University of South Carolina 1st Annual AEJMC Gathering

Leading Environmental Communications Researchers and Practitioners to Share Ideas at AEJMC Conference

DENVER – Denver, a city at the vanguard of environmental awareness and innovation, will host this year’s Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference. The Mile High City is the perfect venue for two conference panels that will offer in-depth analysis of current trends in environmental communication. These events will bring together academic researchers from multiple disciplines and practitioners from different perspectives, providing a unique opportunity to explore developing trends and exchange ideas on best practices. The presentations will take place on Tuesday, August 3, and Thursday, August 5, at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

If you missed Stephen Colbert’s recent analysis of the “science catfight” between meteorologists and climate scientists (also covered extensively in the “mainstream” media), you will be able to hear directly from Kris Wilson (University of Texas), a key researcher on the project, as part of a pre-conference panel on communicating climate change (and other environmental issues) on Tuesday, August 3, 2-5 pm.

This preconference session will include two panels featuring ten communications experts whose combined work comprises hundreds of articles, books, presentations and media interviews in the academic and popular press. Maxwell Boykoff (University of Colorado at Boulder) is an international expert on media coverage of the climate change issue, who has been featured in Andrew C. Revkin’s “dotearth” blog at nytimes.com. Matthew Nisbet (American University) is highly cited for his insights on media framing of environmental and scientific issues, and Susanna Hornig Priest is editor of the journal Science Communication. David Hosansky, head of media relations for University Corporation for Atmospheric Research will provide scientific perspective, and Drew Kramer (InterMountain Corporate Affairs) and Molly Williams (Craft Interactive) will provide the viewpoint of public relations practitioners. Other panelists will include Michael Palenchar (University of Tennessee), Susan Grantham (University of Hartford), and Ann Marie Major (Pennsylvania State).

The role of modern religion in the communication of environmental values will be explored in the Thursday panel (11:45 am to 1:15 pm). Connie Roser-Renouf (George Mason University) will present data from a recent national survey that connects religiosity variables with environmental attitudes. Mark Neuzil (University of St. Thomas) will provide an overview of how the ancients wrote about the intersection of spirituality and nature and identify common themes that run through various religious traditions, and Tracylee Clarke (California State University Channel Islands) will explore the multiple rhetorical interpretations of the Bible in relation to care of the environment. Rev. Peter Sawtell, founder and Executive Director of Eco-Justice Ministries, will summarize the transformational role religious institutions can have in revisiting deep moral questions related to man and the environment.

Event Details:

Communication and the Environment: Theory and Practice – Tuesday, August 3, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel

Environmentalism and Religiosity, Exploring the Connections – Thursday, August 5, 11:45 am to 1:15 pm, Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel

Contact:
Lee Ahern, Penn State University, laa182@psu.edu

If you are interested in attending these sessions, please contact Lee in order to arrange appropriate conference credentials.

AEJMC Members Attend World Journalism Education Congress in South Africa

GRAHAMSTOWN, South Africa — Joining educators from around the world to discuss the current and future challenges facing journalism education, more than 30 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication members attended the World Journalism Education Congress in South Africa.

“There’s so much traction around the world now for journalism education that there really is a lot for journalism educators to learn,” said Joe Foote, convener of the World Journalism Education Congress and dean of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma. “We need to have integration in research, teaching and professional activities that invigorate our curriculum and learn from the way others are doing it.”

The World Journalism Education Congress brings together journalism educators from around the world to advance journalism education in their own countries and around the globe. More than 400 journalism and mass communication educators from more than 50 countries attended the congress, which ran from July 4-7. Rhodes University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies, located in Grahamstown, South Africa, hosted the congress.

AEJMC members who attended the World Journalism Education Congress will share the key themes discussed in Grahamstown during a panel at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday, August 5 at the AEJMC conference in Denver, Colorado.

The presence of AEJMC members at the World Journalism Education Congress demonstrates the organizations’ continued commitment to the World Journalism Education Congress and to journalism education around the world, said Wayne Wanta, former AEJMC president and Welch-Bridgewater chair in sports journalism at Oklahoma State University.

