Bill Cassidy — AEJMC Hot Topics

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...]

Inspired by the series on social media by Danny Brown, “Discussing JMC with…” features a collection of interviews with academics from across the U.S. and abroad discussing current topics and trends in journalism and mass communication.

Bill Cassidy is an Associate Professor and Journalism Area Coordinator in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University. The 2009-2010 head of the Newspaper Division of AEJMC, he teaches courses in print journalism, mass communication theory and graduate research methods.

His research examines influences on news media content, specifically in the areas of online journalism, media credibility and AIDS coverage. Cassidy’s work has been published in journals such as Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Newspaper Research Journal, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Atlantic Journal of Communication, and First Monday.

He earned his Ph.D. in Communication and Society from the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Houston and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tulsa. Prior to entering academia, Cassidy worked for more than a decade as a columnist and correspondent for Daily Racing Form, the leading publication in the Thoroughbred horse racing industry.

How do you define mass communication?

In my classes I initially address this question from the standpoint of “What is mass media?” We start with the word media which, of course, are the different technologies that facilitate communication between the senders and receivers of messages. Then when we introduce mass into the conversation, we arrive at a definition of mass media similar to the one offered in Croteau and Hoynes’ Media Society textbook, “media that reach a relatively large audience of usually anonymous readers.” I find this definition is a good starting point in addressing the fact that the distinctions between mass communication and other forms of communication are no longer so cut-and-dried. [Read more...]

Curriculum Fatigue

Discussing JMC with… Bill Cassidy