Author Archives: Kathryn McGarr

Journalism History Podcast Spotlight

The Bennett banner : bulletin of Bennett College for Women. (Greensboro, N.C.) 193?-current, May 28, 1968, Image 1 · North Carolina Newspapers — Image from the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

Each month, Clio will highlight 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.

In the latest episode, researcher Sheryl Kennedy Haydel explains how the journalists of the student-run Bennett Banner used their paper to rally their peers at Bennett College, a historically Black college for women, from the 1930s through the ’50s.

This month’s focus is on Black history, with episodes that span the 19th and 20th centuries and cover journalism and public relations topics.

Episode 93: Journalism and Jim Crow Historian Kathy Roberts Forde discusses her co-edited book, Journalism and Jim Crow: White Supremacy and the Black Struggle for a New America. The book examines the role that journalism played in creating and maintaining Jim Crow oppression that included support for lynching, segregation, forced labor, voter suppression, and a racist criminal justice system.

Episode 72: The Black Press and the Fight for Racial Justice Historian Fred Carroll talks about the evolution of African American newspapers after the commercial and alternative Black press began to cross over in the 1920s. He argues the Black press played two important roles: It presented Black life as it’s lived, and, at the same time, protested racial wrongs.

Episode 30: Black Celebrity Journalism Historian Carrie Teresa explores the meaning of celebrity as expressed by Black journalists writing against the backdrop of Jim Crow era segregation. She covers the topic of Black celebrity journalism in greater detail in her book, Looking at the Stars: Black Celebrity Journalism in Jim Crow America.

Episode 21: Hidden Figures in PR History Public relations professor Denise Hill discusses the African-American public relations practitioners long overshadowed by their white counterparts in history books. Hill explores the PR strategies of Ida B. Wells’ anti-lynching campaign, and also highlights the work of several PR pioneers. These include the stories of Henry Lee Moon, director of public relations for the NAACP; Moss Kendrix, a public relations specialist who helped convince companies to stop using advertising stereotypes such as Aunt Jemima; and Inez Kaiser, who started the first African-American female-owned public relations firm in the country.

Rethinking the Textbook

This is the first in a series of teaching columns by 2021–2022 History Division teaching committee chair Ken Ward.

The pandemic has taught us that much of what we thought was sacrosanct in the classroom is actually far more flexible than imagined. A risk is that as we (eventually) move beyond the pandemic, we also leave behind this important lesson.

Instead, let’s press forward with it in mind. Today’s student, who has grown up in a world very differently mediated than when we were younger, interacts with media differently than we do. As a result, we may need to rethink how we’re doing things, not just online but also in the face-to-face classroom.

For my part, I’m rethinking textbooks, at least as the primary out-of-class resource assigned to students.

I know from conversations with many of you who are watching students struggle to connect with readings, particularly textbooks, in a way they didn’t in years past. This has been true in my media history course. My students are reading, but they hate it, and they struggle to sort the trivial from the critical.

Some of this definitely falls on me as an educator—teaching that kind of critical thinking is a big part of my job as an educator. But I’ve talked to enough colleagues who I know are excellent educators who say students are struggling with textbooks in a new way.

I don’t think we should be surprised. The decline of dead-tree media and ubiquity of digital tech drives today’s students to interact with material differently—not better or worse, mind you. Differently.

My classroom in this very rural corner of Kansas is likely very different from yours. But in many ways, our classrooms are the same, filled with digital natives who consume nearly all content through phones and laptops and who do not like textbooks. They read it, but they cannot connect with it in the way they can other media.

In that vein, this semester I’ve joined those educators who are deemphasizing traditional textbooks in favor of other means of information delivery. By far the alternative I utilize the most is the History Division’s own podcast (although I try to avoid assigning the episodes I host—those poor students have to listen to me enough). Every textbook reading comes with an accompanying podcast episode to contextualize what they’ve read.

In a history course, this can be further supplemented by videos on YouTube posted by folks like the Sacramento History Museum, videos demonstrating past media technologies which simply must be seen to be appreciated as revolutionary, such as the Linotype. On the page, even with illustrations, these technological leaps too easily seem quaint. Video can bring them to life.

