Archives for March 2013

Jan. 12, 2012 | The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), a nonprofit, academic organization of more than 3,600 journalism and mass communication educators, students, and media professionals, is committed to “defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice and a better informed public.”

AEJMC would like to respond to the October 27, 2011 Federal Communications Commission Order on Reconsideration and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in connection with “the Matter of Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure Requirements for Television Broadcast Licensee Public Interest Obligations.”

AEJMC supports the FCC’s important proposed rule change because this would bring closer to reality broadcasters’ transparency in fulfilling their “public-interest obligations” to communities.  The rule change would exponentially expand the public’s access to the broadcasters’ “public-inspection files,” now on paper, by requiring them to make them available online.  AEJMC applauds the FCC for its overdue effort to “modernize the way television broadcasters inform the public about how they are serving their communities.”

As Steven Waldman, the lead author of the FCC report titled “Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age,” cogently noted in his Columbia Journalism Review article of December 29, 2011, the proposed FCC rule change mandating online access will impose little additional burden to broadcasters, since broadcasters are already required to assemble these materials.

From journalism and mass communication educators’ perspective, AEJMC believes that putting these political files online would enable educators and researchers to better teach and research how the public-owned airwaves have been used for political advertising.  Equally important, investigating the broadcasters’ “pay for play” arrangements would be much easier if these records are included in online public files.

AEJMC disagrees with broadcasters that the proposed FCC disclosure regulations could create problems for them in terms of additional cost and manpower from compliance with the regulations.  Their objections seem to be more transparency-averse than cost-motivated.  For putting the public inspection data online at the FCC would entail little additional cost for the broadcasters.

Professor Jeremy Harris Lipschultz, director of the University of Nebraska-Omaha School of Communication, who for more than twenty years has been sending students in his Media Regulation and Freedom course to inspect local public files, recently said, “Some operations are downright hostile about the current obligation of public inspection during regular office hours.”

In conclusion, AEJMC urges the FCC to err on the side of more transparency, not less, on the part of broadcasters’ obligations for public-file inspections.  This is all the more compelling than ever, given that off-line information about the broadcasters’ records for operating TV and radio stations for the “public interest, convenience, and necessity” is more often a case of “practical obscurity.”  This should no longer be allowed in the Internet era.  The media transparency proposal of the FCC would be one effective way to tackle the physical inertia inherent in the files in the broadcasters’ file cabinets.

To leave a comment about the proposed rule change on the FCC site, go here: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/display?z=yx8a4 (Enter proceeding number 00-168)

AEJMC Contact Information: Contact Linda Steiner, President, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 2011-2012
Email: lsteiner@jmail.umd.edu
Phone: 301-405-2426

<<PACS

By Pat Curtin, University of Oregon

It’s that time of year. We’re all thinking about filing taxes—not to mention submitting our papers for the AEJMC conference. So with tongue firmly in cheek, if you want to ensure your paper is one of the increasing number of papers disqualified each year, just choose one of these 10 ways to put yourself out of the running.

 

10. Ignore the instructions in the paper call.

Remember that there is a general paper call and a specific one for each division or interest group. Not reading and following the instructions in one or both is a surefire way to have your paper disqualified.

9. Keep all identifying information on your file.

Each year, I put my cursor over a file to open a paper and review it and get the full details of who you are and where you work. While it’s nice to make your acquaintance, however remotely, if I can’t blind review your paper because of identifying file information, it’s disqualified.

8. Make me put on my readers.

Page limits are based on readable type. We all teach; we all know the tricks. Using 9-point font and single or 1.5 line spacing is a sure sign you’re asking for your paper to be disqualified.

7. Cite yourself—explicitly and frequently.

Good for you if you did a pilot study or published earlier work on which this study is building. But just put (Cite withheld for blind review) unless you really want to be disqualified. The same goes for additional data on a web site; don’t give us the URL until blind review is over.

6. Have questions but don’t ask them.

Research chairs are available to answer questions about what constitutes grounds for disqualification, as are members of the Standing Committee on Research. But if you want to be disqualified, don’t ask, and we won’t answer.

5. Think I’m in communication because I don’t do math.

Page limits are page limits. Having a 25-page paper with four page 16s isn’t a 25-page paper. It’s a 28-page one. And I don’t need my fingers to figure that one out.

4. Double dip.

Not sure which division or interest group to submit to? Submitting the same paper to more than one is a great way to have your paper disqualified and not have to continue agonizing over the decision.