“AEJMC provided financial support for the first congress and sent the AEJMC president and the president of ASJMC to the congress and that initial support helped make that congress successful,” said Wanta, who is AEJMC’s representative at the congress. “Although there wasn’t as much support for this one, three former AEJMC presidents attended and several other members were here and I’m sure future presidents will continue supporting the WJEC.”

This year’s congress is the second World Journalism Education Congress. The first congress took place in 2007 in Singapore.

The World Journalism Education Congress is organized under the auspices of the World Journalism Education Council, which comprises representatives from 29 journalism education associations from around the world. Council hopes to provide a common space for journalism educators from around the world and to focus on issues that are universal in the field.

The World Journalism Education Council is now accepting proposals to host the 3rd World Journalism Education Congress in 2013. Guidelines for proposal submissions can be found at http://wjec.ou.edu.

Contact: Joe Foote, World Journalism Education Congress convener, jfoote@ou.edu

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The Cable Center Tour & Reception

Calling All Editors: It’s almost time for breakfast!

The Breakfast of Editing Champions, sponsored by the Dow Jones News Fund and co-hosted by Deborah Gump of Middle Tennessee State University and Andy Bechtel of UNC-Chapel Hill, will focus on the future of editing and editing education. The breakfast is free and open to anyone. Special guests include:

• Damon Cain, managing editor for presentation and design at The Denver Post. Damon oversees the news copy desk, and he is active in the Society for News Design, which will hold its conference in Denver in September. Cain was previously director of news design at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. He has also worked as an editor and reporter at community newspapers in Iowa. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa.
• Teresa Schmedding, the new president of the American Copy Editors Society. Schmedding, a frequent presenter on managing creative people and other newsroom issues, is news editor at the Daily Herald in Chicago, the third largest paper in Illinois. Schmedding has an undergraduate degree in journalism and a master’s in media management from the University of Missouri.

Special Newsroom Tour: Jim Bates, The Post’s night editor, will lead a tour of the newsroom for the first 20 attendees who RSVP. The tour will take place immediately following the breakfast. When you RSVP, let us know whether you’d like to visit The Post.

Teaching Idea Exchange: Send your best teaching ideas and tips to Andy Bechtel at andy.bechtel@gmail.com by Monday, July 26.

Teaching Resource Exchange: Send your favorite teaching websites, books, magazine articles, YouTube clips, etc. to Deborah Gump at gumpdl@gmail.com by Monday, July 26.

A compilation of resources will be shared with attendees.

DATE: August 6, 2010
TIME: 8:15 to 9:45 a.m.
RSVP (required): Send an e-mail to Deborah at gumpdl@gmail.com by July 26.

Wanna know what’s in store? Take a look at some of our “Breakfast of Editing Champions” meetings from the 2006-2009 AEJMC conferences.

Stout, Whaley to be Recognized for Commitment to Free Expression at AEJMC Denver Conference

The Cultural and Critical Studies Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is proud to announce the winners of the 2010 Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award. The CCS Division will recognize Jon Stout and Free Speech TV as well as Monte Whaley and the Denver Post for their commitment to excellence and integrity on Thursday, August 5, in an award ceremony and panel session at 3:15 p.m. during the 2010 AEJMC Denver Conference at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

The session is entitled “Giving Voice to Those Outside the Power Circle” and will feature the insights of Jon Stout and Monte Whaley.  Jacque Lambiase of Texas Christian University and Rebecca Kern of Manhattan College will serve as discussants.

Bob Trumpbour, Head of the CCS Division, said he is thrilled to welcome both recipients.  “I am proud of the division’s choice for 2010, as it is a tremendous reflection of the quality we have come to expect in CCS. I am looking forward to this as a showcase event for this year’s convention.”

Jon Stout is General Manager and Co-Founder of Free Speech TV ( ), an organization that has worked tirelessly to cultivate an informed and active citizenry while promoting voices and perspectives that have been under-represented in much of the commercial media. Free Speech TV programs include Democracy Now!, The Thom Hartmann Show, GRITtv with Laura Flanders, Gay USA, Enviro Close-Up, and a diverse array of investigative documentaries. Free Speech TV is available to 35 million U.S. homes, with Jon Stout taking a leadership role in establishing it as the first national, full-time progressive television network. Free Speech TV maintains a website (www.freespeech.org) that hosts a vibrant collection of progressive media content and a “Progressive Action Calendar” that facilitates citizen activism and engagement. Jon is a founding member of both the Activist Media Project and Working Films.  He had served on numerous foundation nominating and funding panels.

