2012 April — AEJMC Hot Topics

FCC to Vote on Political Ad Data Posting

April 26, 2012 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

The FCC is set to vote tomorrow on whether or not TV stations will have to post political ad information online. To get the word out about this, Bill Moyers asked journalism professors and students to visit local television stations and gather information on political ad funding. Moyers recently posted on his site:

“Two intrepid journalism students from Kent State — Megan Closser and Shanice Dunning — took me up on my challenge to visit their local TV stations and uncover data behind the political ads they run. Naturally, they took their cameras, but faced a surprising amount of resistance to using them.”

You can view the request Moyers made on his show below. You can also view the video Kent State students made about their trip to four local television station here: http://billmoyers.com/2012/04/24/ohio-journalism-students-answer-call-to-uncover-political-ad-data/

Filed Under: Hot Topics Tagged With: Advertising, Bill Moyers, FCC, higher ed, Journalism students, politics

Take the Survey on Plagiarism

April 18, 2012 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

We are conducting research on attitudes toward plagiarism, replicating, in part, a research survey that was conducted and paper that was published more than 25 years ago by assistant professor Jerry Chaney and associate professor Tom Duncan of Ball State University’s Department of Journalism. The article was published in Journalism Educator, Summer 1985, pp. 13-16.

Specifically, this survey will measure the change in attitudes toward plagiarism, if any, over the past 25 years. The survey is being sent to professors in the journalism field as well as to editors of daily and weekly newspapers in the United States and Canada.

The survey is completely anonymous. You will be identified only as a professor in the academic realm or an editor in the professional one. You can click on this link to take the survey, which will take about 5 to 10 minutes:

https://iup.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0dmFcje95yoI4Bu

If the link does not work, try one or both of the following:

1) Make sure there are no spaces at the end of the typed link; or

2) Copy and paste the link into your browser.

This study has been examined by Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects. Since the survey does not identify the participants except by broad category, the research has been determined not to fall under the purview of the Board.

If you would like a summary of the survey results when compiled, please send an email to David Loomis at doloomis@iup.edu, or to Pat Heilman at pheilman@iup.edu. Thank you for your participation.

David O. Loomis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Journalism, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Patricia I. Heilman, Ph.D., Professor of Journalism, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Filed Under: Hot Topics Tagged With: plagiarism, Survey

Why ‘Advanced’ TV Ads Haven’t Spawned a Marketing Utopia

April 16, 2012 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Matt Creamer on AdAge, April 16 –

That I live in a city (New York) where 54% of residents are car-free means chances are good that I don’t own a vehicle. The odds increase with my address in Manhattan, a borough where by some counts about 75% go without wheels, and positively soar in my parking spot-desolate ZIP code.

The author sees lots of TV ads for cars — in Manhattan.

So it’s a safe bet that all the auto ads dominating commercial pods I see nightly aren’t safe bets at all. Despite being nowhere near a sales funnel that might eventually deposit me behind the wheel, I am besieged by car and car-related pitches. I see Lincoln pitchman John Slattery more often than I see my friends, and the Jay-Z flourish announcing that Chrysler 300 spot loops endlessly in my mind. Don’t even get me started on Progressive ‘s Flo and the Geico Gecko.

Read the full post on AdAge

Filed Under: Hot Topics Tagged With: Advertising, Media, television, TV

How the Titanic Made the Modern Radio Industry

April 16, 2012 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Katherine Bygrave Howe on Bloomberg, April 13 –

We remember the Titanic for its epic technological hubris. But the ship’s sinking also marks the moment when a more modest technology, the wireless radio, began to transform the shipping industry.

As an example of the Progressive-era faith in technology, the Titanic is hard to equal. In addition to its sumptuous interior, the ship was able to churn across the ocean at a staggering 22.5 knots. It was also outfitted with the most sophisticated wireless-telegraph technology available, with a range of nearly 1,000 miles.

While the speed was central to the ship’s operation, the wireless radio was considered a novelty.

Read the full article on Bloomberg

Filed Under: Hot Topics Tagged With: radio, titanic

AAUP Releases Faculty Salary Report

April 10, 2012 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

AAUP’s annual salary report for college faculty is now available.

View the report: A Very Slow Recovery: The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2011–12

Or view the press release on the AAUP website.

Filed Under: Hot Topics Tagged With: AAUP, faculty, Salary

FlackCheck.org uses humor to reveal false political advertising & how political campaigns are portrayed

April 5, 2012 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

From the FlackCheck.org website –

“Headquartered at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, FlackCheck.org is a video-based counterpart to APPC’s award-winning program FactCheck.org. FlackCheck.org uses parody and humor to debunk false political advertising, poke fun at extreme language, and hold the media accountable for their reporting on political campaigns.”

Go to FlackCheck.org

Filed Under: Hot Topics Tagged With: parody, politics, video

Magazines Racing to Capitalize on Pinterest

April 3, 2012 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Rupal Parekh on AdAge, April 2 –

Last month, digital executives from Hearst’s 20 or so titles were summoned for an important meeting at the company’s Manhattan headquarters.

The pressing subject was Pinterest, how all Hearst’s magazines are using it, and how they could leverage the platform. Attendees also spent a fair bit of time examining competitors’ “pinning” strategies.

“It’s a really big initiative for us within the digital department at Hearst,” said Keith Pollock, editorial director of Elle.com.

Read the full post on AdAge

Filed Under: Hot Topics Tagged With: adage, Magazine, pinterest

Why Libya Needs a Free Media to Emerge

April 2, 2012 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Everette E. Dennis, Dean and CEO, Northwestern University in Qatar (Huffington Post, April 2) –

One year after the bloody civil war that toppled Muammar Gaddafi began, it is clear that the transition to a functional democracy in Libya is still a long way off. Libya under Gaddafi’s iron fist had no independent political, civil society, commercial, or media institutions to speak of, and remains a blank slate on which an uncertain future will be written. But it is important to keep an eye on the country’s progress, for its path towards developing viable institutions is instructive to other countries of the so-called “Arab spring.”

Read the full article on the Huffington Post website

Filed Under: Hot Topics Tagged With: Libya, media press freedom