focus on the histories of technologies from the printing press, the telegraph and the typewriter, to the Internet, while others focus issues of culture, power, and longstanding inequities around race. 

The History Division generally accepts and hosts or co-hosts three types of panel proposals each year: Professional Freedom & Responsibility (PF&R), Teaching, and Research. 

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A Word From the Chair: Final Reflections

The annual conference in Philadelphia was a success! I was extremely happy with the community and atmosphere of research, teaching and professional development in our sessions. Thank you to everyone who gave their time and support to the History Division. 

Rachel Grant is the outgoing chair of the Media History Division

As the outgoing chair, I have enjoyed my time serving as a leader and truly appreciate everyone. We have had a great journey this year. I appreciate your willingness and dedication to our community. I know incoming chair Brian Creech will bring new perspectives and ideas to make the division better. His insight has always been helpful to me. Also, I am proud of Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen and Autumn Linford as they step into leadership roles. We are moving in the right direction, but society’s need for the understanding history’s impact is still a concern. 

We continue to see historical moments and events unfolding with our election season. Hopefully, this election will inspire new projects, panels and collaborations for next year’s conference in San Francisco. History is meant to be chronicled and studied. I end my last chair column with the same words I wrote in the first one— “I encourage our members to explore aspects of diversity, inclusion, and equity — not only in their work but also from the framework of social justice as an everyday practice.” 

Research Q&A: Seven Questions with Matthew Ehrlich

Matthew is a professor emeritus in the College of Media at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on social and cultural history, and his most recent book is The Krebiozen Hoax: How a Mysterious Cancer Drug Shook Organized Medicine (University of Illinois Press, 2024).

  1. What is the primary focus or central question(s) of your history research?

My new book The Krebiozen Hoax focuses on an alleged cancer treatment of the 1950s and 1960s that was rejected by doctors and medical agencies but embraced by many cancer patients and people in good health. The treatment’s rise and fall took place against the backdrop of America’s never-ending suspicion of educational, scientific, and medical expertise. The book explores how people readily believe misinformation and struggle to maintain hope in the face of grave threats to well-being. 

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