Preamble and the Core Values

AEJMC Code of Ethics

Overall Preamble: AEJMC members are educators, scholars, and advocates of free and responsible journalism and media, and free inquiry in pursuit of knowledge. We are committed to fulfilling our responsibilities with high standards of professional competence and integrity in the service of our discipline, peers, students, institutions, and society. We adhere to the following core values:

• ACCOUNTABILITY. AEJMC members act with openness and transparency in our scholarship, teaching, and service roles.
• FIDELITY AND TRUTH TELLING. AEJMC members value honesty, promise-keeping, and faithfulness to our discipline and stakeholders.
• JUSTICE. AEJMC members strive for fairness, impartiality, and distributive justice in our relationships with peers, students, and other stakeholders. We celebrate and promote diversity.
• CARING. AEJMC members act with respect, sensitivity, consideration of others, compassion, and mercy. We try to protect others from abuse and coercion.

In Research

Preamble: AEJMC members follow ethical research standards as researchers, in designing, conducting, analyzing research; when publishing research; as reviewers, referees, and editors; and as teachers, including when teaching methods and supervising studies. As researchers, AEJMC members are committed to:
Accountability. AEJMC members accurately and fully document sources for ideas, words, and pictures. We never plagiarize or take credit for another individual’s work, whether published or not, nor do we ever fabricate data. We safeguard the integrity of research data and report accurately and fully a study’s purpose, procedures, and results. Authors inform editors when manuscripts are based on dissertations or theses. Researchers who discover errors after an article is submitted, accepted, or published immediately inform the journal’s editor.
As editors, reviewers, referees, and research chairs, AEJMC members handle manuscripts with confidentiality and integrity during every phase of the review process. We evaluate manuscripts without reference to our personal preferences or political agendas. We do not use the material from unpublished manuscripts to advance our work; as editors, we ensure that authors whose work we are publishing conform to ethical standards Because multiple and simultaneous submission policies vary by disciplines, AEJMC editors and research chairs make submission guidelines public.
Fidelity and truth telling. AEJMC members submit to journals manuscripts representing original work, not work that has been published elsewhere. AEJMC members design our work to be free of conflict of interest, and we ensure that the conclusions of our work are consistent with the data we find. We inform subjects of our status as researchers. We do not tailor studies to produce outcomes consistent with interests of funding sponsors or institutions, nor do we conceal data or slant the writing of a study to satisfy an outside sponsor or funding agency.
Justice. AEJMC members acknowledge co-authorship credit fairly and accurately, such that the order of co-authors’ names is consistent with the level of involvement for each coauthor. When the contribution of co-authors is truly equal, we agree on and explain the order for listing co-authors.
Caring. AEJMC members protect research participants; treat all research participants with respect, fairness, and integrity, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, religion, culture, or sexual orientation. We ensure that participants provide informed consent and that participation in research is not coerced; keep promises regarding confidential information.

In Teaching

Preamble: AEJMC members believe in the worth and dignity of each human being, recognize the supreme importance of the pursuit of truth, devotion to excellence and the nurture of democratic principles — especially the nurture of freedom of expression. We recognize the magnitude of the ethical responsibilities inherent in the teaching process. As teachers, AEJMC members are committed to:
Accountability. AEJMC members respect the autonomy of others, including of individual learners, their development and their learning needs. We acknowledge the rights of students, faculty, and staff to make their own decisions as long as their decisions do not interfere with the welfare or rights of others.
AEJMC members are accountable to students and colleagues, accepting responsibility for our part in student welfare and development. We deliver the services to which students are entitled (e.g. dependable performance in teaching, advising); whenever appropriate, we acknowledge assistance from students or colleagues. We recognize and attempt to fulfill our role as exemplars, both in scholarship and in ethical behavior, and ensure that ethical principles guide the supervision of students and mentoring of junior faculty. We do not tolerate, even passively, unethical behavior on the part of colleagues or students. Simultaneously, we are collegial with colleagues, staff, and students, and promote environments conducive to teaching and learning; we do not involve students in faculty conflicts.
Fidelity and truth telling. AEJMC members exhibit honesty and keep promises to students and colleagues. We demand and foster ethical academic conduct; avoid conflicts of interest and other behavior that would reduce others’ trust in the faculty or academic profession; display openness in dealing with students, colleagues, and the public. We use procedures for informed consent whenever applicable.
We value academic freedom and freedom of expression as well as appropriate, respectful reactions to ideas and opinions expressed by students as well as colleagues; we label our own opinions as such and expect others to do the same. We foster student discovery, rather than indoctrination.
Justice. AEJMC members are committed to fairness and equity. We treat others as we would wish to be treated under similar circumstances; maintain fair and judicious practices when evaluating students or colleagues; pursue sanctions for academic misconduct only after gathering thorough evidence; advocate and practice non-discrimination in all aspects of teaching. We accord dignity to students and colleagues; respect the confidential nature of the student-instructor relationship; respect diversity in all its forms. We are committed to extended participation in higher education in journalism and mass communication, and especially to equality of educational opportunity.
Caring. AEJMC members seek to minimize harm. We engage in relationships with students and colleagues that are not exploitative; do not coerce students to select our favored dissertation and thesis topics, or give undeserved co-author credit; seek consultation when ethical problems arise; and attempt to mitigate any injurious effects of bias in our work. We convey personal ideology or positions in respectful ways; and do not manipulate or coerce social or political behavior in our students. We exercise institutional duties with care, extending compassion and sensitivity to the greatest extent possible toward students and colleagues.
AEJMC members pursue excellence. We engage in continued reflection, evaluation, and improvement in both our subject and in pedagogy. We engage in continuous professional development by learning and adopting new instructional methods and strategies; are open to criticism and new ideas from students and colleagues; take pride in our work and encourage students and colleagues to do the same.

