A Statement from the Organizations’ Leadership Supporting Leadership Diversity
October 19, 2023
Contact: Linda Aldoory, American University, 2023-24 AEJMC President or
Johnny Sparks, Ball State University, 2023-24 ASJMC President
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace.” – Nelson Mandela
We, the Boards of Directors of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC), write to support minoritized and marginalized administrators and faculty in their efforts to lead universities in addressing their inclusive excellence goals, in the recruitment and retention of faculty from minoritized groups, and in the development of strategies that will further efforts and investments related to inclusive excellence.
AEJMC’s mission is “to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication to achieve better professional practice, a better-informed public, and wider human understanding.” Similarly, ASJMC works “to foster, encourage, and facilitate high standards and effective practices in the process and administration of education for journalism and mass communication in institutions of higher learning.” We cannot stand idly by while our members are under attack. Author Zora Neale Hurston stated, “If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.”
AEJMC has a long history of advocating for the recruitment and implementation of a diverse faculty and student body in media education, and has invoked its membership to “make every effort to achieve 50 percent minority and/or female faculty and administrators by the year 2000.” While this goal has not yet been realized, current efforts in multiple state legislatures are threatening to undo any progress that has been made. Several state legislatures have considered or successfully passed bills banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at higher education institutions. Furthermore, a few states have gone so far as to restrict how race and gender topics can be taught in public higher education institutions. These efforts seek to change uncomfortable truths about the American experience to “convenient lies” which further undermine the experiences and accomplishments of minoritized populations in this country.
As a result of these measures, multiple colleges and universities have eliminated their diversity, equity, and inclusion divisions or units, and hiring decisions involving faculty from racial minority groups have been based on political agendas and rhetoric rather than the qualifications and academic contributions of faculty candidates. We are troubled by the rise of anti-diversity and inclusion activism and its undue influence on universities’ hiring procedures. Furthermore, we are committed to developing processes and systems that will enable us to map and monitor incidents and systemic practices that negatively impact our members of color and other marginalized groups.
Now, more than ever, AEJMC and ASJMC leadership realize the importance of a diverse faculty and student body in media education, and we vehemently support college and university offices, programs, and initiatives focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Representation matters, and we stand with our members. We encourage them to remain steadfast in their efforts to recruit and retain faculty from minoritized groups. We are committed to the fulfillment of our mission and will continue to advocate for our members until the goal of achieving minority and female faculty and administrators is realized.
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit organization comprised of educators, students and practitioners from around the globe. Founded in 1912, by Willard Grosvenor Bleyer, the first president (1912-13) of the American Association of Teachers of Journalism, as it was then known, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better-informed public, and wider human understanding.
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
ASJMC is a non-profit, educational association composed of some 190 JMC programs at the college level. The majority of the association’s members are in the United States and Canada. ASJMC promotes excellence in journalism and mass communication education. Founded in 1917, ASJMC works to support the purposes of schools of journalism and mass communication in order to achieve the following goals: to foster, encourage and facilitate high standards and effective practices in the process and administration of education for journalism and mass communication in institutions of higher learning; to cooperate with journalism and mass communication organizations in efforts to raise professional standards and promote a public understanding of the role of journalism and mass communication in a democratic society; and to support and participate in the accreditation process of journalism and mass communication units through the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC).
AEJMC & ASJMC support the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act introduced in U.S. Congress
July 24, 2023
Contact: Deb Aikat, UNC Chapel Hill, 2022-23 AEJMC President or
Raul Reis, UNC Chapel Hill, 2022-23 ASJMC President
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
and Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
We, the boards of directors of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC), support the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act. While 48 states and the District of Columbia have some form of a shield law or reporter’s privilege, the protections vary widely from state to state. There is currently no federal shield law.
The PRESS Act empowers the media to play its essential role as a watchdog holding our government accountable. The bill would protect the free flow of information against government overreach. Specifically, the PRESS Act would shield journalists from court-ordered disclosure of information about a source and what the source told them unless disclosure of the protected information is necessary to prevent, or to identify any perpetrator of, an act of terrorism against the United States, or necessary to prevent the threat of imminent violence, significant bodily harm, or death, including specified offenses against a minor.
The PRESS Act as introduced by Senators Dick Durbin, Mike Lee, and Ron Wyden in the U.S. Senate and Representatives Jamie Raskin and Kevin Kiley in the House of Representatives directly links to free expression, which is one of the five core areas of Professional Freedom and Responsibility of AEJMC.