Monte Whaley is the Denver Post’s ( ) lone regional reporter in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming, an area roughly the size of New England. His wide-ranging assignments include  such topics as Native American issues, displaced trailer park residents, sexual abuse, and community responses to complex constitutional issues. He and the Denver Post were nominated for national recognition by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation [GLAAD] for their courageous reporting of the Angie Zapata murder. Monte and the Denver Post provided thorough coverage of an individual who was the victim of a brutal transgender hate crime. The reporting helped to put a human face on the daily challenges faced by transgender citizens with editorials that were supportive of rights and protections for gay and transgender citizens. In August 2009, GLAAD recognized the Denver Post as a “best” example of national news coverage for educating readers “about the prejudice directed toward transgender people” and for stressing “the need for legal protections that bar discrimination based on gender identity.”

The CCS Professional Freedom and Responsibility awards recognize individuals and organizations for a profound commitment to free expression; ethics; media criticism and accountability; racial, gender, and cultural inclusiveness; and/or public service. Past recipients include George Seldes, Molly Ivins, Noam Chomsky, Nina Totenberg, Studs Terkel, Bill Moyers, Mark Goodman, Carol Marin, and Sut Jhally.

AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. The Cultural and Critical Studies Division of AEJMC is committed to excellence in scholarship, teaching, and service, with the Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award integrated into its annual program as a highly valued tradition in its long-standing commitment to social justice and ethical journalistic principles.

CONTACT: Jeanne Criswell, CCS Professional Freedom and Responsibility Chair
Tel:  (317) 788-3445, Fax: (317) 788-3490, e-mail: jcriswell@uindy.edu

AEJMC President Announces “Presidents and the Press” Panel

Carol J. Pardun, president of AEJMC will host her Presidential Panel on Wednesday, August 4, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. “Presidents and the Press” will feature a range of AEJMC members who have strong opinions about the role of the press within the public life of the President.

W. Joseph Campbell, professor of journalism at American University and author of the recently published Getting It Wrong, a book that debunks long-held media-driving myths, will lead the lively discussion by posing thought-provoking questions to the panelists. The session is designed to allow time for questions and comments from the audience.
Besides Dr. Campbell, panelists include:

Charles Bierbauer, professor and dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies at the University of South Carolina and former CNN Washington correspondent who covered the Reagan and Bush administrations as well as the U.S. Supreme Court and legal affairs including the Clinton impeachment and the 2000 election legal challenges.

Linda Florence Callahan, chair of the Commission on the Status of Minorities, professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at North Carolina A&T State University and former print and broadcast journalist.

Sandra Chance, McClatchy Professor in Freedom of Information, executive director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, and media law professor, University of Florida who has published dozens of articles on First Amendment and freedom of information issues.

Phil Jeter, professor and chair of the Department of Mass Communications at Winston-Salem State University and a former reporter for United Press International whose writing has focused on media management and ownership and issues related to portrayals of people of color in the mass media.

Date: August 4, 2010
Time: 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Primary Sponsor: AEJMC

New Political Communication Group to Convene in Denver

The NEW Political Communication Interest Group will sponsor “The State of Political Discourse in America: Reevaluating the Role of the Media in the Political Process” on Friday, August 6 from 5:15 to 6:45 p.m.

The panel will feature David Pelmutter (Iowa), Dhavan Shah (Wisconsin), Spiro Kiousis (Florida) and Regina Lawrence (LSU). The panel will be followed by the interest group’s first business meeting where future officers will be elected.

For more information about the Political Communication Interest Group or the panel, please visit our Facebook page or email me directly at golanresearch@yahoo.com.