In Professional Freedom & Responsibility

Preamble: Professional freedom and responsibility encompasses research, teaching, and service. This is related to AEJMC members’ interaction with the media professions through preparation of students for media careers, research examining media roles and responsibilities, and service to the professions through engagement and training. Service in support of professional freedom and responsibility is an essential expectation of every AEJMC member. Members work in support of the principles of professional freedom and responsibility within this organization, at our home institutions, and in society at large. As ethical researchers, teachers, and citizens, AEJMC members are committed to:
Accountability. AEJMC members conduct (and encourage students to conduct) constructive evaluation of the professional marketplace. We work with practitioners and industry watchdog groups to inspire media analysis, to foster media accountability, and to promote attention to ethics in journalism and other forms of mass communication. We act as media critics on our campuses and within our communities.
Fidelity and truth telling. AEJMC members nurture, promote, and protect free expression, particularly freedom of speech and freedom of the press, at all levels and at all times. AEJMC members work to improve the understanding of free expression intellectually, historically, and legally. We also work to implement this freedom in the broadest sense: within organizations, on campuses, in our communities, and nationally and globally. Free expression is a fundamental right. When that right is threatened, we act on our ethical obligation to serve as the voice and support of free expression on our campuses and communities.
Justice. AEJMC members work to ensure that racial, gender, and cultural inclusiveness are included in curricula, considered during hiring decisions, and taken seriously by media organizations with which we collaborate. We encourage AEJMC divisions and interest groups to embrace racial, gender, and cultural inclusiveness and include populations historically excluded from public communication.
Caring. AEJMC members have a mandate to serve society beyond our teaching and research. We offer services related to our appropriate professional fields, particularly activities that enhance understanding among media educators, professionals, and the general public. We assist AEJMC, other media organizations, and media practitioners.

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Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Interest Group

Television and Gay Marriage: A Cultivation Analysis • Sara Netzley, Bradley University • Because of the national debate occurring over the legalization of gay marriage, this study examined whether television viewing had a relationship with a person’s attitude toward gay marriage using cultivation theory. No such relationship was found, but this study revealed that attitude toward gay marriage was influenced by a person’s attitude toward gays, gender roles, and sexuality, and by his or her political ideology, authoritarianism, age, religiosity, and gay friends and family.

Whose Voices are Heard? Gender, Sexual Orientation and Newspaper Sources • Joseph Schwartz, University of Iowa • This study examined the use of sources in newspaper articles about same-sex marriage, paying particular attention to gender and sexual orientation. Overall, the results show that male sources outnumbered female sources, but that the distribution of distribution of gay male and lesbian sources seemed to vary according to a region’s climate of public opinion surrounding same-sex marriage. Additionally, female sources were found to be more likely than male sources to support same-sex marriage.

A New Gay Man in Town • Rodger Streitmatter, American University • This paper looks at three highly popular and financially successful major motion pictures that were released in 1996 and 1997. It argues that these films–The Birdcage, In & Out, and My Best Friend’s Wedding — offered American moviegoers a set of new gay stereotypes that were unremittingly positive. The messages sent by the films included that gay men are affable, physically attractive, and highly successful in both their careers and their personal lives.

