Author Archives: mliseblad

Journalism History Podcast Announces 2020 Best Guest

Pam Parry of Southeast Missouri State is the 2020 winner of the Best Podcast Guest Award from Journalism History.

Parry’s “Episode 25: Eisenhower: The Public Relations President” is the top-rated episode of the podcast with over 400 downloads. Her frequent promotion of the podcast and use of the show with students also contributed to her selection as the year’s top guest.

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Member News Round-Up – Lillie Fears, Teri Finneman, Meg Heckman, Nick Hirshon, Will Mari and Shearon Roberts

By Rachel Grant, Membership Co-Chair, University of Florida, rgrant@jou.ufl.edu

Lillie Fears (Arkansas State University) was named 2020 recipient of the Thomas E. Patterson Education at the annual King Kennedy Awards ceremony. In celebration of Black History Month, the Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus honored Fears and eight other Arkansans. Since 2005, the King Kennedy Awards have recognized outstanding individuals who positively impact their communities and the state.

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In A League of Their Own: AEJMC History Division Mini-Profiles – George Daniels, Aimee Edmondson and Cathy M. Jackson

By Perry Parks, Membership Co-Chair, Michigan State University, parksp@msu.edu

George Daniels

George Daniels

Where you work: Associate Professor of Journalism and Creative Media at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa

Where you got your Ph.D.:  Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of Georgia

Current favorite class: Mass Communication, Service and Diversity

Current research project: I am researching the 40+ year work of Lionel C. Barrow who started AEJMC’s diversity efforts in 1968

Fun fact about yourself: I just celebrated my 50th birthday! (Very proud of that)

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Teaching Contest Features Original and Tested Transformative Pedagogies

By Teaching Standards Chairs Kristin L. Gustafson, University of Washington Bothell, and Lori Amber Roessner, University of Tennessee

Five scholars will share their mini, hands-on teaching modules featuring original and tested transformative teaching ideas and practices that address pedagogies of diversity, collaboration, community, and/or justice in August. These ideas include carefully curated student learning experiences, an online platform that tracks research data, and a program-wide course redesign that centers on who tells our stories. Come ready to learn more about how each teaching practice might be transferred to your institution or classes and what evidence points to marked changes for students.

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Generations of Scholars: Mike Martinez Looks Beyond the Lens

By Lexie Little, M.A. student at the University of Georgia

Michael T. Martinez, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, spent 26 years contributing to the “first draft of history” as a professional photojournalist, graphics editor and web producer for The Associated Press, the Louisville Courier-Journal, The Detroit News, The Cincinnati Enquirer and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram before entering the academy. He earned his bachelor’s at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before completing his master’s and Ph.D. at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Now he reminds students and fellow scholars about the importance of digging into the past to understand the future through lenses of media history and law.

Michael Martinez
As a professional photojournalist, Dr. Michael Martinez served as president of the National Press Photographers Association in 1990 and covered two Olympics for The Associated Press in Lillehammer (1994) and Atlanta (1996). He also worked on four Olympic Organizing Committees for Sydney (2000), Salt Lake City (2002), Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008).

His research interests include media law, specifically media and the courts, the history of journalistic practices and political coverage in visual communication. His research endeavors have largely explored the public’s memory of U.S. presidents – from Kennedy to Trump –  through the lenses of official White House photographers.

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AEJMC History Division Names Next Journalism History Editor

The History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is pleased to announce that Pam Parry will be the next editor of its journal, Journalism History.

Pam Parry

The History Division officers unanimously voted to accept the Publications Committee’s recommendation to select Parry, a professor of public relations at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, where she teaches media history.

“Dr. Parry is well qualified to perform the duties of editor in managing the journal and maintaining relationships with the publisher, editors, reviewers, contributors and potential contributors,” said Terry Lueck, chairwoman of the division’s Publications Committee. “We consider Dr. Parry an excellent match for the position and someone who is well qualified to lead Journalism History into a distinguished future.”

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Book Q&A with David E. Sumner

By Rachel Grant, Membership Co-Chair, University of Florida, rgrant@jou.ufl.edu

Dr. David E. Sumner, a professor emeritus of journalism at Ball State (1990-2015), is currently a full-time author and working on his eight book. He recently wrote Fumbled Call: The Bear Bryant-Wally Butts Football Scandal that Split the Supreme Court and Changed American Libel Law.

Q: Describe the focus of your book. 

A: Using a narrative structure, the book tells, first, what happened behind the scenes preceding Butts v. Curtis Publishing  libel trial against the Saturday Evening Post in 1963 by Wally Butts, the ex-coach of the University of Georgia football team. The case is historically significant because the Post appealed the case to the Supreme Court in 1967, which redefined and expanded the definition of “public figure” in a 5-4 divided decision.

The Post article “The Story of a College Football Fix” accused Butts of giving away inside team information to Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant in a telephone conversation to help Alabama win 35-0 in the season’s opener. (Bryant filed a separate libel lawsuit and settled out of court after the Butts trial.) The University of Georgia president, two assistant coaches, and four faculty members of the Athletic Board testified against Butts. The book presents several facts that suggest perjury by the coaches to cover up what they said in their telephone conversation. Butts could have been motivated by revenge because he had been fired as coach but remained athletic director with access to team information.  The first eight chapters tell how the story originated, and the last eight chapters give a day-by-day account of arguments and witness testimonies.

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AEJMC History Division Announces Second Annual Teaching-Idea Contest Winners

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication History Division awarded five winners for the second annual Transformative Teaching of Media and Journalism History teaching-idea competition, renamed the Jinx Coleman Broussard Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Media History in late 2019. The recipients were:

  • Lisa M. Burns, Quinnipiac University
  • Elisabeth Fondren, St. John’s University
  • Andrew Offenburger, Miami University
  • Joe Saltzman, USC Annenberg
  • Pamela E. Walck, Duquesne University

The competition featured original and tested transformative teaching ideas and practices that address pedagogies of diversity, collaboration, community, and/or justice.

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Member News Round-Up – Mike Conway, Chris Daly, Elisabeth Fondren, Melita M. Garza, Julien Gorbach, Will Mari, Erin Coyle, Jon Marshall and Joe Saltzman

By Rachel Grant, Membership Co-Chair, University of Florida, rgrant@jou.ufl.edu

Mike Conway’s (Indiana University) book, Contested Ground: The Tunnel and the Struggle Over Television News in Cold War America has won the 2020 Library of American Broadcasting Foundation Broadcast Historian Award. Conway will be receiving the award and talking about the book at the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) annual conference in Las Vegas in April.

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