Is all of this working? Who can tell for sure, but test scores are encouraging, and classroom discussions clearly show podcast episodes improve retention and deepen understanding. And the big themes of the course are clearly sticking in the minds of students.

As a result, the textbook is moving into the back seat for me. It’s not going away, as I think the formal structure of a book helps students sort and make connections among concepts. But if students are connecting better with other forms of media like podcasts, it doesn’t make sense for textbooks to be the course’s keystone.

All this is just one guy’s experience, though. During my brief tenure as teaching committee chair, I’ll use this column to explore how other History Division members are connecting with today’s students in their own media history courses. Our goal won’t be to find flashy, throw-out-the-textbook tactics for the classroom—this isn’t an “innovation” column. Instead, we’ll just see what people are doing differently to connect with today’s students. In the next column, Elisabeth Fondren shares what she’s doing differently with regard to assessment, with long, written assignments now taking a backseat in her classroom.

Member Spotlight: Autumn Linford

Where are you currently getting your Ph.D.?

University of North Carolina Hussman School of Journalism and Media

What brought you into grad school for journalism?

As a lifelong journalist (I began my career as a cub reporter for my hometown daily as a teenager), I’ve always understood the importance of journalism. After more than a decade on the job, I was inspired to study journalism in hopes of helping improve the field.

Why media history?

Everything that journalism is now is related to its past. If we want to understand and challenge the problems of today, we must first understand just how deeply the root of those problems run.

Current research project?

I am currently working on my dissertation, which focuses on girl newsies between 1865-1920 and argues that newsgirls were essential newsworkers with gender-specific experiences. They are a forgotten but fascinating topic!

Fun fact about yourself?

I like to make subversive cross-stitches.

Award Call: Covert Award in Mass Communication History for articles, essays, or book chapters published in 2021 (March 31)

AEJMC’S History Division announces the 37^th annual competition for the Covert Award in Mass Communication History for entries published in 2021.

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.

The $400 award memorializes the esteemed Dr. Catherine L. Covert, professor of journalism at Syracuse University (d.1983). Cathy Covert was the first woman professor in Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Journalism and the first woman to head the History Division, in 1975. Prof. Covert received the AEJMC Outstanding Contribution to Journalism Education Award in 1983.

Submit an electronic copy in pdf form of the published article/essay/chapter via email to Professor Thomas A. Mascaro, mascaro@bgsu.edu, by March 31, 2021. The publication may be self-submitted or submitted by others, such as an editor or colleague.

The following links connect to articles providing more background on Dr. Covert:

https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1063&context=sumagazine

https://roghiemstra.com/covert-bio.html

https://clas.uiowa.edu/sjmc/people/catherine-covert

Q and A with author Cayce Myers on Public Relations History

Public Relations History: Theory, Practice, and Profession (Routledge 2021)

Describe the focus of your book.

The book examines the development of public relations in the United States, specifically looking at sectors of public relations practice. Its focus is historiographic. I wanted to examine the different narratives of public relations and craft a new narrative of PR history that was more inclusive of non-corporate PR development. I also examined the relationship between public relations and propaganda, and how the historical development of the public relations field was impacted by growing awareness of public opinion and the power of communication. The end result showed that modern U.S. public relations is the byproduct of many different types of public relations practiced in politics, social movements, religion, corporations, higher education, and the government.

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

This subject is an outgrowth of several years of study on PR history. My dissertation looked at public relations development, particularly early American PR practice in the late 19^th century. As my research progressed, I became more interested in the development of PR as a practice and profession, and how diverse sectors, such as politics, entertainment, corporate communication, and social movements, actually impacted public relations practice that we know today.

What archives or research materials did you use?

Much of my research examined early news accounts of public relations, as well as legal documents that examined public relations. As a historiography, I also used many early histories written about public relations and public opinion. I made good use of digital newspaper archives, and the interlibrary loan system for trade press and other early public relations publications.

How does your book relate to journalism history? How is it relevant to the present?

The history of public relations is intertwined with the development of the press. As the press evolved in the 19^th century from the partisan press to the penny press and later to yellow journalism and muckrakers, the public relations field followed suit. Like today, many early public relations practitioners were former journalists. The book shows that PR history is journalism history, and that the two fields are highly interconnected in their development in the U.S.

What advice do you have for other historians that are working on or starting book projects?

