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.
In early 2024, Marcus Collins (Loughborough University, UK), Otávio Daros (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), and Ed Timke (Michigan State) were awarded diversity microgrants by Journalism History. Since then, all three have made significant progress on their research.
Dr. Gwyneth Mellinger and Dr. Pam Parry are the recipients of the History Division’s 2024 Exceptional Service Award. This important award is given by the division’s chair and vice chair to members who have provided stellar service.
Gwyneth MellingerPam Parry
Mellinger is a professor at James Madison University. Parry is a professor at Southeast Missouri State University.
Both Mellinger and Parry have provided critical services to the History Division.
Mellinger has chaired the division’s Book Award Committee for several years. She is the author of the book Chasing Newsroom Diversity: From Jim Crow to Affirmative Action. Mellinger is the winner of the 2019 Ronald T. and Gayla D. Farrar Award in Media and Civil Rights History for her research on Charles S. Johnson, an African American newspaper columnist in the 1940s.
Parry has served as the editor of Journalism History since 2021. Under her leadership, she and her staff produced the commemorative issue celebrating 50 years of the journal. She is the 2020 winner of the Best Podcast Guest Award from Journalism History. Parry is the author or co-editor of eight academic books.
“It is a tremendous task to lead the book award and Dr. Mellinger handles all the behind the scenes work of receiving, distributing and seeking the best books in our field,” said Rachel Grant, chair. “The division appreciates all the work she has done to honor her fellow scholars. Serving beyond her term, Gwyn has stayed on through several transitions and we appreciate her time and commitment. Her kindness and leadership is an inspiration to us all.”
“There is so much unseen work that goes into managing a journal, and Journalism History is the cornerstone and legacy of the History Division’s scholarly community. Dr. Parry has stewarded the journal artfully during her tenure,” said Brian Creech, vice chair. “The journal has grown in scope and prominence during her editorship, but also retains an attention to detail and care for prose that makes publishing in the journal a genuinely meaningful experience for junior and senior scholars alike. From an expanded essay series, to facilitating research microgrants, to a rich, critical engagement with the content of scholarship in the journal over its history, Dr. Parry has led the journal in a way that best reflects the breadth and depth of our subfield and pushes the project of Journalism History and journalism history forward.”
Parry and Mellinger will be honored during the History Division’s annual Awards Gala on Aug. 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Philadelphia.
Dr. Melita Garza won Journalism History‘s 2024 essay contest.
Dr. Melita Garza of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, won the 2024 essay contest sponsored by Journalism History.
Originally the brainchild of Dr. Erika Pribanic-Smith (University of Texas at Arlington), the competition first began in 2018 and has featured essays around specific themes. This year’s competition focused on civil rights with the impetus being the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A panel of judges assessed the submitted essay proposals, and selected Dr. Garza’s as the best. She will receive a $100 prize and have her essay published in the journal.
Journalism History, the journal of the History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), is celebrating fifty years of continuous publishing with a special commemorative issue. The electronic version was published Feb. 13, and can be viewed at https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujhi20/50/1?nav=tocList, and the print version should be mailed the first of March.
Anna E. Lindner, Michael Fuhlhage, D. T. Frazier, and Keena S. Neal are the winners of the 2024 Tom Reilly Award. Their article, “’If Ever Saints Wept and Hell Rejoiced, It Must Have Been Over the Passage of That Law’: The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act in Detroit River Borderland Newspapers, 1851-1852” was the most popular research study on the Journalism History website in 2023.
While conducting this research, all four scholars were associated with Wayne State University’s Department of Communication and what is affectionately called “Fuhlhage’s Research Gang.” Dr. Fuhlhage is an associate professor and he has successfully collaborated with his students on several research projects. Lindner, Frazier, and Neal were doctoral candidates at the time.
Three scholars – Ed Timke, Marcus Collins, and Otávio Daros – have been selected by Journalism History to receive funding this spring to advance diverse perspectives in media history. Journalism History is the official academic journal of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC) History Division. The goal of the grants is to increase diversity research in the journal.
“These microgrant recipients will be conducting vitally important research in areas where the journal has gaps,” said Journalism History Editor Pam Parry. “The journalstaff appreciates the leadership of the Publication Committee in conducting a diversity study of the journal in anticipation of our 50th anniversary. As a result, we were able to identify gaps that needed more attention, and so the Division started the microgrant program to encourage research in those areas. These projects are a step forward in bringing greater diversity to media history.”
Edgar Simpson of The University of Southern Mississippi has won the 2024 Michael S. Sweeney Award for his article, “Manipulating the Sphere: Mississippi’s Post-Brown Offensive Against White Journalists.”
Dr. Edgar Simpson won the 2024 Sweeney Award.
Presented by the History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the Sweeney Award recognizes the outstanding article published in the previous volume of the scholarly journal Journalism History. The Division’s Publications Committee selected the article from among four finalists provided by Journalism History Editor Pam Parry. In addition to receiving a plaque and cash prize, Simpson will be honored during the History Division’s awards gala at this year’s AEJMC conference in Philadelphia.
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.
Andie Tucher is the H. Gordon Garbedian Professor of Journalism at Columbia University and director of the PhD program
“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!”
The History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is celebrating fifty years of continuous publishing of its journal, Journalism History. Published since 1974, Journalism History is well respected as the oldest peer-reviewed journal of mass media history in the United States.
“Journalism History has served as an excellent research journal for media historians to document the impact of mass media from various time periods, perspectives, and cultures,” said Rachel Grant (University of Florida), chairwoman of the History Division. “In a time where the importance of history is being questioned, the History Division is proud to promote quality research.”
