The History Division invites submissions of original research papers and extended abstracts on all aspects of media history for the AEJMC 2024 conference in Philadelphia. All research methodologies are welcome.
Continue readingAuthor Archives: Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen
Andie Tucher Named 2023 Best Podcast Guest
Andie Tucher of Columbia University is the winner of the 2023 Best Podcast Guest Award from Journalism History.
Tucher is the guest of “Episode 121: The Colonial Press,” which was released in February 2023. It was the top-rated episode of that year, drawing over 500 downloads.
“I’ve been so pleased to see that ever since I began working on the history and meaning of fake news I seem to have become much more interesting wherever I go,” Tucher said. “And I’m so grateful to the Journalism History podcast and to the great interviewer Teri Finneman for the opportunity to share my thoughts and insights with this even more interesting community of journalism history scholars. I appreciate how seriously you all have taken fake news and fake journalism, and I thank you for this honor!”
Continue readingAward Call: Covert Award in Mass Communication History, Entries Due March 31
AEJMC’s History Division announces the 40th annual competition for the Covert Award in Mass Communication History for entries published in 2023.
The Covert Award recognizes the author of the best mass communication history article or essay published in the previous year. Book chapters in edited collections published in the previous year are also eligible. The AEJMC History Division has presented the award annually since 1985.
Continue readingAward Call: Donald L. Shaw Senior Scholar Award, Entries Due March 1
Nominations are open for the AEJMC History Division’s 2024 Donald L. Shaw Senior Scholar Award. This division honor will recognize an individual for excellence in journalism history research who has a minimum 15-year academic career and a record of division membership. To apply, the nomination packet should include these items:
· Cover letter that explains the nominee’s research contributions to journalism history
· CV
· Brief biography
· Minimum of two letters of support
Self-nominations, with the accompanying supporting materials, are welcome. Letters may be addressed to Committee Chair Amber Roessner.
If you have been nominated in the past two years, you do not need to reapply since your nomination remains in the pool. Email nominations to aejmchistory@gmail.com by 11:59 p.m. Central Time March 1, 2024.
Award Call: Best Journalism and Mass Communication History Book, Entries Due February 1
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 2024 AEJMC conference in Philadelphia. 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.
Continue readingA Word From the Chair: Shaping Archival Historical Truths
As historians, much of our work and contributions to academia are focused on our use of archives. We rely on archives to find evidence of forgotten pasts, strengthen our understandings of identity, and enhance our theoretical frameworks. Archival research has the power to connect more people to our wider collective memory while broadly reimagining history for the current times.
Despite the vital importance of archives as historical chronicles and resources, the truths they house are being erased for the sake of politics. Recent attacks on the education system deeply affect how we teach and for underrepresented individuals, affecting how they exist on campuses in a climate that often denies their identity and presence. Because we study history, we have seen this happen time and time again, and we know the consequences of these decisions.
Continue readingMember Q&A: April Newton
What is your current position(s)? Assistant Teaching Faculty, Loyola University Maryland, and PhD candidate at University of Maryland.
What is your favorite class to teach? I have a couple of favorites but first and foremost is Media Ethics which I teach as a seminar course with a focus on exploring mass communication practices and ethics through a DEIJ lens. It is open to any student and a surprising number of students who are not Communications majors sign up every semester. As a result, the conversations are very dynamic and the energy in the room is always palpable. Students say it was a class where they learned a lot and felt involved in their learning process, and I always end up learning something new.
What is your current research project? My current research project is finishing my dissertation, an exploration of the experiences U.S.-based women journalists have with sexual harassment and sexual assault through their work, and their advice, given their personal exprience, to develop best practices for all journalists reporting on stories involving accusations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Fun fact about yourself? I can cook and it is one of my very favorite things to do. If I had to quit academia tomorrow and pick something new, I would cook like I was living a real life “The Bear,” making chaos menus for days.
Member News: Will Mari
Will Mari (LSU) won the Dr. Dimitrije Pivnick Award in Neuro and Psychiatric History, and with it conducted archival research at McGill University’s Osler Library of the History of Medicine, in July 2023. While there, he was also an invited visiting researcher at the Département de communication at the Université de Montréal.
A Word from the Chair: The Necessity of DEI in the Classroom and Beyond
Discussions about the state of mass media and U.S. history are continually contested — socially and politically. This often results in the removal of marginalized and disenfranchised communities from history, continuing the legacy of inequality that those historically oppressed groups know all too well.
As a Black woman in higher education, I am continually reminded of the erasure of my multiple identities, but I also think of my ancestors’ struggle. That public erasure, while difficult, gives me a greater appreciation of how my family’s everyday lives connect to key moments in Black history. Therefore, I truly believe I am Black History.
Understanding the depths of colorism and white supremacy within Alabama, upon his white father’s death, my great-great-grandfather fled for his life to Parkdale, Arkansas to escape from his white relatives.
Later in Little Rock, Arkansas, my great-grandmother worked as a maid in the state Capitol building.
Continue readingMember Q&A: Matt Cikovic
What is your current position and favorite class taught: I am a brand new teaching assistant professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication. It’s only my first semester here but my favorite class to teach so far has been multimedia storytelling. For some it’s their first experience making any sort of media in the journalistic form and it’s really gratifying to watch them grow in their confidence and capability.
What is your favorite journalism history scholarship that you’ve worked on so far: I got an article published during my Ph.D. that looked at the collective memory around the reporting of Fred Rogers’ famous congressional testimony to John Pastore in 1969. Examining how the current collective memory of the event grew out of the contemporary reporting of the time (and getting my first experience requesting and utilizing archival material) was a ton of fun!
Do you have any interesting projects in the pipeline: I’ve begun the arduous process of trying to prepare my recently defended dissertation for further publishing, hopefully as a book.
Fun fact about yourself: I got my start in media production (which ultimately led me here) making stop-motion LEGO short films as a kid.