Book projects, like all big projects, need to be tailored. Even when a book project is narrow in scope you invariably find out that the topic is much bigger than you originally thought. So, in that sense, I would say choose your topic with an eye toward a clearly defined and manageable topic. As far as writing, I think everyone has their own work habits that work for them. My advice is to know what you can write in a day and what writing habits work best for you. Books are something that take time, sometimes years, to complete. Set deadlines, follow them, and soon enough you’ll be finished.

Award Call: Jinx C. Broussard Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Media History (Feb. 15)

This award is presented to the winners of the division’s teaching competition. Members may submit an innovative teaching strategy to the contest, which is judged by a committee each spring.

Teaching ideas should be original, tested, and transformative pedagogies that have been used by the author in teaching media and journalism history and could be used by other instructors or institutions. Teaching ideas should help professors address one or more of these pedagogies: diversity, collaboration, community, or justice. The competition welcomes a variety of teaching ideas, including those taught across a quarter/semester or taught as a module within an individual course. The 2022 deadline for submissions is Feb. 15.

The applications should be submitted as one document saved in a PDF format to aejmchistory@gmail.com using the subject line “Transformative Teaching of Media and Journalism History” and should include:

· Required: a three-page CV

· Required: a single-spaced, two-page discussion of the teaching idea that includes a 250-word overview followed by discussions of these seven criteria used for judging:

· Originality (makes clear how the work has not been published or presented at a conference or an online forum previously; is not in any other 2022 AEJMC competition; and does not represent another person’s teaching without acknowledgement of that work and discussion of significant modification by the author),

· tested (describes how employed previously in the author’s classroom),

· transferability (makes a case for how other schools/classes/programs could use),

· degree of transformative nature (speaks to evidence of how the teaching leads to a marked change on the part of students, such as via assessment or student feedback),

· degree of focus on diversity, collaboration, community, and/or justice (addresses one or more of these pedagogies, as defined by the author),

· degree of clarity (presented clearly, completely, and concisely),

· willingness to present (expresses willingness to present at the 2022 AEJMC conference).

· Optional: a set of supplementary teaching materials relevant to the teaching idea, such as syllabus, assignment, handouts, links, or slide, saved as PDF and no more than five pages

Please send any questions about the 2022 question to division teaching award chair Ken Ward at kjward@pittstate.edu.

Award Call: Hazel Dicken-Garcia Outstanding Master’s Thesis in Journalism and Mass Communication History (deadline extended to March 1)

The History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication will present its award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis in Journalism and Mass Communication History in 2022, recognizing the outstanding mass communication history thesis completed during the 2021 calendar year.

The award will be presented during the member awards gala at the 2022 AEJMC Conference.

Any master’s thesis on a topic in mass communication history will be considered, regardless of research method. Submissions must be in English. The thesis must have been submitted, defended, and filed in final form to the author’s degree-granting university between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021. Membership in the AEJMC History Division is not required to submit.

Candidates for the award should submit the following materials:

A cover letter with the thesis author’s contact information.
A letter of nomination from the thesis chair/director or the chair of the university department in which the thesis was written. The letter should concisely describe the scope and significance of the thesis, including its contribution to the knowledge base of the discipline.
A blind copy of the full thesis (including abstract) in PDF form. IMPORTANT: Please make sure that all identifying information—including author, school, and thesis advisor/committee names—have been removed from all parts of the document. Be sure to check not only the title page but also the abstract, dedication/acknowledgements, bio page, and other pages that such identifying information often appears in academic theses.
A blind copy of a sample chapter, submitter’s choice, from the thesis, identifying information removed, for first-round competition. This should also be in PDF form.

Nominations, along with all the supporting materials, should be sent to AEJHistoryThesisAward@gmail.com no later than 11:59 p.m. Pacific on March 1, 2022 (this is a deadline extension).