Invisible in a visible profession: Lesbian public relations professionals and their roles, responsibilities, and functions in organizations and public relations • Natalie Tindall, University of Oklahoma • Diversity is one of the 14 characteristics of public relations excellence (L. A. Grunig, J. E. Grunig, & Dozier, 2002; Dozier, L. A. Grunig, & J. E, Grunig, 1995; L. A. Grunig, J. E. Grunig, & Ehling, 1992). Although diversity has been important to the Excellence Theory and the practice of public relations, there are limitations regarding the Excellence study’s conceptualization of diversity. Diversity has been limited to racioethnicity and gender.

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Entertainment Studies Interest Group

The effect of the writers’ Communist ideology on the 1950s Television Series The Adventures of Robin Hood • Mary Blue, Tulane University • The Adventures of Robin Hood was produced in England and first aired in England, Canada and the United States between 1955 and 1958. The show is a perfect choice for a content analysis of the television writing of blacklisted communist writers since recent articles have added to the list of blacklisted writers, the series to which they contributed, the pseudonyms used by most of the writers, and what is known about their level of participation.

Too Late to Make it Right? Country music, patriotism, & the Dixie Chicks • Naeemah Clark, Kenneth Levine and Daniel Haygood, University of Tennessee • In March 2003, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience, “Just so you know….we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” In the days following this statement, the Dixie Chicks were ostracized by the country music community. Radio stopped playing their music and some former fans publicly tore photos and destroyed their CDs.

The Scope of Music and Film Piracy on College Campuses: A Study of Knowledge, Behaviors, and Perceptions • Victoria Smith Ekstrand and Terry Rentner, Bowling Green State University • The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the scope of music and film piracy on campus as the basis for effective anti-piracy education programs. The study concluded that students thought their peers illegally downloaded more than was the case; that students don’t understand the laws regarding file sharing; and that they don’t perceive their actions to be unethical. The study recommends that such findings be addressed in the creation of anti-piracy campaigns.

Violently Sexy: A Content Analysis of Newspapers’ Schizophrenic Coverage of Violence in Videogames • Howard Fisher, affiliation • Videogame controversy has grown over the years, most recently with the release of “Grand Theft Auto III” that buried graphic sex scenes deep inside the game. The news media have wrung their hands at the content while also praising the games through glowing reviews. This content analysis of videogame articles from 1991-2006 analyzes the language used to discuss videogame violence and finds that it changes when the article is an editorial vs. a review (X2 (50, 934), = 571.609, p < .001).”

Sexuality on Network TV: A Comparison of Sexual References and Behavior by Gay/Lesbian and Heterosexual Characters • Rhonda Gibson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Joe Bob Hester, Texas Tech University • Critics have claimed that although the number of gay and lesbian characters on network television shows is increasing, they are portrayed as less sexual than straight characters because of television executives’ fears of offending viewers. This content analysis of references to romance or sexuality and sexual behavior indeed found disparities between heterosexual and homosexual characters.

What Encourages Online Sports Fan’s Gratification? • Moonki Hong and Arthur A. Raney, Florida State University • Sports websites are among the most popular sites on the Internet. Using survey responses among 442 individuals, the current study investigates why frequent visitors (online sports fans, n=299) of sports information or news websites (e.g., ESPN.com, Yahoo!Sports.com, etc.) use their favorite sites. Based on Uses and Gratification (U&G) approaches and discussion of mediated sports events, three key antecedents of attitude toward and satisfaction with the sites are identified: entertainment, informativeness, and perceived interactivity.

Simplification and Entertainment in the Public Sphere: Habermas Reconsiders the Mass Culture Critique • Thomas Hove, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This commentary traces revisions in Habermas’s normative assessments of mass culture, the mass media, and their influence on the public sphere. The early Habermas emphasized the public sphere’s critical function of holding state authority to public account. But his recent work assigns it the neutral, pragmatic functions of disseminating information and seizing public attention. Correspondingly, he has reconsidered his earlier critique by recognizing the positive political functions of mass media simplification and entertainment.

The potential for crime dramas to educate: Popular crime dramas and knowledge about sexual violence • Stacey J.T. Hust, Moon Lee, Ana Haase-Reed and Mija Shin, Washington State University • A survey of 934 college students indicated viewers of crime dramas were more likely to believe that sexual violence is more prevalent than what is portrayed on television, yet they were more aware that sexual violence is often committed by non-strangers. Given that an awareness of who is likely to commit the crime is instrumental to preventing sexual violence, these findings indicate that future research should investigate the potential educational impact of crime dramas.

