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AEJMC 2006 Resolutions

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AEJMC Members approved four resolutions during the 2006 Convention in San Francisco.

Resolution One: Concerning objections to the Bush Administration’s Anti-Press Policies and Practices

Resolution Two: Concerning support of the First Amendment Rights of Students and Protection of Faculty Advisers to Student Media

Resolution Three: Concerning the Censorship of Ocean County College for Violating the Free Press Rights of Students, and Calling for Reinstatement of Prof. Karen Bosley as Adviser to the Student Newspaper

Resolution Four: Concerning AEJMC Membership and Affiliate Support of Gender and Race Equity, and the Establishment of a Committee to Oversee the Process

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Resolution Three 2007

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Resolution Three: To Affirm Openness in AEJMC Convention Panels and Presentations

Moved: Dwight Teeter, Tennessee, former AEJMC president; seconded by several members.

Whereas the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication has long stood for openness and transparency in public life, and,

Whereas it has been in the spirit of AEJMC that journalists are free to cover public activities of its divisions, interest groups, commissions, and, other bodies, and,

Whereas at the 2007 convention the need for a specific declaration of that policy of openness became apparent,

Therefore, be it resolved:

That C-SPAN and any other news organization or journalist is welcome to cover all open panels and presentations at conventions of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and

That all guests invited to speak on panels and other presentations at AEJMC conventions will be informed of the open-coverage policy, and,

That the president of AEJMC be directed to convey an apology to the appropriate personnel of C-Span for the removal of one of their news teams from an AEJMC panel at the 2007 annual convention of AEJMC.

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Resolution Two 2007

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Resolution Two: To Protect Journalists from the Influence of Special Interests

Moved: Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility

Whereas the National Football League has created a new policy requiring members of news organizations to wear vests emblazoned with corporate logos while covering NFL games, and,

Whereas journalists should not be required to wear the emblem or logo of any particular corporation, organization or special interest group other than their own employers, and,

Whereas for government or commercial interests to require wearing product or other marketing insignia as a condition of admission to covering public and newsworthy events is a violation of the freedom of information, and,

Whereas the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and its members support the right of a free press corps to record news events unfettered by the corporate or commercial interest of any particular organization, and,

Whereas our members believe that, because working journalists often put their personal safety at great peril to bring viewers and readers the daily news, they should never be diminished or humiliated by being made into walking billboards or advertisements for any organization, and,

Whereas coverage of such sporting events as NFL football greatly enhances the reputation and popularity of the league, and any arbitrary and restrictive action could threaten the continued coverage of the NFL by news organizations,

Therefore, be it resolved:

That we, the members of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, join such organizations as the Radio Television News Directors’ Association, the National Press Photographers Association, and the Society for News Design in protesting most strongly this new policy to the National Football League, and,

That the president of AEJMC be directed to write to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, expressing the sentiments of this resolution and the AEJMC members’ objections to this violation of free expression for journalists in the strongest possible terms before the beginning of the regular football season., and,

That AEJMC be directed to convey the sense of this resolution to:

  1. The membership of AEJMC
  2. The general news media and trade press, and
  3. Any and all such other organizations that relate to Freedom of the Press and the freedom of expression.

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Resolution One 2007

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Resolution One: A Motion to Support Improvements in Federal Open Government Laws and Procedures

Moved: Resolutions Committee & Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility

Whereas the free flow of information to informed citizens is at the center of American democracy, and,

Whereas citizens and their media have for decades employed tools offered by state and federal Freedom of Information laws to learn more about government acts and behaviors, and shed greater light on the workings of their governments, and,

Whereas the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and its members have long championed openness in government at the national, state, and local levels, as the bedrock condition of an informed citizenry, and,

Whereas the Senate and the House of Representatives have each passed bills (S. 849, “The OPEN Government Act of 2007,” and H.R. 1309, “An Act to Promote Openness in Government by Strengthening Section 552 of Title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act” actions held to be “the first major strengthening of FOIA in more than a decade,” and,

Whereas more than one hundred organizations comprising media professionals, government watchdogs, and citizen-interest groups, already have expressed their written support for the philosophy, intent, and specifics of one or both of these bills,

Therefore, be it resolved:

That the members of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication hereby salute the intent and efforts of both the House and Senate members who have supported these bills in the 110th Congress, and,

That the members of this organization strongly urge President George W. Bush to abide by the intent and philosophy of the Congressional action and the support of so many organizations and act accordingly to open government to the people by signing this legislation into law,

and That the president of AEJMC be directed to disseminate this resolution to:

  1. President George W. Bush
  2. Vice President Richard B. Cheney
  3. U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales
  4. Senator Patrick Leahy, chair, Senate Judiciary Committee
  5. Senator John Cornyn, member, Senate Judiciary Committee
  6. Senator Arlen Spector
  7. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
  8. Rep. Henry Waxman, chair, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  9. Rep. Thomas Davis III, ranking member, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  10. Rep. William Lacy Clay, Jr., chair, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives
  11. Rep. Michael R. Turner, ranking member, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives
  12. Rep. Todd Russell Platts, member, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs
  13. The membership of AEJMC
  14. The general news media and trade press, and
  15. Any and all such other organizations that relate to Freedom of the Press and the First Amendment.

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