NEWS The Newsletter of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication AEJMCVolume 45 No. 3 | March 2012 AEJMC 2012 Election Slate Announced The AEJMC Nomina- tions and Election Commit- 100 Years- tee has announced the Did you know ... 2012 Officer Election slate. AEJMC regular, retired During the coming months, and international members we will be offering a look back at in good standing are eligible the year of our founding, 1912. Join to vote in the election from us on this journey through 5me as March 9 to April 9. Eligibil- we look at events, inven5ons and ity is determined before the fun facts from 1912. voting process begins. Blevens Toth Kyu Ho Youm, Oregon, • A&er the death of his arch-rival will be installed as 2012-13 AEJMC president during the AEJMC Conference in Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Chicago. Paula Poindexter, Texas at Austin, will become president-elect. Candidates Hearst con5nued to build his news- for vice president are Fred Blevens, Florida International, and Elizabeth Toth, Mary- paper empire by purchasing his first land. Southern newspaper, the Atlanta Because of a change in AEJMC’s Bylaws, for the first time two members will be Georgian.1 elected at-large to serve on the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and • The Columbia University Journal- Mass Communications. The four candidates include Charles Edwards, Drake; Don ism School was created with a $2 mil- Grady, Elon; Maria Marron, Central Michigan; and Carol Pardun, South Carolina. 2 Another change in AEJMC’s Bylaws allows for three members to be elected an- lion bequest from Joseph Pulitzer. nually to serve on the Publications Committee; previously these positions were ap- • A survey completed in 1912 pointed by the incoming president. The six candidates are John Besley, South reported that more than 30 colleges Carolina; Carl Patrick Burrowes, Penn State Harrisburg; Ted Glasser, Stanford; and universi5es were offering jour- 3 Louisa Ha, Bowling Green State; Carolyn Lin, Connecticut; and Joe Phelps, Alabama. nalism courses. Three seats will be filled on the Professional Freedom and Responsibility Com- • Twenty-one-year-old David Sarnoff, mittee. The six candidates running are Kathy Bradshaw, Bowling Green State; Hong future president of RCA, was a wire- Cheng, Ohio; Susan Gonders, SE Missouri State; Dean Kruckeberg, North Carolina less operator working for the Ameri- Charlotte; Jack Rosenberry, St. John Fisher; and Brad Yates, West Georgia. can Marconi Company, and one of AEJMC members will also vote for three representatives to fill seats on the Re- the few operators to monitor and re- search Committee. Candidates are Cory Armstrong, Florida; Bonnie Brennen, Mar- port the sinking of the Titanic on quette; Jisu Huh, Minnesota; Nikhil Moro, North Texas; Andrea Tanner, South April 15th.4 Carolina; and Liz Hansen, Eastern Kentucky. • As a result of compe5ng and un- The election will also fill three seats on the Teaching Committee. Candidates regulated wireless transmissions are Linda Aldoory, Maryland; Amy Falkner, Syracuse; Tricia Farwell, Middle Ten- from the Titanic tragedy, the U.S. nessee State; Chris Roush, North Carolina; Jeff South, Virginia Commonwealth; and Congress passed the Radio Act of Leslie-Jean Thornton, Arizona State. 1912, giving the government the right to Con+nued on page 4 Con+nued on page 6 FROM THE PRESIDENT Plan (the other was the Emerging Scholars program). We have retained the resolution process: the PF&R committee still works By Linda Steiner with people to word resolutions submitted and voted on at the 2011-12 AEJMC President business meeting. Members can also propose resolutions from University of Maryland the floor. Some resolutions are fairly pro forma; others undergo [email protected] lively debate. But now, waiting until August is no longer neces- sary. A process endorsed by the membership in 2009 and emended in 2010 calls for three members of the PF&R com- mittee (all elected, as you know) to advise the president. The PF&R representatives can propose issues for considera- An Official Statement tion. They definitely help draft and edit statements. Of course, anyone can propose an issue if it’s central to our mission, on Making Official Statements including someone who is not a member. More to the point, even when individuals or groups are the source of controversy In recent months, several people have raised questions re- or the centerpiece of an issue, they need not be AEJMC mem- garding when and why the AEJMC president might—or might bers. not—issue official statements. Individuals and groups, both in- After the president and Advisory Council work out the side and outside AEJMC, have asked AEJMC to take positions, draft, it undergoes a second round of vetting, by representatives then wondered why we failed to do so. I understand these ques- of each division, interest group and commission. The president