Category Archives: News

Division news items

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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Improving Our Outreach in the New Roaring ‘20s

By Teri Finneman, Chair, University of Kansas, teri.finneman@ku.edu

Teri Finneman

It’s officially halftime in my time as your chair, so I wanted to recap the division initiatives that have occurred in the past six months.

Our primary goal has been to vastly improve our outreach to key target audiences this year. Here is a breakdown of what we’ve been working on:

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AEJMC History Division and AJHA Hold Student Marketing Campaign Competition

Campaign Brief: Why Journalism History Matters

The clients: The AEJMC History Division and American Journalism Historians Association.

Founded in 1966, the History Division is primarily comprised of nearly 300 journalism and communication professors who conduct research related to the history of mass communication, including the newspaper industry, the broadcast industry, photojournalism, advertising, and public relations. https://aejmc.us/history/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AEJHistory Journal: https://journalism-history.org/ Podcast: https://journalismhistorypodcast.podbean.com/

Founded in 1981, the American Journalism Historians Association seeks to advance education and research in mass communication history. Through its annual convention, regional conferences, committees, awards, speakers, and publications, members work to raise historical standards and ensure that all scholars and students recognize the vast importance of media history and apply this knowledge to the advancement of society. https://ajha.wildapricot.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJHAsocial Journal: http://www.american-journalism.org/

The problem: Journalism schools increasingly do not believe that journalism history classes are relevant or necessary. Students accustomed to social media and cellphones tend to think that history is boring or not applicable to their lives.

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Generation of Scholars: Marilyn Greenwald is Passionate About Writing Journalism History and Biography

By Ashley Walter, Ph.D. student at the Pennsylvania State University

Ohio University professor, Marilyn Greenwald, began her journalism career in the late 1970s working as an entertainment editor and copy editor in Painesville, Ohio. She went on to report business and news for the Columbus Dispatch before starting an academic career. Her research examines media history, arts criticism, biographical writing, non-fiction book publishing, and women in journalism. She has written several books and academic articles, including A Woman of the Times: Journalism, Feminism, and the Career of Charlotte Curtis.

Marilyn Greenwald
Dr. Marilyn Greenwald’s dissertation centered on Charlotte Curtin, one of the first women top editors at the New York Times. Greenwald turned her dissertation into a biography; it got a review in the New York Times and was named a Notable Book of the Times in 1999.
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Integrating Journalism History into News Literacy

By Nathaniel Frederick II, PF&R Chair, frederickn@winthrop.edu

Creating a news literacy event in your community or on your campus is an ideal opportunity to promote and justify why journalism history matters.

The PF&R committee for 2019-2020 will emphasize diversity and inclusion, as well as offer assistance to members interested in creating public service events that help celebrate journalism history.

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Nominations Are Now Open for the Donald L. Shaw Senior Scholar Award

This new History 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 a cover letter that explains the nominee’s research contributions to journalism history, a CV, a brief biography, and a minimum of two letters of support. Self-nominations, with the accompanying supporting materials, are welcome. Letters may be addressed to Committee Chair Pam Parry.

Email nominations to aejmchistory@gmail.com by 11:59 p.m. Central Time March 15.

The winner will be notified by mid-May and recognized during the History Division Awards Gala at the 2020 AEJMC conference in August with a plaque and $200 cash award. 

AEJMC History Division Announces Shaw Senior Scholar Award

The History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is pleased to announce the creation of the Donald L. Shaw Senior Scholar Award, named in honor of the pioneering journalism theoretician, distinguished journalism historian, and former head of the History Division, who taught for almost half of a century at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

Dr. Donald L. Shaw

The History Division officers unanimously voted to name the award after Shaw with the support of the full leadership team.

“I am deeply honored by the recognition of my historical work, and for recognition of historical work in general,” Shaw said. “We cannot understand ourselves without knowledge of our roots, individually or collectively. I am delighted with any acknowledgement of the many fine scholars we have in our historical discipline. Thank you for this honor.”

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Generation of Scholars: Tom Mascaro Discusses Documentary Films, Gives Advice to Young Scholars

By Denitsa Yotova, Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland

Dr. Tom Mascaro recently retired from his position as professor in the School of Media & Communication at Bowling Green State University. Mascaro is a documentary historian who is currently working on a sequel to his highly acclaimed book, Into the Fray: How NBC’s Washington Documentary Unit Reinvented the News (Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2012). Into the Fray won the 2013 AEJMC James W. Tankard Award for Best Book on Journalism and received an honorable mention from AJHA. Into the Fray covered 1961 to 1967; Mascaro’s new manuscript will span 1967 to 1989.  

Dr. Tom Mascaro has a Ph.D. from Wayne State University and a M.A. from the University of Michigan.
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Membership Committee Creates Priorities for Year

By Membership Co-Chairs Maddie Liseblad, Middle Tennessee State University, madeleine.liseblad@mtsu.edu, Rachel Grant, University of Florida, rgrant@jou.ufl.edu, and Perry Parks, Michigan State University, parksp@msu.edu

From left to right: Maddie Liseblad, Rachel Grant and Perry Parks.

As your 2019-2020 committee, we’d like to share our primary goals for this year. First and foremost, our overall goal is to grow our membership. We will continue our outreach work as opportunities arise. For example, when nonmembers present media history research at conferences, we reach out and invite them to join our division.

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