Whew! We made it through another AEJMC Conference.  The annual conference is always exhilarating as well as exhausting.  Nonetheless, it was great seeing all my colleagues and friends from around the country.  Many thanks to all of you who made MAC‘s conference sessions a success. A very special thanks to Dr. Lionel Barrow, Jr., who provided some insight on MAC’s history and direction for the future. 

Now it’s time for the good stuff—getting back to the task of preparing the next generation for careers in journalism and mass communication.  

In one of the plenary session during the conference, Cynthia Frisby informed us that the Millennials are unlike any generation before.  They believe they are the center of the universe and that there’s a problem if you don’t respond to their emails immediately, including those that are sent at 2 a.m.

During the State of the Division session in Chicago, we came up with a few goals for the year.  Plans are in the works to establish a MAC-sponsored award for excellence in diversity.  The award will be co-sponsored with the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, include a monetary gift, and be given at next year’s meeting in Boston.  Please consider supporting the award with a financial contribution as MAC continues its leadership role in racial and ethnic diversity issues in AEJMC. 

In addition, a committee has been established to investigate the development of a MAC electronic journal.  The journal will be an outlet for the top papers presented during the annual conference, as well as a publication source for your papers on racial and ethnic diversity issues in journalism and mass communication.  Jerry Domatob, Alcorn University, has already begun working to move this project forward.  Anyone willing to work with him to get our first edition published or has ideas for the journal, please let me know.  I would like to see the first issue of the journal published by the 2009 annual conference. 

For those of you, who were unable to attend the annual conference, and even those of you who did, consider attending the Mid-winter Conference, which will convene at the University of Oklahoma.  Dates for the conference have yet to be determined.  Our Mid-winter Conference coordinators are Brad Gorham, bwgorham@syr.edu and Frances Ward-Johnson, fward2@elon.edu.  Contact either of them at if you’re interested in presenting or reviewing papers for the conference.

Have a good and productive year.

Sharon B. Stringer

MAC Division Head 2008-09
Lock Haven University
sstringe@lhup.edu

The way we gather and distribute news is changing at a rapid pace and departments that teach students must keep up, as much as possible, with new developments in style, technique and technology.  

This is why the Department of Electronic Media Communication at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., created a new major for its students that focuses on the converged newsroom and digital storytelling.  This is also the reason why I, a journalism educator, felt compelled to reenter the newsroom a few years ago one summer to learn as much as possible how online and broadcast journalists are combining resources and working together.  This experience changed my teaching forever.

 I understand now that the converged newsroom is a place where students will use technology to produce and distribute news as never before.  Media convergence is not the future; it is now!  Our students need to know how to take a print story and change it for broadcast with the addition of video and audio.  In addition to these changes, the new news reporter must also be able to take the same story and adapt it for use and distribution on the Internet.  These postmodern students must also maintain the ability to gather, write and produce news using traditional and non-traditional methods. 

 This is the digital future and people of color must not lag behind.  We must become sophisticated in the use and language of technology, and we must convey that this is important not just in our classrooms, but in our communities. But we don’t have to know how to do everything.  It is crucial that we learn where the good technology teachers are at our universities and send our media students to their classrooms wherever they may be (check out the Art, Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, and Business departments for classes on html, Dreamweaver, Flash, php, database system management, etc.) 

I am a former print journalism professor who has transitioning into electronic media via digital storytelling.  I understand that in order for faculty to be able to coach students in the ever-changing world of media technology, we must also be on the cutting edge of understanding how it fits together even if we don’t perform the technology ourselves.  I also understand that this can be a very scary step, but we must take it.  

As an Educator in the Newsroom fellow a program that was managed by RTNDA (now discontinued), the knowledge that I brought back to the classroom from four weeks spent with media professionals directly impacted my entire department, since we were in the beginning stages of designing and implementing new courses that stress the storytelling and technological evolution of our field.  It has been and still is very exciting work.  I’m never bored and always challenged by combining the old and the new aspects of our field.  

If you are curious about how to implement multimedia storytelling aka convergence into your classroom but, like me, need your confidence shored up before you begin — here are some starter resources that can help professors gently move into the technology stream:

Poynter Institute: http://www.poynter.org/ Offers classes in multimedia journalism for college educators.  The next classes will be held for one week each in February and July 2009. I attended this one several years ago – it was excellent.  They’ve made it more hands on now, and I’m thinking of going back! 

Read anything by Mindy McAdams and visit her blog on teaching online journalism:  http://mindmcadams.com/tojou/

Check out J-lab (The Institute for Interactive Journalism) for what’s possible once you get the hang of things:  http://www.j-lab.org

 RTNDA (the association for electronic journalists) has lesson plans on their website that will help you plan your own multimedia assignments or just use theirs:  http://www.rtnda.org (look under the education menu).

 And remember, that no matter how much technology you or your students learn, good content (written, visual, or auditory) is still the foundation of everything we do – technology just changes the delivery system.  (I know that there are a lot of sites that I’m leaving out, but this is supposed to be a short article – we can continue this conversation on the MAC listserv.)

Yes, I know it is Fall, but it’s time to make plans for the AEJMC Mid-Winter Conference. The event will be held at the University of Oklahoma’s Norman campus, and is set for March 6-8.

 MAC members are urged to consider submitting papers to the conference and are asked to encourage graduate students to submit papers as well. Last year, our division had a good showing at the annual event, but we need even more participation this year!

 Below are some important reasons to participate in the conference.

 Great for presenting initial research. If you are planning to submit a paper to the AEJMC annual convention in Boston next year, the Mid-Winter conference can be a place for getting feedback to sharpen your research paper’s overall quality.  The format is relaxed and intimate and lends itself to great conversation.  After your presentation in Norman, you can revise your paper and resubmit it for the Boston convention. 

 Only abstracts are required. In order for your research to be considered for the conference, you only have to submit a 300- to 500-word abstract. The abstract should give a clear sense of the scope of your research, its relevant hypotheses and/or research questions and methodology used. We do not require full papers. However, if you have completed your paper by the submission deadline, you may emphasize your conclusions in the abstract. Although it is not required, we do encourage authors to provide a bibliography listing sources used in the research.

 Submissions will be blind reviewed by MAC members. If you are not submitting a paper or panel idea but are interested in participating in the conference, please send me your name, email, and phone number. Depending on the number of submissions we receive, we’ll need reviewers, discussants and moderators for the conference. Letters will be mailed to all who participate, formally recognizing their service to the division.

 Panel presentations are welcomed.

 Need more information? Contact me at fward2@elon.edu or call 336-278-5738.

Complete details on conference registration, hotel accommodations, and travel information is available at http://www.ou.edu/gaylord.

I look forward to seeing you out West in March!

MAC Reviewers Needed.  Want to help out MAC and stay on top of the field by reading some of the latest research?  Then be a MAC reviewer for the Midwinter Conference.  This is your chance to contribute to the division by giving your colleagues valuable feedback on their work.  If you are concerned that you just won’t have the time, remember that because the Midwinter Conference call only requires abstracts, you’ll be reading less but still helping out your division.  If you are willing to serve as a reviewer, please email Brad Gorham at bwgorham@syr.edu with your contact information and areas of expertise.

Also, remember to encourage graduate students to submit papers to the Midwinter Conference.  It is a great, informal way to get feedback on their work, and they can then send those same papers on to AEJMC.  These conferences are also great ways to network with others who share their research interests and find possible collaborators.  So remind students now that the papers they are writing this semester for their grad seminars shouldn’t just end up on a shelf – write up an abstract and send it in by December 5th!