Emulate the style: A content analysis of body image and social behaviors in teen-centered films • Tahlea Jankoski, Brigham Young University • The purpose of this study was to evaluate body image and social behaviors in teen-centered movies. This film sample was chosen to understand the common messages being presented to adolescents as they can emulate the images and behaviors disseminated by their celebrity peers. A content analysis found an overrepresentation of underweight or average weight characters, limiting the portrayal of overweight characters. It also found negative associations existed between overweight images and social characteristics.

Western news media complicity in the shameless spectacle of Borat • Rick Kenney, University of Central Florida • Western news media reporters and editors abandoned their ethics in their complicity in publicizing, projecting, and promoting the image of Borat Sagdiyev, protagonist in the wildly successful feature-length film Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan as a racist, sexist and anti-Semitic documentary journalist from Kazakhstan.

Coping with Loss: The Use of Media and Entertainment as a Mood-Management Device • Cynthia King and Rebecca Calagna, Cal State Fullerton • This study examined how people use media and entertainment to cope with feelings of grief resulting from relational loss. Adults in divorce support participated in a survey study on coping with loss and entertainment preferences. Consistent with predictions based on mood management, catharsis and empathy theories, participants indicated film and music preferences consistent with their stage in Kubler-Ross’s five stage grief process.

Doing what is “necessary”: The legitimization of torture on Fox’s 24 • K. Maja Krakowiak, Pennsylvania State • As the topic of torture gains prominence in news reports, its depiction in media content becomes worthy of examination. This paper examines the use of torture on Fox Network’s show, 24, and argues that the show focuses on the necessity of such techniques for the preservation of national security while eliminating discussion of alternatives to torture, and discrediting calls for the upholding of human rights. The implications of these depictions are discussed.

Glen, Stacey, and Me, Too…?: Textual Analysis of 2004 Starbucks Advertising Campaigns • Ji Hoon Lee, University of Florida • This study examines, compares, and contrasts the texts of DoubleShot Espresso and Frappuccino TV commercials by Starbucks in 2004. The study text-analyzes and describes key elements that are essential to the foundation of true message and moral behind the ads and explores what make them entertaining, yet equally appealing and persuasive. By combining humor and music, the commercials allow us to identify with the main characters and the situations depicted in the texts.

Popular Music Nostalgia: A Refined Approach • Ji Hoon Lee, University of Florida • Although any culture can be defined by its nostalgia, there is little scholarly work on nostalgia as a cultural phenomenon as exemplified in the historical re-emergence of the pop music of the past. By explicating the concept of nostalgia and by providing historical examples, the study focuses on the proliferation of nostalgia in popular music, including discussion on the retrograde tendencies and general characteristics of nostalgia in popular music.

Through the Eyes of Pornography: The perceptions men come to hold about women • Jaime Loke, University of Texas • Numerous studies have emerged about the role of pornography in social and sexual behavior as well as the wellbeing of the consumers’ psychological health. This study examined the perceptions of women from men who were heavy consumers of pornography. Obtaining testimonials from men who reported to watch more than an hour of pornography daily, similar patterns amongst the interviews surfaced during the analyses of the transcripts. The results revealed the men’s skewed perceptions of women.

A Common Media Culture? Patterns of Magazines, Movies, and Music Among Early Adolescents • Carol J. Pardun, Middle Tennessee State University, Jane D. Brown and Kelly Ladin L’Engle, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • A sample of Black and White early adolescents (Mean age: 12.8 years; N= 2,942) completed media use questionnaires, noting which magazines they read, which musicians they listened to regularly, and which movies they had seen recently. Comparisons by race and gender found few commonalities across demographic groups. Blockbuster movies and a few of the most popular rap musicians were consumed by large proportions of males and females and Blacks and Whites.

Dora the Explorer: Giving Power to Preschoolers, Girls, and Latinas • Erin Ryan, The University of Georgia • “Dora the Explorer” is a highly successful animated program on Nickelodeon; its title character has captured the imaginations of children across the globe. This study examined Dora within the framework of Gramsci’s hegemony, exploring how the program is changing the “face” of children’s television while giving power to three traditionally powerless groups: preschoolers, girls, and Latinas. Two episodes of the program were analyzed: “Dora Saves the Prince” and “Dora’s Fairytale Adventure.”

