By Camilla Gant
MAC Head
University of West Georgia

Colleagues, it was good seeing so many of you in Washington, D.C., and though we’re well beyond the mid semester point, I continue to draw on our iron-sharpening conversations to inspire my teaching and research. The 2007 convention was an exciting programming year for MAC. We were lead sponsor for 7 out of 10 joint panel sessions; we inaugurated the Teaching Diversity Excellence: Best Practices & Challenges signature panel to affirm that teaching diversity excellence is a critical and achievable goal; and we successfully launched our first electronic refereed research competition.

Wow!

Another wow achievement for us is the diversity of our joint panel co-sponsors which resulted in an impressive and diverse lineup of scholars and industry professionals. We forged partnerships with Advertising, Commission on the Status of Women, Entertainment Studies, History, Law & Policy, Magazine, Media & Disability, Scholastic Journalism, and Science Communication. This rich diversity of partnerships moves MAC forward in its efforts to diversify its membership and panelists, and to increase its visibility within the association.

As AEJMC celebrates its 95^th birthday, this year is a time of strategic planning for the 21^st Century. It is a time of rethinking and repositioning for the association, and thus for MAC. Who are we? Who should we be in the 21^st Century? What are the barriers Read the rest of this entry »

By Frances Ward-Johnson
MAC PF&R Chair
Elon University

The Minorities and Communication Division has had a strong showing in Professional Freedom and Responsibility programming over the last year, and we want to continue that momentum. The division offered in-convention and out-of-convention programming addressing three of five PF&R areas including ethics, media criticism and accountability, and racial, gender and cultural inclusiveness during 2006-2007, according to Dr. Lillie Fears, past head, during her annual report at the MAC business meeting in Washington, D.C.

To recap in-convention activities, MAC sponsored five joint PF&R panels for the 2007 national convention and served as co-sponsor for two additional panels. Panels featured the expertise of a variety of academic and industry professionals.

As for out-of-convention activities, MAC co-sponsored several events. The issue of racial, gender and cultural inclusiveness was a central topic of a panel co-sponsored by MAC and the Southwestern Education Council in Journalism and Mass Communication at the Southwest Symposium in Baton Rouge, La., last Fall.

The MAC Division was also co-sponsor for the Ida B. Wells Annual Lecture at Alabama State University during Black History Month. The Wells Series is designed to highlight the relationships between the mass media and the African-American community.

Moreover, earlier this year, MAC joined several other national action groups to support the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council’s FCC initiative to preserve and expand minority ownership and equal employment opportunity, prevent discrimination and ensure universal telephone and Internet service.

While last year’s activities were exciting, we want to continue to build on our PF&R work. Once again, MAC will co-sponsor the Ida B. Wells Lecture at Alabama State University in February where the guest speaker will be Rose Afriyie, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Mid-South coordinator for the National Organization for Women.

Thanks, MAC members your continued support of our division’s PF&R activities! If you have other related activities that you would like for MAC to consider sponsoring, contact Frances Ward-Johnson at fward2@elon.edu.

MAC Summer 2007 Luncheon
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Cristina Azocar 

In her keynote address at MAC’s summer 2007 luncheon, Cristina Azocar, argued that many times when talking about racism, we make it comfortable so that everyone can leave the room feeling good. Azocar, director of San Francisco State University’s Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism, spoke to a group of about fifty attendees regarding the state of diversity in America’s newsrooms and educational programs. “People of color now makeup about 32 percent of the US population, but account for just over 14 percent of newsroom employment and about 21.5 percent of television news employment,” she said. “Radio fares worse with minorities making up about 6.2 percent of the news workforce.”

She raised a couple of poignant questions. “Why is it that white people believe they are being discriminated against in getting jobs and internships when the numbers do not bear their argument out? Why is it that such arguments become the basis of laws?” In 1996 Proposition 209 was passed in California prohibiting public institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, sex and ethnicity.Ten years later, Michigan voters amended the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative to end race and gender preferences in its public-hiring and college admissions policies. “Last year, the Dow Jones Newspaper fund was sued, because Read the rest of this entry »

This is MAC’s blog.  Here, we can blog about a number of subjects.

Minorities and Communication Division
Members Meeting Minutes
Aug. 10, 2007, Washington D.C.
Lillie Fears, presiding 

Call to order at 6:45 p.m. Mac Head Lillie Fears welcomed 48 members in attendance and reminded officers of the AEJMC training session Sunday morning.

Approval of 2006-07 minutes Daufin moved, C. Wilson seconded. Approved unanimously.