Questions should be directed to Dr. Amy Mattson Lauters, chair of the AEJMC History Thesis Award Committee, at AEJHistoryThesisAward@gmail.com

Award Call: Best Journalism & Mass Communication History Book (deadline extended to Feb. 15)

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication 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 2022 AEJMC conference in Detroit, Michigan. Attendance at the conference is encouraged as the author will be invited to be a guest for a live taping of the Journalism History podcast during the History Division awards event. The competition is open to any author of a media history book regardless of whether they belong to AEJMC or the History Division. Only first editions with a 2021 copyright date will be accepted. Entries must be received by February 15, 2022. Submit four hard copies of each book or an electronic copy (must be an e-Book or pdf manuscript in page-proof format) along with the author’s mailing address, telephone number, and email address to:

Gwyneth Mellinger, AEJMC History Book Award Chair
James Madison University
54 Bluestone Drive, MSC 2104
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
mellingx@jmu.edu

If you have any questions, please contact Book Award chair Gwyneth Mellinger at mellingx@jmu.edu.

Call for Proposals: 2022 Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference (deadline extended to March 15)

The Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference, co-sponsored by the American Journalism Historians Association and the History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, is accepting submissions for its 2022 conference, to be held virtually via Zoom.

This free, one-day, interdisciplinary conference welcomes faculty, graduate students, and independent scholars researching the history of journalism and mass communication. Topics from all geographic areas and time periods are welcome, as are all methodological approaches. This conference offers a welcoming environment in which participants can explore new ideas, garner feedback on their work, and meet colleagues from around the world interested in journalism and mass communication history.

When: Friday, May 13, 2022, 9:00am to 5:00pm Eastern (U.S.) time

Where: Virtual (Zoom)

Proposals for paper presentations, research-in-progress presentations, or panels are all welcome. Your proposal should detail your presentation topic and offer a compelling rationale for why this research would interest an interdisciplinary community of scholars.

Papers are completed research studies. The paper should be attached to the submission (as a Microsoft Word document or PDF) along with an abstract of up to 500 words.
Research-in-progress (RIP) proposals are projects that are currently underway and that would benefit from collegial feedback in a conference setting. The JJCHC eagerly welcomes such work and prides itself on being a forum for generative thinking and feedback. RIP proposals should be described in an abstract of up to 500 words.
Panels are pre-constituted presentations from multiple scholars working on similar topics or using similar methodological approaches. Panels generally consist of 3-4 scholars. To submit a panel proposal, please include an overview of the panel along with abstracts for each of the individual projects/presentations. The overview and the individual abstracts each may be up to 500 words.

Submissions should be emailed to JJCHC2022@gmail.com. Please remove any identifying information from your abstract and attach it to your email as a Microsoft Word document or a PDF. In the body of your email, please include your name, preferred email address, and institutional affiliation and title/rank (if applicable). If you are submitting a panel proposal, please include that information for all panel participants.

The deadline for proposal submissions is March 15, 2022. Authors will be notified as to whether their proposal was accepted no later than April 13, 2022. Please direct any questions to one of the conference co-chairs: A.J. Bauer (ajbauer2@ua.edu), Matthew Pressman (matthew.pressman@shu.edu), or Rich Shumate (rich.shumate@wku.edu).

Call for Abstracts: American Journalism Special Issue on the History of Investigative Reporting (March 1)

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 break-in at the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex, which precipitated some of the most heralded investigative reporting in American history and a classic journalism book and film, All the President’s Men. To mark this milestone, American Journalism is soliciting submissions of abstracts for original research on the history of investigative reporting in the United States. Submissions may examine reporting on the Watergate scandal itself, such as analysis of period journalism, the legacy of that coverage, and the production of All the President’s Men, or any aspect of investigative reporting before or after Watergate, no later than the year 2000.

Authors should submit an abstract of 300 words to americanjournalismeditor@gmail.com by 11:59 p.m. March 1, 2022. Submissions will be refereed by a panel of media historians who will judge entries based on the significance of the research, methodological clarity and rigor, grounding in appropriate literature, and writing style. Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by April 1, and selected authors will be invited to submit full-length articles of 6,000 to 10,000 words, including endnotes, by July 1 for a special issue to be published in Fall 2022.

Deadline for Abstract Submissions: March 1, 2022 Announcement of Selected Abstracts: April 1, 2022

Deadline for Articles: July 1, 2022

Expected Commencement of Publication: Fall 2022

For more information or questions about submissions and potential topics, please contact AJ editor Dr. Pamela E. Walck at walckp@duq.edu or associate editor Dr. Nick Hirshon at nickhirshon@gmail.com.