Changes to research paper acceptance rates, the launch of a new teaching competition, streamlining our co-sponsored conference in New York, and the continued transition of Journalism History were among the news items discussed at the 2018 business meeting.

Research paper acceptance rates: Erika Pribanic-Smith reported on the division’s five-year assessment by AEJMC. The division was told its student paper acceptance rate was lower than it should be.

Historically, the division has mixed together the student papers and faculty papers in the AEJ paper competition and judged them all equally, Pribanic-Smith said. Other divisions have done this as well, resulting in more than 50 percent of faculty papers being accepted and less than 50 percent of student papers.

However, AEJMC wants to see 50-50 acceptance rates, and the Council of Divisions encouraged all divisions to separate faculty and student papers to judge them separately and accept 50 percent of each.

As a result, more student papers and fewer faculty papers will be accepted in future years than have been in recent years.

Teaching: Teaching Chair Kristin Gustafson plans to launch a special competition highlighting best practices in history pedagogy and/or scholarship of teaching and learning. More details to come soon.

Joint Journalism conference: Doug Cumming updated members on a meeting between the officers of the AEJMC History Division and AJHA. The two organizations co-sponsor the Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference in New York every March.

In recent years, each organization provided one representative to organize and host the conference with Elliot King. However, the growth of the conference prompted the most recent representatives to suggest a number of changes to reduce the burden on the junior faculty serving in these roles and to streamline the conference.

The officers agreed to provide two representatives each to provide more support for the research chair, event planning, and social media tasks. Furthermore, AJHA will take over the conference’s finances on behalf of the organizations and a new conference submission site is being explored. The conference will also establish research awards, with the top award honoring King.

The History Division has appointed its two representatives: Brian Creech, Temple University, and Carrie Teresa, Niagara University. Pam Walck will serve as one of AJHA’s representatives. The other AJHA rep is pending.

Journalism History: The leadership team continues to work on final details of securing an academic publisher for Journalism History. The transition to new editor Greg Borchard, with the help of Mike Sweeney, has gone well. A new website, social media pages, and podcast will also launch this year to support the journal.

The full meeting minutes are below:

Minutes of the 2018 AEJMC History Division Business Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Outgoing Chair Doug Cumming (Washington & Lee) called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m. on Aug. 7, 2018.

The membership accepted the minutes from last year’s meeting as reported in the Fall 2017 Clio.

Conference Awards

The following authors received awards for their work: John Armstrong, Furman, “The Amateurs’ Hour: South Carolina’s First Radio Stations, 1913-1917” (top faculty paper); Erin Coyle (with Elisabeth Fondren and Joby Richard), LSU, “The War Council: Editors’ Publicity Campaign for Louis D. Brandeis’s 1916 Supreme Court Nomination” (second-place faculty paper); Wendy Melillo, American, “Winning Women’s Votes: Dotty Lynch and the Gender Gap in American Politics, 1972-1984” (third-place faculty paper).

Madeleine Liseblad, Middle Tennessee State, “Driving and Restraining Forces Toward the Marketization of Broadcasting in the UK in the 1990s” (first-place student paper, tie); Perry Parks, Michigan State, “Textbook News Values:  A Century of Stability and Change” (first-place student paper, tie); Kelli Boling, South Carolina, “’We Matter’: The Launching of a Counter-Narrative Black Public Affairs Program in Columbia, S.C.” (third-place student paper).

The division provided six graduate students with travel grants of $200 each.

Covert Award

Andie Tucher, Columbia, received the Covert Award for best mass communication history article for “I Believe in Faking: The Dilemma of Photographic Realism in the Dawn of Photojournalism.” She said she became interested in fake news long before Donald Trump. The article was published in Photography & Culture.

Sweeney Award

New Journalism History Editor Greg Borchard presented the division’s first Michael S. Sweeney Award (https://aejmc.us/history/cressman-wins-first-sweeney-award/) for best article in Journalism History. Dale L. Cressman, associate professor of communication at Brigham Young University, won for his article, “News in Light: The Times Square Zipper and Newspaper Signs in an Age of Technological Enthusiasm.”

The other nominees for this first award were Juanita Darling, for “Jewish Values in the Journalism of Alberto Gerchunoff”; Michael Fuhlhage, for “To Limit the Spread of Slavery: A Boston Journal Correspondent’s Multiple Roles in the Kansas Free State Movement”; and Debra Reddin Van Tuyll, for “Protecting Press Freedom and Access to Government Information in Antebellum South Carolina.”

Book Award

This year’s book award winner was Fred Carroll, Kennesaw State, for Race News: Black Journalists and the Fight for Racial Justice in the 20th Century (University of Illinois Press). Book Award Chair John Ferré (Louisville) said there were 29 entries this year. Selection committee judges were Fred Blevens, Kathy Roberts Forde, and Linda Steiner. Ferré said the competition is tough. He described Race News as a comparison of the black commercial press with the black radical press and called it “an important read, and I would highly encourage you to read it.”