New Sports Communication Group to Convene in Denver

The Sports Communication Interest Group (SPORTS) will meet for the first time at the national convention in Denver. The group is designed to support AEJMC members who are scholars and teachers of sports-related courses, including those in the areas of journalism, broadcasting, advertising/marketing and sports information/public relations.

Sports communication is a unique area that combines elements of newswork and entertainment and related industries. SPORTS is designed to provide networking, resources, scholarship and programming with a balanced agenda that focuses on teaching, scholarship and issues of professional freedom and responsibility. This agenda will be pursued through activities at the national convention and regional meetings as well as the organization’s newsletter, Web site, and listserv. The group will also facilitate outreach for its members to scholarly and professional organizations.

The group will sponsor “Ahead of the curve: Multimedia and the future of sports journalism” on Thursday, August 5 from 5-6:30 p.m. Sports media have been innovators in multimedia usage long before other journalistic enterprises. Why have sports been at the forefront of maximizing technology and integrating fans into coverage? What’s next? Panelists who will discuss this issue include Graham Watson (freelance journalist, formerly with ESPN), Reggie Rivers (commentator and retired NFL player), Woody Paige (The Denver Post) and Lindsay Jones (Denver Post).

The group’s Member’s meeting will take place right after the panel, from 6:45 to 8:15 p.m.

DON’T MISS our upcoming online chat!

AEJMC Sports & Social Media: Issues & Predictions

Date: Thursday, July 22, 2010
Time: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Location: http://www.aejmc.com/topics/chat

Scholars and professional journalists engage in a discussion of the ways social media has altered sports coverage. Moderator Marie Hardin, will be joined by Malcolm Moran, Knight Chair for Sports Journalism and Society; Viv Bernstein, New York Times contributing correspondent for sports; Megan Hueter, founder of Women Talk Sports; and Brad Schultz, researcher on sports reporters and new media.

Architecture Critic Inga Saffron and Urban Analyst Joel Kotkin are Dual Winners of 2010 Gene Burd Urban Journalism Award

The Urban Communication Foundation is pleased to bestow the 2010 Gene Burd Urban Communication Journalism Award to Joel Kotkin, urban analyst and Inga Saffron, architecture critic of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Each will receive a $5,000 award to be presented on August 6th at the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication to be held at the Sheraton Denver Downtown.

Joel Kotkin is an internationally recognized authority on urban trends and their global, economic, political and social ramifications. As a journalist, he has regularly explored urban landscapes, people, and policy for more than two decades. His writings on urban housing and urban planning have appeared in a range of magazines and journals that include The Wharton Real Estate Review, Inc, Newsweek, The American Interest, Commentary, and Metropolis. He also has contributed frequent pieces on urban landscapes and policy for more than two decades in newspapers that include The Washington Post, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco chronicle, and The Los Angeles Times.

Joel Kotkin is the author of The New Geography: How the Digital Revolution is Reshaping the American Landscape; The City: A global History and the recently published The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050.

His opinions are widely disseminated on Internet blogs that provide forums on individual cities (such as Houston Strategies) and overviews on city issues (such as Planetizen); his voice is also heard regularly on numerous radio and television public affairs programs (such as NPR and CNN). And, finally, his scholarship on changing urban realities has been commissioned by foundations such as The Brookings Institute, The New America Foundation, and The Milkin Institute.

Hired by the Inquirer in 1985 as a suburban reporter, Inga Saffron today is a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism. One of Ms. Saffron’s champions has said, “Ms. Saffron’s writing is based on a deep understanding of Philadelphia’s distinctive urban fabric, of which she is a passionate but critical advocate. Her great strength is her ability to explain to her readers how each piece of our city – a major new high rise, the demolition of an historic building, or a sidewalk utility box – improves or diminishes the city for its inhabitants. While many in this city still focus only on whether development takes place, Ms. Saffron has become our most vocal proponent for the good quality design and thoughtful planning needed to preserve the city’s rich character and help achieve a more vibrant future.”

Another advocate has said: “Inga brings to her column and to greater Philadelphia a sensibility that is often associated with the phrase “everyday urbanism.” In Inga’s world, an individual building or park or streetscape or interior or piece of furniture is important not because it appeals to the elites or cognoscenti, but because it works for everyday Philadelphians.

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