Monthly Archives: September 2022

Remembering Owen V. Johnson

Owen V. Johnson, associate professor emeritus at Indiana University and longtime member of the History Division, died on August 6, 2022 at the age of 76. He was an expert on World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle, as well as Russian and East European mass media and Czech and Slovak history.

In 2020, he joined the Journalism History podcast to talk about his edited collection of Pyle’s columns, At Home With Ernie Pyle.

Johnson’s friend and former colleague, professor emeritus Steven Raymer of the Indiana University Media School, delivered the eulogy at Johnson’s funeral. Here is an excerpt.

“With his intellect and humanity, Owen made the bedrock values of journalism — independence, truthfulness, accuracy, fairness to the facts, holding the powerful accountable, and building an informed citizenry — come to life in his classes, his scholarly writing, and his own journalism and broadcasting. And I might add, these same ideals were often the topic of our frequent conversations in the corridors of Ernie Pyle Hall — Owen with his coffee cup and impish smile often one step ahead of me in discussing the day’s news. I am still wresting with what Owen might have said at lunch today on the one-year anniversary of the Fall of Kabul, the Afghan capital. Surely he would have an opinion on America’s longest war, just as surely as he knew the menus from memory at our favorite pubs.

Journalism History Podcast Spotlight

Each issue, Clio highlights the latest episode of the Journalism History podcast and recommend a set of episodes from the archives. The podcasts — available on the website and through many podcast players — are excellent teaching tools, easy to add to your syllabi. Transcripts of each episode are available online.

This issue we highlight the origins of the paparazzi, celebrity journalism, and the college cover girls on Life magazine.

Summary of the 2022 History Division Business Meeting

The virtual AEJMC history division meeting in late July included a summary of the division’s activities during 2021-22, membership, leadership voting, transitions and information, and a presentation of the success of Journalism History and its affiliated activities. More details, including a review of the meeting minutes, follows below.

2021-2022 Year In Review

Cayce Myers (Virginia Tech), discussed the History Division’s year. The History Division continued a number of successful initiatives. Research initiatives: Journalism History increased reviewer pool, including more international reviewers. We also ran two research paper competitions. JJCHC was held virtually while Southeast Colloquium was in-person.

Author Q&A: Debra Reddin van Tuyll, Politics, Culture and the Irish American Press

Politics, Culture and the Irish American Press, 1784- 1963, eds. Debra Reddin van Tuyll, Mark O’Brien, and Marcel Broersma (Syracuse University Press, 2021)

Describe the focus of your book.

This book examines the history of the Irish American press from the Early National period to the Kennedy presidency. We look at individual journalists who created the Irish American press, the journalists that constituted it, and, most importantly, the transnational nature of that particular press genre.

How did you come across this subject? Why did it interest you?

Editors Debra Reddin van Tuyll and Mark O’Brien met a decade or more ago at the annual meeting of the Newspapers and Periodicals History Forum of Ireland. During the conference, they began a discussion of how similarly, yet how differently, historians from different parts of the world told the stories of the Irish and the Irish diaspora presses and also how, together, they all seemed to constitute on continuous story. Or maybe a story on a continuum is more accurate. Van Tuyll and O’Brien believed they had an insight into a useful new way to frame journalism history stories, to both deepen and broaden understanding of how a diaspora press is connected to its home and vice versa. They thought this idea might be worth exploring with other historians in a couple of academic gatherings, though they didn’t have a name for it initially.

Member Spotlight: Kathryn J. McGarr

Where do you work?

University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Where did you get your Ph.D.?

Princeton University

What’s your current favorite class?

History of U.S. Media. We analyze a primary source together in every lecture, and I love puzzling through sources with students seeing them for the first time.

Lisa Burns Is New Mentorship Coordinator, Sign-Up Deadline Approaching

Dr. Lisa Burns (Quinnipiac) is in charge of the 2022-23 History Division mentorship program.

Dr. Lisa Burns (Quinnipiac) is taking over the History Division’s mentorship program. This marks the fourth year of this highly successful program that was started by Dr. Erika Pribanic-Smith.

If you haven’t signed up yet, there’s still time. The division is looking for both mentors and mentees. Prior participants have found their relationship highly beneficial, and many have chosen to continue informally after their year has ended. The sign-up deadline is Sept. 18 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. Apply now at https://forms.gle/CczeAi1cpWZ3Y37m9.

Pairings will be notified via email by early October. The partnerships officially last through August 2023. For questions about the program, please email Lisa Burns at Lisa.Burns@quinnipiac.edu.

A Word From the Chair: People, Goals, and Other Important News

Dr. Maddie Liseblad, History Division Chair

While I write this, I am still reflecting on how great the Detroit conference was. Most of all, I enjoyed seeing people in person again. There’s a certain positive energy that happens when we get together. Our gala event was terrific and so were the research paper and panel sessions. That feeling of “too many great sessions and not enough time to be at them all” was back. There were COVID concerns, but we were masked and together again. That was the best part – being together.

As I begin my year as chair of the History Division, I have been thinking about my personal experiences with this division. And the one thing I keep coming back to is its people. The past chairs have been terrific, and I have big shoes to fill. The executive team puts in countless hours behind the scenes, working for everyone’s benefit. The general membership steps up to help when needed. That is especially evident when we do the call for reviewers each year.

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