From “Where the Boys Are” to “I am Curious Yellow”: Sex in the Cinema 1960-1968 • Danny Shipka, University of Florida • This paper examines the few short years between 1960 and 1968 when sexuality in the movies moved out of the backrooms of private projectionists and into the mainstream of popular culture. Considered landmark years for the abolishment of censorship in motion pictures due to court actions, government intervention and the changing social morals of the mass population, the paper will look at the films and auteurs that successfully navigated the changing political and cultural waters.”

“The Daily Show Effect” Revisited: Satire’s contributions to political participation in trust in young audiences • Daxton Stewart, University of Missouri • In 2006, Baumgartner and Morris examined what they called “The Daily Show Effect,” which suggested that viewership of the humor-based news show on Comedy Central corresponded with an increase in political efficacy but a decrease in perceptions of trustworthiness of candidates. This effect was further examined in this study in the context of political participation and trust in politicians in general.

Scenarios USA: Identity Construction, Friendship and Male Narratives in Entertainment-education • Kallia Wright, Ohio University • This paper presents the findings of a textual analysis of three short films produced from the 2004 Scenarios USA scriptwriting competition. These are entertainment-education products which first present characters with evolving identities. Second, all three films emphasize the role of peers in defining identities and demonstrating behaviors. We also observe that in the construction of male identity, men are often defined as being irresponsible. However, counternarratives are presented which resist negative definitions of men.

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Community Journalism Interest Group

Weeklies and the Web: A Study of Newspaper Managers and the State of Their Online Editions • Jennifer Wood Adams, Auburn University • This study examines the state of the online newspaper at U.S. weekly newspapers and the management of the online edition. One interesting insight is that most respondents embrace their online editions as a reality of the newspaper business. A majority said they routinely review and evaluate the online newspaper and its goals. Three-fourths of the respondents said they view the online newspaper as complementary to printed newspaper and not as cannibalizing the subscription base.

Media Roles and Audience Engagement: Relationships Between Perceptions of Journalists’ Functions and Uses of Interactive Features • Deborah Chung, University of Kentucky • An online survey of a local newspaper audience assessed their perceptions of journalists’ roles and uses of various interactive features. Findings indicate that the audience held three distinct perceptions of journalists’ roles: interpretive disseminator, populist mobilizer and adversary. The audience also embraced civic journalism values. The results further revealed five distinct types of interactive features that represent the interactivity continuum. Correlation analysis revealed positive relationships between specific perceptions of roles and the uses of distinct interactive features.

Connecting Virtual and Geographic Communities: Toward a New Model of Journalism in Bluffton, S.C. • Heidi Fedak, University of Kansas • The advent of the Internet and changing revenue models have forced print newspapers to adapt and innovate in order to connect with their communities. That’s what Morris Publishing Group did when it decided in April 2005 to launch Bluffton Today as both a print and online entity. This study, part of a larger case study, examines how the Web site’s citizen bloggers view and use the online community network, BlufftonToday.com.

Fifty Years of Community News: The Erosion of Social Responsibility? • Jeffrey John, Wright State University • This paper suggests that modern America journalism has evolved away from the Social Responsibility Theory, toward an Entertainment Theory of the Press. A case study of news coverage of a mid-sized community over time illustrates this premise, using a secondary analysis of content-analysis projects describing the community’s media since 1956.

A Test of a Measure of Community Journalism • Wilson Lowrey, University of Alabama; Chang Wan Woo, Jenn Burleson Mackay • This study offers a test of an index measure of community journalism, designed to assess the degree to which newspaper content fosters community. Relationship between index score and newspaper size was also examined. Factor analysis results suggest the possibility of several new dimensions for the index. Results also suggest small community papers devote more space to general community surveillance, but they are not more rigorous than larger papers in using content to actively foster community.

Relentlessly Historical: Local History in South-Central Pennsylvania Community Newspapers • Rex Martin, Bowie State University • This paper begins with the premise that local history features in community newspapers serve to build a sense of inclusion and identity among readers. It is based on a survey completed by the editors of 14 community newspapers in south-central Pennsylvania, as well as comments from editors and reporters. It serves as an initial qualitative investigation into the use of local history in community journalism.

