AEJMC — AEJMC Hot Topics

Curriculum Fatigue

July 12, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Bill Cassidy, Northern Illinois University | Newspaper

How to best offer our students the skills and knowledge needed for success in their careers is undoubtedly important to all the divisions and interest groups of AEJMC. Given the tumultuous nature of the industry, not to mention the media landscape, most—if not all—journalism schools, departments, and programs have made changes in their curriculums.

I think the issue of curriculum change and development is particularly important to the Newspaper Division in large part because traditional newspaper writing and editing courses have been the backbone of journalism curriculums. But, in today’s environment, that simply won’t do. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: AEJMC, Bill Cassidy, Curriculum, Newspaper, Northern Illinois University

HDTV and its implications for mass communications

July 12, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Todd Chambers, Texas Tech University | Media Management and Economics

Wow. Have you heard the news? Television is making a comeback! From viewers spending more time in front of their new HDTVs (Stelter, 2010) to double-digit increases in spot television advertising revenues (Elliott, 2010), it appears that the good ole’ days are back. Despite these positive indicators for an important cog in the media wheel, significant challenges remain for an industry struggling to stay relevant to younger media consumers. It’s within these challenges where new theoretical and applied research studies can inform the next generation of media management and economics teachers and scholars.

In addition to the implications of policy and regulatory issues, the adoption of digital television by the industry and the consumer has provided numerous opportunities to think through some of the research opportunities in management and economics. Just on the consumption side, media managers are constantly trying to justify ‘new’ strategies for new ‘revenue streams’ from an active audience that is using multiple media concurrently. From applied studies related to managing multiple media platforms to theoretical studies about competition in local television markets, the digital era provides unique prospects for scholarship. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: AEJMC, Federal Communications Commission, HDTV, Mass Communication, Media Management and Economics, National Association of Broadcasters, National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Texas Tech University, Todd Chambers

Ten Years Young, the Media Ethics Division Continues to Meet Ethical Challenges

July 12, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Jack Breslin, Iona College | Media Ethics

In reflecting on our first decade as an AEJMC division, the Media Ethics Division leadership must continue to attract and inspire members with an open and engaging dialogue about crucial media ethics issues.

This on-going dialogue should not only promote relevant and innovative scholarship, which MED’s panels, research sessions and publications have demonstrated over the past decade. But this ethical “marketplace of ideas” must also inspire students and professionals to create their own ethical identities to discover insights and solutions for existing and new ethical challenges in our global media environment. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: AEJMC, Iona College, Jack Breslin, Media Ethics

Increasing Visibility for Digital and Media Literacy

July 12, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Renee Hobbs, Temple University | Mass Communication and Society

On October 2, 2009, the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy released their report, “Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age.” Among the main recommendations, the Commission urges that the nation (1) maximize the availability of relevant and credible information to all Americans; (2) strengthen the capacity of individuals to engage with information; and (3) promote individual engagement with information and the public life of the community.

In particular, the report recommends that digital and media literacy be integrated as critical elements of education at all levels through collaboration among federal, state and local education officials. Young people, in particular, have a special role to play in efforts to develop the digital information and communication capacities of local communities. Other recommendations call for universal broadband, open networks, transparent government, vibrant local journalism, public media reform, and local public engagement. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: AEJMC, Media Literacy, Renee Hobbs, Temple University

Diversity, racism not issues of the past

July 12, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Jennifer Bailey Woodard, Middle Tennessee State University and Ilia Rodriguez, The University of New Mexico | AEJMC Minorities and Communication

The election of Barack Obama, a black president, symbolizes to many of our students that the United States is now a fair and color blind society where there is no need to discuss issues of diversity and racial relations. Therefore, they do not see the need to be bothered with class assignments like creating a diverse source bank or ethical case studies on how to enter multicultural communities and report on them.