tions, since the Association wants to have impact on public pol- and Advi- icy regarding media and journalism, to assert its leadership in sory Coun- protecting First Amendment rights and helping media profes- cil not only So, the official comment process sions meet ongoing challenges, to bring critical problems to pub- consider all lic attention, and to make visible and available members’ their feedback, is complicated, time-consuming research. We sometimes take stands, I would add, to highlight but can and do and even a little cumbersome.” important principles (this assumption lies behind some of our consult others. ethics code, too), even if we have little probability of directly af- I talk to many fecting (much less effecting) policy or law. It’s much easier for an people with research interests, expertise and/or background rel- AEJMC president to assert a position in this newsletter than to evant to a particular issue. make an official declaration on behalf of the organization. More- So, the official comment process is complicated, time- over, I have the strong sense that members prefer this column to consuming and even a little cumbersome. In truth, I was argue something provocative rather than defend internal poli- slightly frustrated when I was invited to write a “resolution,” tics. Nonetheless, I want to explain how official statements to be read three days later, at the funeral of Von Whitmore. emerge and evolve and why certain statements ultimately get Although I would hate to say something that offends or alien- deep-sixed. (So you learn something here: six fathoms of water ates the entire membership, here I was prepared to act on a are required for burial at sea.) certain friend’s reminder that it is easier to ask for forgiveness In November 2007 in this same space, Charles Self com- than for permission. Luckily, the process was completed in mented, “AEJMC could be the most influential academic associa- time. tion among media practitioners and media policy makers.” The But not only does the elected president have the final deci- “could” was ambiguous. It may merely have been a modest way sion on what statement, if at all, is issued, but the cumbersome- of suggesting that AEJMC is influential. Alternatively, perhaps ness can be advantageous. Slowing down to check out the facts this was a way to highlight AEJMC’s potential influence. In any or check out if facts exist is a good thing. Consulting with a lot case, after AEJMC members approved eight Strategic Directions, of people may “tame” the language, but smart people can also a Strategic Plan committee began developing specific objectives sharpen it and elaborate the argument. In some cases, we issued to implement them. One concern was that the resolutions voted no official comment because we decided that the situation was on at our August business meetings are not the best way for us not as it was initially presented or as we had thought; in others, to exercise leadership on public matters; by the time we come we cannot issue a statement because we can’t figure out what together for the annual conference, those resolutions are late, is going on. Drafts of statements, I’m happy to report, have ineffective or irrelevant. A policy establishing the AEJMC presi- enjoyed consensus, albeit not unanimity. One DIG chair voted dent’s authority to make statements on important issues was against our statement highlighting the First Amendment rights therefore among the first initiatives emerging from our Strategic Con+nued on page 4 2 AEJMC News | March 2012 aejmc.org/home/publications/aejmcnews A special summer opportunity — AEJMC NEWS Newsletter for the Association for Education Social Media and Multiple Platforms: in Journalism and Mass Communication Learning from the Pros, Bringing It www.aejmc.org to the Classroom AEJMC 2011-12 Board of Directors AEJMC President The Scripps Howard Foundation is funding the opportunity for six journalism Linda Steiner, Maryland faculty to spend two weeks this summer learning first-hand how newspapers and President-elect Kyu Ho Youm, Oregon broadcast stations use social media across multiple platforms. The idea is then to Vice President bring that knowledge into the classroom in the courses each person teaches in fall Paula Poindexter, University of Texas-Austin 2012 and winter/spring 2013. Past President A second phase of the program will also provide funds for a professional from Jan Slater, Illinois the media outlet to visit that professor’s campus for five days during the 2012-13 PF&R Committee Chair Kathy Bradshaw, Bowling Green State University academic year. The professional would be available for a variety of activities while Research Committee Chair on campus, depending on the needs of the program. Ann Hollifield, University of Georgia The Scripps Howard Foundation has $4,000 total available for each application Teaching Committee Chair selected for the program.