W. Joseph Campbell (American University) taped a class lecture on C-SPAN in late January for airing on its “Lectures in History” series. Campbell discussed the media myth of William Randolph Hearst’s purported vow to “furnish the war” with Spain at the end of the 19th century, noting how the tale lives on and is often repeated, despite a nearly complete absence of supporting documentation.
Doug Cumming (Washington and Lee University) will give a talk on March 10 to the Lexington, Va., chapter of the English-Speaking Union on “Tom Wolfe: Roots, Reporting and What Remains.”
Patrick File (University of Nevada) published his book, Bad News Travels Fast: The Telegraph, Libel, and Press Freedom in the Progressive Era in January with the University of Massachusetts Press. In the book, he examines a series of libel cases by a handful of plaintiffs—including socialites, businessmen, and Annie Oakley—who sued newspapers across the country for republishing false newswire reports. The cases demonstrate how law and technology intertwined to influence debates about reputation, privacy, and the acceptable limits of journalism. He argues that the legal thinking surrounding these cases laid the groundwork for the more friendly libel standards the press now enjoys and helped to establish today’s regulations of press freedom amid the promise and peril of high-speed communication technology.
Nicholas Hirshon (William Paterson University) continued his book tour for We Want Fish Sticks: The Bizarre and Infamous Rebranding of the New York Islanders (University of Nebraska Press) with stops at Long Island’s largest independent bookstore on January 7 and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh on February 18. Following a wave of media attention for the book in December, We Want Fish Sticks was featured among new sports releases in the Christian Science Monitor in January, and Hirshon appeared on the Puck Soup podcast with ESPN hockey reporter Greg Wyshynski and the Sports Lit 101 radio show out of Bangor, Maine. He will discuss his book during the keynote address at the Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference in New York City on March 9.
Owen V. Johnson (Indiana University) presented research at the following conferences: “Retreat from the Golden Age: Russian Journalists and Their World, 1992-2000,” annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (with Rashad Mammadov), August 9, 2018.
“An Historical Perspective on Digital Transformation of the Mass Media: Russian Journalism and Journalists, 1917-29,” Tenth International Moscow Readings Conference, Faculty of Journalism, Moscow State University, October 25, 2018.
“Ernie Pyle & Roy Howard: An Unusual Hoosier Relationship,” Roy W. Howard Archive Symposium (with Na Ma), Indiana University, October 26, 2018.
Will Mari’s (Northwest University) A Short History of Disruptive Journalism Technologies 1960-1990, is out on Feb. 20. Published by Routledge as part of their “Disruptions” series, it covers the history of the computer in U.S. newsrooms during the latter Cold War. It is the first such media-history account of newsroom computerization, to the best of his knowledge, and he would love it if folks could recommend it to their libraries for purchase.
Gwyneth Mellinger (James Madison University) 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. The award, established by the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina, recognizes the best journal article or chapter in an edited book on the historical relationship between media and civil rights published during the previous two years. Mellinger’s article was published in a 2018 issue of the Journal of Civil and Human Rights.
Carol Terracina Hartman (Lock Haven University) received an Award of Distinction from the College Media Association for 4-Year Newspaper Advisor at the College Media Association / Associated Collegiate Press annual conference in October 2018, Louisville, Kentucky. The nomination was launched by her student editors at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (The Royal Purple) and Clarion University of Pennsylvania (The Clarion Call) and supported with 17 letters from all four institutions where she has advised.