AEJMC members approved resolutions during the 2023 year.

August 30, 2023

The AEJMC Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility (PF&R) has endorsed the three proposed resolutions which were developed by the PF&R subcommittee on resolutions and members of the AEJMC Council of Divisions (CoD).

AEJMC plays a key role of representing the interests of its more than 2000 members on topics such as freedom of information, diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as academic freedom.

In accordance with the recently amended bylaws, four separate online discussion forums were opened in the AEJMC Community for members to discuss the four proposed resolutions.

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• Resolution One: The Dylan Lyons Resolution
• Resolution Two: Inclusive History Resolution
• Resolution Three: Learn From History Resolution
• Resolution Four: Recommitment to College/University Diversity Programs and Minority Faculty Hiring Resolution

 

< AEJMC Resolutions

New Voices Laws

 

CONTACT:
Samantha Higgins, AEJMC Communications Director, 803-798-0271

Deb Aikat, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, AEJMC president

Resolution Two: 

Whereas, in its mission the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC), as part of its “Professional Freedom and Responsibility” goals, works to promote freedom of speech and the press as embodied in the First Amendment; and

Whereas, the association encourages its members to promote and defend those rights vigorously; and

Whereas, in 2022, Hawaii became the 16th state to adopt a New Voices law, which restores and protects the freedom of Hawaii’s student media; and

Whereas, Hawaii’s HB 1848 ensures that student journalists alone determine the content of school-sponsored media, including but not limited to video, audio, print and digital outlets, and are protected from censorship except in narrow, well-defined circumstances while protecting student media advisers from retaliation for refusing to illegally censor their students’ work; and

Whereas, similar laws have been or are currently being considered by a number of state legislatures, including New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia; and

Whereas, First Amendment rights of student journalists are now protected by state law in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the state of Washington.

Now, therefore, be it resolved, that AEJMC take an active role in supporting the passage of New Voices laws through its Elected Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility and the AEJMC Scholastic Journalism Division, one of the association’s original divisions; and

Be it further resolved that through units such as the AEJMC Law and Policy Division, AEJMC strongly encourages research and teaching about New Voices laws and student press freedom in courses in the law of mass communication required in programs accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, as well as in other courses as appropriate.

 

<AEJMC 2022 Resolutions

Anti-Critical Race Theory Laws

 

CONTACT:
Samantha Higgins, AEJMC Communications Director, 803-798-0271

Deb Aikat, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, AEJMC president

Resolution Four: 

Whereas, as part of its mission the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC) promotes the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum; and

Whereas, the association works to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve a better-informed public; and

Whereas, Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an intellectual and social movement begun in legal studies in the late 1980s based on the idea that racism is inherent in law and legal institutions insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between white and non-whites; and

Whereas, mass communication educators are charged with preparing students who can produce news and strategic communication content related to CRT; and

Whereas, courses that focus on mass communication theories and research should include CRT as one potential approach to producing scholarship; and

Whereas, state legislatures recently have considered legislation that bans or limits Critical Race Theory from being discussed in classroom settings, including those at universities; and

Whereas, Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) accrediting standards mandate continuing education for faculty in diversity, equity, and inclusion;

Whereas, to achieve compliance with those accrediting standards, units are expected to demonstrate the impact of faculty professional development aimed at enhancing their ability to teach courses related to diversity, equity, and inclusion;

BE it resolved that AEJMC divisions and interest groups be encouraged to continue sponsoring research and teaching panels and programming that educates members about what Critical Race Theory is and its application to education and research in mass communication; and continue to educate faculty members about ways to respond to legislation that serves to restrict viewpoint diversity in the classroom;

AND AEJMC members or mass communication units should provide faculty training on educating students about issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion which may include CRT.

 

<AEJMC 2022 Resolutions

The 40th Anniversary of the Death of Vincent Chin and Anti-AAPI Violence

 

CONTACT:
Samantha Higgins, AEJMC Communications Director, 803-798-0271

Deb Aikat, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, AEJMC president

Resolution Three: 

Whereas, as part of its mission, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) promotes the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum; and

Whereas, as part of its “Professional Freedom and Responsibility” mission works to address issues of marginalization, systemic racism and unequal treatment of underrepresented groups; and

Whereas, the association held its 2022 Annual Conference in Detroit, Michigan, the same city where 40 years ago on June 19, 1982, 27-year-old Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, was brutally attacked with a baseball bat by two White men seeking to incite racist hatred of anyone who appeared Japanese, because of the rise of Japanese car companies that they believed put U.S. autoworkers out of jobs; and

Whereas, after four days in a coma, Chin, the only child of Chinese immigrants Lily and Bing Hing “David” Chin, died; and

Whereas, Chin’s killers, Ronald Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz, pleaded guilty to state charges of manslaughter and only received a $3,000 fine each and three years’ probation; and

Whereas, the brutal murder and the lenient sentence, and Lily Chin’s courageous pursuit for justice and visibility in their aftermath, galvanized the Asian American civil rights movement, which continues today with an added degree of importance because of the recent rise in Anti-Asian violence; and

Whereas, between March and August 2020, more than 2,500 Asian Americans reported being attacked by people blaming them for the COVID-19 pandemic because of its origination in Wuhan, China; and

Whereas, more Americans should be aware of Vincent Chin’s death and its role in the Asian American movement;

Now, therefore, be it resolved, that AEJMC as an organization take an active role in standing with organizations such as the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), Asian American Advertising Federation (3AF), and the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) in working to cover stories about and combat the rise of Asian Americans being singled out in incidents of violence and ongoing systemic racism facing those in the larger Asian American Pacific Islander community. And;

Be it further resolved that AEJMC commends 2022 media efforts to address the underrepresentation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, such as the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment’s (CAPE) My Life: Growing Up Asian in America; Jeff Yang, Phil Yu and Philip Wang’s RISE: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now; and ABC News’s “Soul of a Nation” Together As One: Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage. And:

Be it further resolved that AEJMC, through its divisions and interest groups, offer programming and resources at both regional and national conferences that empower journalism and mass communication faculty to include Vincent Chin and the stories of other Asian Americans overlooked and under-addressed in their teaching and curricula.

 

<AEJMC 2022 Resolutions