Head’s Report Fears reported that process of electronic submission was a success. Announced that as part of AEJMC’s strategic plan, each division will give input regarding how does it fit within the larger organization and submit a white paper. She also announced that AEJMC created a Gender, Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Assessment Committee. President Wanta requested a representative from MAC, and Anita Fleming-Rife was appointed.

Programming Highlights Mac submitted 12 programs for joint sponsorship, 7 accepted (58.3%). Other divisions & IGs submitted 36 additional proposals related to MAC’s mission, 3 accepted. MAC was lead sponsor on 70% (10) of all proposals accepted. Four refereed research sessions were sponsored. Co-sponsorships resulted in 1 non-refereed research panel proposed by the History division. Six papers were placed in Scholar-to-Scholar session.

Faculty Competition Thirty one papers were submitted and 14 were accepted (Rate 45%). Student Research Competition: 21 papers submitted, 6 accepted (Rate 28.5%). Faculty paper winners: Top paper ($200) Regina Marchi, Rutgers U; 2nd place ($100) Raúl Tovares, Trinity U; 3rd place ($75) Paul Niwa, Emerson College. Top student winner ($100) Kamille Gentless, U of Michigan.

Report from Midwinter meeting in Reno, NV 3 faculty paper submissions, 2 accepted; 10 student paper submissions, 7 accepted. In Scholar-to-Scholar: 4 posters. MAC was sole sponsor of invited panel titled “Research that Matters.”

Teaching Highlights Co-sponsorships resulted in 2 panels presented. MAC inaugurated the Teaching Diversity Excellence: Best Practices & Challenges signature panel; this will be an ongoing discussion to affirm that teaching Read the rest of this entry »

Special Thanks to Dr. Randy Reddick, Texas Tech University’s Journalism Department Chairman, for establishing MAC’s web presence. Darlene Lee, the MAC newsletter editor and interim webmaster, personally thanks Dr. Reddick for his time and guidance in enabling the existence of MAC online.  

Dr. Camilla Gant, MAC’s Head, has been appointed the inaugural Director of the Mass Communications program at the University of West Georgia, effective fall 2007. In consultation with the department chair, she will oversee curriculum development and assessment, budgeting, course scheduling, advising, scholarship selection, and strategic initiatives. 

Dr. Frances Ward-Johnson, MAC’S PF&R Chair, recently had her work titled “Ida B. Wells-Barnett and America’s First Anti-Lynching Campaign” published as a chapter in the book, Women’s Use of Public Relations for Progressive-Era Reform: Rousing the Conscience of a Nation, The Edwin Mellen Press, September 2007. Ward-Johnson’s chapter focuses on famous American journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett. The chapter highlights a woman’s role in spearheading the activism of black women, the activism of a nation and eventually the world. 

Dr. Ed Mullin was presented the Robert P. Knight Multicultural Recruiting Award at MAC’s summer luncheon. Mullin, a retired University of Alabama journalism professor, received the award for his efforts to create a more diversified journalism workforce.

MAC CALL FOR PAPERS
AEJMC 2008 MIDWINTER CONFERENCE

When: February 29- March 1, 2008
Where: Point Park University, Pittsburgh
Submission Deadline: December 7, 2007

Those researching issues in minorities and communication are encouraged to submit research paper abstracts or panel proposals to be considered for presentation. The AEJMC Midwinter Conference is an annual forum for the presentation of research and the discussion of germane topics in areas relevant to the AEJMC divisions and interest groups sponsoring the conference. The Midwinter Conference traditionally follows an informal structure allowing for presentations and extended discussions in a relaxed setting. The rules permit those presenting papers at the Midwinter Conference to later revise their papers and submit them to the 2008 AEJMC National Convention.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Paper Submissions
Authors should submit research paper proposals in an approximate 300-to 500-word abstract. The abstracts should give a clear sense of the scope of the research, its relevant hypotheses and/or research questions and the method of inquiry used. Conclusions should be highlighted for works that have been completed by the submission deadline. Do not submit full papers to the paper chairs; abstracts are all that is required in order to be considered for presentation at the Midwinter Conference. However, authors of accepted abstracts must submit complete research papers, not exceeding 30 pages, to their discussant two weeks prior to the conference.

Panel Submissions
Panel organizers should submit proposals indicating the panel title, a description of the session’s focus, the issues to be discussed, and a list of potential or confirmed panelists, including their university or professional affiliation.

Info for Paper Submitters and Panel Organizers
Identify the paper’s author(s) or panel’s organizer(s) on the title page only, and include the mailing address, telephone number and e-mail address of the person to whom inquiries should Read the rest of this entry »