Lisa Burns (Quinnipiac) is taking over duties as book award chair for the 2019 competition after Ferré’s nine years of service.

Carroll advised scholars to respect the historiography of a subject and look from the beginning as to what is available and how a topic can be built upon. He also advised questioning and broadening definitions after realizing he was originally trying to apply a definition of who a journalist was “using the very same standards that white journalists had used to exclude the black journalists I was studying.”

5-Year Assessment

Vice Chair Erika Pribanic-Smith reported on the division’s five-year assessment by AEJMC. The assessment went well, but a few areas were noted for improvement. AEJMC wants to see divisions split activities evenly among research, PF&R, and teaching. The division has been too heavy on research in the past few years, due in part to the adoption of Journalism History, which took a lot of time, she said. Pribanic-Smith said the division will make the adjustment to balance activities and had already started to do so.

AEJMC also advised the division that its student paper acceptance rate was lower than it should be. Historically, the division has mixed together the student papers and faculty papers in the AEJ paper competition and judged them all equally, Pribanic-Smith said. Other divisions have done this as well, resulting in more than 50 percent of faculty papers being accepted and less than 50 percent of student papers.

However, AEJMC wants to see 50-50 acceptance rates, and the Council of Divisions encouraged all divisions to separate faculty and student papers to judge them separately and accept 50 percent of each.

As a result, more student papers and fewer faculty papers will be accepted in future years than have been in recent years.

Joint Conference

Cumming updated members on a meeting earlier in the day between the officers of the AEJMC History Division and AJHA. The two organizations co-sponsor the Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference in New York every March. In recent years, each organization provided one representative to organize and host the conference with Elliot King. However, the growth of the conference prompted the most recent representatives to suggest a number of changes to reduce the burden on the junior faculty serving in these roles and to streamline the conference. The officers agreed to provide two representatives each to provide more support for the research chair, event planning and social media tasks. Furthermore, AJHA will take over the conference’s finances on behalf of the organizations and a new conference submission site is being explored. The conference will establish research awards, with the top award honoring King.

Chair Reports

Research: Pribanic-Smith reported that the division received 50 total submissions, of which one was disqualified and two were not designated as student or faculty and were both rejected. Of the 32 faculty submissions, 20 were accepted for a rate of 62.5%. There were 15 student research paper submissions, with six accepted for a rate of 40%. There were 71 judges this year, with two papers per judge and three reviewers per paper. Overall, the acceptance rate was 53%.

Teaching: Teaching Chair Kristin Gustafson reported on three teaching panels at the conference:  “Contextualizing Media Credibility in 2018,” “Innovating ideas that foster a community and its history,” and “Remembering, Forgetting and Nostalgizing 1968: The Year that Rocked Our World.” Her goals and activities are focused on four pedagogies of diversity, collaboration, community, and justice. She plans to launch a special competition highlighting best practices in history pedagogy and/or scholarship of teaching and learning.

PF&R: PF&R Chair Melita Garza reported that the division supports an AEJMC statement on hate speech spurred by the incident in Charlottesville and endorsed the American Historical Association’s statement condemning the Polish law banning discourse about Polish complicity with the Nazis. The PF&R panel this year was “Connecting Industry and Ivory Tower: Advertising, Journalism and P.R. Executives Tell Professors How to Matter.” Garza said she’s written columns about Hispanic and Native American journalists, saying “the minority journalist brings a perspective that is so important, and I think it’s also important in our research as educators.” Garza also encouraged the division to avoid all men on panels, an issue that came up on social media as a broader critique of AEJMC panels.

Membership: Amber Roessner and Will Mari discussed the mini profiles and collection of member news in Clio this year. Graduate student recruitment and the transition of Clio to the membership chairs are priorities in the coming year. AEJMC data noted the division saw a 15-percent decrease in membership from February 2013 to February 2018, or a decline of 315 members to 268. The division remains the fourth-largest in AEJMC, however.

Journalism History

Roberts Forde noted the task force to transition Journalism History to the division worked for two-plus years to obtain authorization for adoption of the journal, an increase in dues, the hiring of an editor, and the search for an academic publisher. Greg Borchard of University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was hired for the editor job this year and has been working with Mike Sweeney to implement the editor transition. The next steps are to get more help with the journal, create a publications committee, and secure the academic publisher. Taylor & Francis is interested, but the division must secure the copyrights for prior Journalism History articles now held by UNLV, Ohio and UCalNorthridge.