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Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group

Civic Respondents: A Content Analysis of Sources Quoted in Newspaper Coverage of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita • Maria Fontenot, Kris Boyle and Amanda Gallagher, Texas Tech • This paper examined how civic journalism impacts newspaper coverage by analyzing the media coverage of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in five newspapers published in some of the affected areas. Specifically, this study focused on newspaper story sources – official v. non-official. The findings suggested larger newspapers used more official sources. Additionally, official sources were more common in the official stories while non-official sources were more common when the story focused on citizen-oriented topics.

Northfield.org: Weaving The Threads Of Community • Victoria Hildebrandt, Wisconsin-Madison • This case study examines the history, editorial philosophy, and operation of the citizen journalism website Norhtfield.org and how it strives to engage the citizens of Northfield, MN in a meaningful sharing of civic information and dialogue in order “to create an electronic commons that strengthens the fabric of community.”

The Communitarian Ombudsman: A Modest Proposal for True Citizen Journalism • Rick Kenney, Central Florida • Forty years after a “Department of Internal Criticism” for newspapers was first proposed, the debate over newspaper ombudsmen, or public editors, remains at a seemingly irreconcilable impasse. Despite a flurry of appointments in the early 1970s, there are only about fifty ombudsmen at U.S. newspapers today. The greatest failure of ombudsmanship is that it doesn’t go far enough in giving voice and visibility to the ombudsman’s work, including interacting with community.

Political Efficacy and Campaign News Attention as Catalysts of Discursive Democracy: The Case of the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election • Hsiang-Ann Liao, Queensborough Community College, CUNY • Based on Kim et al.’s model of deliberative democracy, a contextual model of discursive democracy is proposed in this study, examining the circumstances under which political conversation took place during the 2004 presidential election. It is argued that models of discursive democracy should be domain specific, incorporating situational factors that prompt people to talk about politics. Political efficacy and campaign news attention were examined as catalysts to the contextual model.

Content Differences for an Online Newspaper Site and its Citizen Journalism Publication • Jeremy Littau, Missouri • An analysis of a newspaper Web site and its citizen journalism Web site examined stories on the front page for each site. Content analysis found that there were significant differences in topics, with the front page of the traditional news site consisting of more traditional “hard news” content while the citizen journalism was more focused on lifestyle or community news. Citizen journalism stories also were more likely to be opinionated than the traditional site.

Citizen Journalism and Community Building: Predictive Measures for Social Capital Generation • Jeremy Littau, Esther Thorson and Clyde Bentley, Missouri • A survey (N=102) of citizen journalism readers explored the relations between motivations for reading (content and process gratifications), personal attitudes (interpersonal trust and life contentment), and three measures of community participation (civic engagement, interpersonal trust, life contentment. The gratifications and personal attitudes were highly predictive of community participation. Only a few differences were observed between citizens who contributed journalism and those who only read it.

Apathy: 1. Civic engagement: 0: A Case Study of Civic Journalism on Campus • David Loomis, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Jennifer Easton, Pittsburgh • This case study of a civic-journalism project published in a campus newspaper examines the effects of a yearlong effort to increase civic engagement at a university where apathy, as measured by voting participation in student elections, has been increasing. The qualitative study involves a natural experiment, culminating in a student-government election, combined with focus-group methods to gauge effects of the project based in part on surveys of student-readers to guide news coverage.

Desiderata Across the Decades: Conversations About a Civic-Minded Model of Newspapering • Ronald Rodgers, Florida • This paper examines (1) how similar this discussion about alternative and more civic-minded models of newspapering is to a national conversation around a century ago, and (2) the irony that the impulse for that discussion a hundred years ago was not the uncongealing of a chain-ownership business model, but the threat to journalistic conduct, news content, and the press’s role and responsibility to society by the growing corporate and commercialized press.

The Future of Journalism and How to Teach It • Lou Rutigliano, Texas at Austin • In the fall of 2006 and again in the spring of 2007, the author taught a course as a reaction to changes occurring in the field, particularly news producers’ attempts to encourage the news audience to create content. This phenomenon has created an opportunity for civic and critical educators, whose interests are more closely aligned with the needs of professionals than in the past. Both seek greater journalistic engagement with the public.

Public Journalism Conflated with Propaganda: Newspapers’ Resistance to Social Action Communications • Burton St. John, Old Dominion • This piece analyzes how newspapers, facing problems of relevancy, have explored public journalism as a way to reconnect with audiences, and rejected it as propagandistic. The confluence of two factors – journalism’s professionalized vigilance against co-option and its difficulty differentiating social action communications from propaganda – led to many in the press attacking public journalism as propagandistic. The rise of professionalism after World War I and press cynicism about co-option is reviewed.

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