3. Recycle.

Coming up a little short this year for submissions? Dusting off a paper already presented at a different conference will also ensure you meet the disqualification bar (student papers presented at AEJMC regionals are the one exception to the rule for most divisions and interest groups. See guidelines.).

2. Jump the gun.

Already sent the paper off for publication review but want to see the sights of DC? Submitting a paper that’s already out for review at a journal is a great way to ensure you miss the White House tour and Smithsonian. Not to mention some really great food.

1. Forget to submit by deadline.

OK, so technically this isn’t a disqualification, but it is a good way to ensure your paper isn’t part of the conference.

We’d actually rather see you all at the conference then have you become a disqualification statistic. It promises to be a great meeting, and we want you to be a part of it. Remember to read all guidelines and rules carefully, and ask questions if you’re not sure.

<< Research Resources

The Effective Use of Guest Speakers

By Chris Roush
AEJMC Standing Committee on Teaching
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
croush@email.unc.edu

(Article courtesy of AEJMC News, March 2013 issue)

I’m a big believer in using guest speakers in my classes. I think that they add a different perspective, and I also think that students appreciate hearing from somebody else a couple of times throughout the semester.

I like using guest speakers to talk about topics in which I believe I’m weak. I’m one of those professors who believes in giving the students the best education possible, even if it doesn’t all come out of my mouth.

That said, I’ve also had my fair share of guest speakers who have made it painful for me, and the students, to listen to them talk. They’ve rambled and gotten off topic, or their personality simply was not suited for the classroom. They often use the guest speaker stint as an opportunity to brag about their careers or their companies.

Here are my dos and don’ts when it comes to how to properly and effectively use guest speakers to enrich the learning experience:

DO a background check on the guest speaker. If a professional PR or advertising person from the local community is asking to speak to your students, find out if they’ve ever done any teaching before. Ask them for an overview of what they plan to talk about, or give them the topic and ask them for an outline based on that topic.

DON’T feel the need to accept guest speakers just because they’re visiting the school or are an alum. If they don’t fit into what you’re doing in your class, take a pass even if the dean wants you to use them. My worst memory of a guest speaker was a foreign journalist who was an alumnus. At    the end of his talk, the students were openly mocking him  because it was clear he didn’t know how to speak to a   group.

DO use guest speakers for specific assignments. If you make the students write a story or a report about what the person spoke about, then they won’t consider the guest speaker a chance to loaf and sleep in the back of the class. I regularly bring a CEO into my “Business Reporting” class to speak about his relationship with the media, but I also require students to ask him questions about his company and then write a story.

DON’T overuse guest speakers. During a semester, you’ll have anywhere between 30 to 40 class periods, depending on your university’s calendar. Use no more than three or four guest speakers during a class. I consider class time valuable, and too many guest speakers disrupts the flow of teaching. I use guest speakers after a particularly difficult exercise or right before a paper is due. That gives students some time to breathe and take in what the class is trying to accomplish.

DO find guest speakers who have personalities, or who provide an interesting perspective to your students. In the “Business Reporting” course, I like to invite a public relations executive from a local company. She’s often the first PR person that the students have encountered, and she brings product samples from her company and gives them to students. I’ll use her sucking up to my students to launch into a discussion about ethics during the next class.

DON’T let the guest speakers take over your class. If they get off track, don’t hesitate to interrupt and ask questions to get them back on topic. If the students aren’t participating by asking questions, it’s your responsibility to jump in and ask the questions you think will elicit answers that students will want to hear. You want to help the guest speaker succeed.

DO shoot for the moon with guest speakers. You never know who is willing to come to your class. When I taught at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va., which is not the easiest place to get to, I invited a mutual fund manager from John Hancock Financial Services in Boston to come speak to my class. Surprisingly, he accepted the offer. I’ve also gotten journalists from CNBC and The Wall Street Journal in New York to travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., on their own dime, or their employers have picked up the tab.

DON’T worry about re-using guest speakers. If you find some good ones, then use them each semester. None of the students will have heard them the previous semester, right?

DO return the favor. If you ask a colleague to be a guest speaker, offer to lecture in one of their classes. I’ve been a guest speaker in everything from “Research Methods” to “Ethics” to “Medical Reporting.”

And if you get a guest speaker who is horrible, let them know why you won’t be inviting them back. Many have grand illusions of turning guest speaker roles into an adjunct or professor positions.

As we all know, not everyone is cut out for this business.

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Chris Roush is the senior associate dean at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and founding director of the Carolina Business News Initiative, which provides training for professional journalists and students.

<<Teaching Corner