Roberts Forde also read a resolution to honor Frank Fee for all of his work on behalf of the task force. The full resolution, which had unanimous approval, can be found here: https://aejmc.us/history/history-division-resolution-honors-frank-fee/

Borchard also spoke and thanked the division for its support. He reported significant progress and the continued publication of the journal without interruption. He said Mike Sweeney has been unbelievably helpful in keeping in contact. The journal’s online presence now includes a page on the History Division website. Pribanic-Smith and Kate Roberts Edenborg will work on a stand-alone website and social media presence. Teri Finneman and Will Mari have taken on a project to develop podcasts on behalf of the journal and division.

Dave Bulla helped develop a statement of ethics and malpractice for inclusion in our public materials, which will help raise our visibility once we established connections with sites that can list us in their citation databases. Materials are already under review with Scopus for possible listing in their abstract and citation database.

Borchard also appointed assistant editors Bulla with Augusta University and Kevin Stoker at UNLV (the director of the Journalism and Media Studies School) and updated the corresponding editors list. He said most people indicated they’d like to continue, but a few have retired. At last count, there are 68 corresponding editors, which some have suggested is too many, but Borchard said he’d much rather have too many than not enough.

Garza was re-appointed as book review editor. Borchard also established a schedule for forthcoming issues with Sweeney, who plans to mail the remaining issues in Volume 44 from Ohio. Borchard will assume responsibility for publishing and distributing Volume 45 and beyond.

Finneman reported that she, Will Mari, and Nick Hirshon will work on launching a podcast later this fall. The podcast will include original interviews as well as recorded sessions from conference panels. She and Mari are signed up for a Knight Center MOOC on how to grow a hit podcast.

Cumming reported the division bylaws will include reference to the publication committee. The Publications Committee shall recommend an editor to be appointed by the division’s officers. If for any reason the editor’s appointment is not renewed at the end of a term, or the editor resigns during a term, the committee shall issue a call for applicants and then evaluate applicants. The process normally involves interviews with promising candidates. The committee’s other responsibilities include working with the editor during the editor’s term to ensure the highest possible standards for the journal as well as developing plans to encourage quality submissions. The committee will consist of five members. The division officers are working on forming a committee to recommend to the membership, keeping in mind diversity of appointments.

Clio

There were three PDF issues of Clio this year and three e-newsletters of Clio. Finneman reported the transition was made for two main reasons: simplification and engagement. A number of prior Clio editors had no InDesign experience and were having to assign the division role to someone else to complete. She said the e-newsletter is easier and quicker to put together, aligns with current industry standards and what other history organizations are doing, and also allows for more frequent communication with members who can more easily share the content on resumes and social media.

Cumming reported that the duties for Clio are now being transferred to the membership chairs rather than the secretary/newsletter editor.

After discussion for and against the change, the membership agreed to continue the e-Clio experiment for another year. The executive committee will analyze analytics of Clio content in December and discuss proposed changes to try in 2019.

Constitution and Bylaws

Cumming reported some of the leadership role changes made in the bylaws (some of which already referenced above). Going forward, the vice chair will be responsible for panels/program chair and the second vice chair will be research chair. This move aligns the division with other AEJMC divisions to provide a ladder approach and prevent confusion from other divisions of whom to contact in the History Division. The updated version can be found on the division website, https://aejmc.us/history/.

Garza motioned to approve the bylaws with Gustafson seconding. The vote was 32-2.

Elections

The membership confirmed the appointments Mari (Northwest University) as incoming second vice chair, and Julien Gorbach (University of Hawaii at Manoa) as co-membership chair. The membership made no nominations from the floor. [NOTE: The following additional appointments were made after the convention: Colin Kearney, University of Florida, Graduate Student Co-Liaison; Bailey Dick, Ohio University, Graduate Student Co-Liaison; Brian Creech Temple University, Co-Coordinator, Joint Journalism & Communication History Conference; Carrie Teresa, Niagara University, Co-Coordinator, Joint Journalism & Communication History Conference].

Pribanic-Smith’s goals as chair include continuing the transition of Journalism History to the division’s publication, a more active student committee to boost involvement of young scholars as a foundation for the division’s future, streamlining the Joint Journalism conference, and recognizing media history teaching with a competition.

Next Conference

The division voted on the conference city for 2022. The options were Detroit, Chicago, and Indianapolis. The division voted for Detroit.

Announcements

David Mindich reminded members about the Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression. The three-day conference in Chattanooga, is Nov. 8–10, 2018.

Tim Vos reminded members about the journalism history series started by the University of Missouri Press. Two books are now out: Before Journalism Schools: How Gilded Age Reporters Learned the Rules by Randall Sumpter and The Struggle for the Soul of Journalism: The Pulpit versus the Press, 1833-1923 by Ronald Rogers.

David Bulla said submissions are being accepted for the former Atlanta Review of Journalism History, now named the Southeastern Review of Journalism History.

The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Teri Finneman, 2017-18 secretary