Our nation wants to be one that is finished with the problem of racism, but unfortunately we are not yet at this point in our history. On the contrary, a cursory view of recent events offers ample evidence of the pressing need to address race and diversity issues in our teaching, research and advocacy. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: AEJMC, Civil Rights Act, Diversity, Ilia Rodriguez, Jennifer Bailey Woodard, John Stossel, Middle Tennessee State University, Minorities and Communication, MSNBC, Obama, Rachel Maddow, Racism, Rand Paul, University of New Mexico

Successful Use of Various Social Media In A Class

July 3, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Ronald A. Yaros, University of Maryland

Summary Of A “Hybrid” Course Devoted to Technology and Social Media

This course, with 36 undergraduates, was one of twenty-five new interdisciplinary courses approved by my institution to address “new problems” facing society and to experiment with new teaching and learning strategies. The goals of the class are to use and evaluate various social media in the contexts of information production, sharing, consumption, teaching, and learning. Since the course is open to all majors, one of my goals as a journalism professor is to tap a diverse group of students to gain a better understanding of how digital information and social media are utilized in different disciplines. This “hybrid” course combines class meetings with the use of more than ten different social media tools during the 12-week semester. Some tools take the place of more traditional teaching methods such as papers and written exams. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: AEJMC, Audioboo, Blackboard, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Picasa, Ronald A. Yaros, Social Media, Social Media in the Classroom, University of Maryland, Wimba, YouTube

Enriching Public Relations Education through the Implementation of Social Media in the Classroom

June 29, 2010 By AEJMC 1 Comment

By Karen Freberg, The University of Tennessee

The public relations profession continues to play an essential and changing role in society, requiring the regular reassessment of the education of future public relations practitioners. Academics and practitioners often differ in how they view the public relations field, how they define the discipline, and how they view the major pedagogical approaches. The demands of the current economy and the ever-changing digital environment is challenging public relations practitioners and scholars to constantly evolve their research and practices in the discipline to meet the expectations of their stakeholders.

Having social media incorporated throughout the public relations courses will allow professors to feel more connected and up-to-date with their students. In the process, implementing social media in public relations classes will create a more dynamic, interactive, and forward-thinking learning environment for all parties. Also, understanding new technologies that focuses on how to communicate to various publics like social media does also creates a link to the theoretical foundations of thought (researchers or managers) to the those that are view public relations as a more applied field (practitioners or technicians). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: AEJMC, Facebook, Karen Freberg, Public Relations, Skype, Social Media, Social Media in the Classroom, Twitter, University of Tennessee

Widgets and Wikis for the Web 2.0 Journo

June 29, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Allissa Richardson, Morgan State University

On the first day of class, my students set up their “e-newsrooms.” The technology-shy students usually groan—then ask me what Facebook, Scribd, Twitter and WordPress have to do with being a journalist. I understand AEJMC begs this question too. Please allow me to share how my affinity for social media in the classroom began and evolved.

FACEBOOK’S SLIPPERY SLOPE

At some point in the Spring 2009 semester, I realized my students were not accessing Blackboard to fetch assignments or to view the assigned readings I had suggested in class. Students were coming to class unprepared and—even worse!—trying to pretend that they had done their homework. I began to think there must be a better way to reach them. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: AEJMC, Allissa Richardson, Drop.io, Facebook, Flickr, Google, Morgan State University, SlideShare, Social Media, Social Media in the Classroom, Sribd, Twitter, Wordpress, YouTube, Zoho Quizzes

Physician-journalist guidelines proposed in wake of Haiti earthquake

June 24, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

Electronic News | In the wake of extensive television news reporting in Haiti by physicians such as Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN, guidelines for physician-journalists in covering disasters are proposed in the current issue of Electronic News, published by SAGE.

Within two days after the January 12 quake, CNN had sent Gupta, its chief medical correspondent, to the scene. Other network physician reporters, including Drs. Richard Besser (ABC News), Nancy Snyderman (NBC News), and Jennifer Ashton (CBS News), arrived in the week following the quake. The physician reporters faced an immediate question. Should they exclusively report? Or should they attend to the sick and injured? Or should they do both? And if so, how should they balance the duties and responsibilities of their two professions?

All four chose to spend some or most of their time attending to injured and dying Haitians. On returning, physician-journalists faced criticism that by reporting about their own medical efforts, they were exploiting their good deeds for crass ends. [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Research Tagged With: AEJMC, Association of Health Care Journalists, CNN, Haiti, Jennifer Ashton, Media Ethics, Nancy Snyderman, Physician-journalists, Radio-Television Digital News Association, Radio-Television Journalism, Richard Besser, SAGE, Society of Professional Journalists, Tom Linden, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill