The Law and Policy Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) seeks nominations for the 2020 Harry W. Stonecipher Award for Distinguished Research on Media Law and Policy.

The award honors the legacy of Harry W. Stonecipher, who died in 2004. Stonecipher was an acclaimed and influential First Amendment educator. He nurtured a number of distinguished media law scholars during his 15-year career at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, beginning in 1969.

The Stonecipher Award for Distinguished Research on Media Law and Policy is open to all journalism, First Amendment and communication scholars within and outside AEJMC. The award will be bestowed on research that most broadly covers freedom of expression as a whole, not just journalism. 

The award is not limited to research that centers on media-specific issues. It can include First Amendment speech and press issues more broadly. The successful nomination also might be global in scope, rather than U.S.-centric, given that media law and policy as a research topic is inextricably intertwined with the rest of the world in the 21st century.

Preference will be given to research with a strong theoretical component that demonstrates the potential to have a lasting influence on freedom of expression scholarship. All methodologies — empirical, qualitative, historical, etc.  — are welcome. Nominations may be for monographs, peer-reviewed journal articles, law review articles or book chapters (but not entire books). Self-nominations are encouraged, one per author.

In order to be considered for the award, the research must have been published between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020. 

Nominations should be sent to Dr. Dean Smith at High Point University via e-mail — dsmith1@highpoint.edu — by Feb. 7, 2021. Please include STONECIPHER in the subject line. The winner will be announced ahead of the AEJMC’s national convention in August, and the award will be presented then.

CALL FOR JUDGES: Would you like to read the best media law and policy articles of 2020? The Stonecipher judging committee would like to add two or three readers this year. If you would like to lend your expertise, please e-mail Dean Smith at dsmith1@highpoint.edu.