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.
The journal was the vision of Tom Reilly, a professor at California State University, Northridge. He launched it as an independent publication in the spring of 1974. Today Journalism History is well respected as the oldest peer-reviewed journal of mass media history in the United States.
The commemorative issue – volume 50, issue 1 – involves many contributors. While multiple ways to celebrate the journal’s anniversary was discussed, the journal staff decided a dedicated issue was one great way to mark the milestone.
“We decided the best way to celebrate was to have one commemorative issue involving key people who have contributed to the journal throughout the decades,” said Journalism History Editor Pam Parry (Southeast Missouri State University). “The columns we solicited were strategic to represent different aspects of the publication. It was an honor to pull together this commemorative issue and being a part of such a significant milestone.”
The issue includes an editor’s note from Parry, and columns from former editors Gregory A. Borchard (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) and Patrick Washburn (Ohio University). Borchard’s column discusses the transition from independent publisher to the History Division’s adoption of the journal and working with a professional publishing house, Taylor & Francis. In his contribution, Washburn provides advice on managing an academic journal. Aimee Edmondson (Ohio University) has authored a column about her former colleague Michael S. Sweeney. Sweeney in many ways secured the journal’s future by initiating the transition from an independent publication to an official scholarly publication of the AEJMC History Division. In addition, a column from Maurine H. Beasley (University of Maryland) discusses what media historians should do to help preserve the field. One of Beasley’s research articles was published in Journalism History during its first year of publishing.
Other columns include Alexia Little (University of Georgia) and Gerry Lanosga (Indiana University) examining diversity issues in the journal, Earnest L. Perry Jr. (University of Missouri) discussing the importance of the peer review process, and Erika Pribanic-Smith (University of Texas, Arlington) explaining how the journal’s digital platform was built. Furthermore, current book editor Sonya R. DiPalma (University of North Carolina, Asheville) explains the value of book reviews, and Madeleine Liseblad (Cal State Long Beach) and Teri Finneman (University of Kansas) discuss how the History Division’s Publications Committee supports the journal.
In addition to the commemorative issue, the journal’s birthday will be celebrated at the AEJMC conference in August.
Journalism History welcomes content about traditional journalism as well as research with historical angles on visual communication, public relations, advertising, scholastic journalism, media diversity, sports media, the business of journalism, media technology, oral history, media law and ethics, and documentaries. The journal also encourages cross-disciplinary and global collaboration so that the content of the journal increasingly reflects media history outside of U.S. borders and across disciplines.
For more information about the journal and how to submit, visit https://journalism-history.org/.