In issuing this statement today, AEJMC stands with our colleagues in the News/Media Alliance, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Radio Television Digital News Association, and the National Association of Broadcasters, all of whom have endorsed the PRESS Act.
AEJMC members will actively advocate for the passage of the PRESS Act by contacting representatives in Congress. We will also educate the next generation of journalists about the importance of such federal legislation to support the work of a journalist.
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit organization comprised of educators, students and practitioners from around the globe. Founded in 1912, by Willard Grosvenor Bleyer, the first president (1912-13) of the American Association of Teachers of Journalism, as it was then known, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better-informed public, and wider human understanding.
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
ASJMC is a non-profit, educational association composed of some 190 JMC programs at the college level. The majority of the association’s members are in the United States and Canada. ASJMC promotes excellence in journalism and mass communication education. Founded in 1917, ASJMC works to support the purposes of schools of journalism and mass communication in order to achieve the following goals: to foster, encourage and facilitate high standards and effective practices in the process and administration of education for journalism and mass communication in institutions of higher learning; to cooperate with journalism and mass communication organizations in efforts to raise professional standards and promote a public understanding of the role of journalism and mass communication in a democratic society; and to support and participate in the accreditation process of journalism and mass communication units through the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC).
AEJMC and ASJMC joint statement in support of the citizens, residents and those fleeing the Ukraine
CONTACT: Susan Keith, Rutgers University, 2021-2022 AEJMC President and Al Stavitsky, University of Nevada, Reno, 2021-2022 ASJMC President | March 11, 2022
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
We, the boards of directors of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, are writing in strong support of the safety, security and well-being of the citizens and residents of Ukraine and those fleeing the country. As we write this, Russian military forces are invading the independent nation, which has had noted promise for building a pluralistic democracy.
As academic organizations that support scholarship, education, and professional practice – which focus in part on media ethics, media criticism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and public service – we point out the importance of news media coverage in the fog of armed conflict and information warfare. We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and the brave journalists who are reporting from the ground, bringing to light news and information to citizens of the world – or wishing that the political contexts in which they work allowed them to do so.
We note the risks of mis/disinformation in this global context. We are cognizant of the importance of language when reporting on conflicts and conducting subsequent research. We warn against use of language in reporting and research that humanizes some civilians yet dehumanizes, marginalizes, or excludes some peoples.
Ultimately, we acknowledge the importance of news media coverage of the conflict and research on the short- and long-term impact of the coverage. Going forward, we encourage critical media coverage and research on other invasions and the nearly three dozen armed conflicts presently going on around the world.
As organizations that support diversity in scholarship and thought, we call on researchers around the world to study media coverage of stakeholders in this conflict from local and global contexts.
________________________________________
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit organization comprised of educators, students and practitioners from around the globe. Founded in 1912, by Willard Grosvenor Bleyer, the first president (1912-13) of the American Association of Teachers of Journalism, as it was then known, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better informed public, and wider human understanding.
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
ASJMC is a non-profit, educational association composed of some 190 JMC programs at the college level. The majority of the association’s members are in the United States and Canada. ASJMC promotes excellence in journalism and mass communication education. Founded in 1917, ASJMC works to support the purposes of schools of journalism and mass communication in order to achieve the following goals: to foster, encourage and facilitate high standards and effective practices in the process and administration of education for journalism and mass communication in institutions of higher learning; to cooperate with journalism and mass communication organizations in efforts to raise professional standards and promote a public understanding of the role of journalism and mass communication in a democratic society; and to support and participate in the accreditation process of journalism and mass communication units through the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC).
An AEJMC/ASJMC Announcement
6/3/21
An Update on Next Steps from your AEJMC/ASJMC Leadership:
The Boards of Directors of AEJMC and ASJMC have decided to pause the executive director search.
As communicated in February 2021, the AEJMC/ASJMC executive director search was launched in early February and applications were under consideration. During the spring, the search committee interviewed several candidates and heard presentations from a small set of finalists.
The associations’ officers’ main goal is to find the best fit for both associations and their members, even if that means extending the timeline to resume the search in fall/winter. They are committed to a smooth transition.
The boards will meet at the annual conference this August to discuss resuming the executive director search and next steps.
In the meantime, please know that AEJMC/ASJMC leadership and staff are committed to you – the members we serve on a daily basis.
Amanda Caldwell, who took on the role of interim executive director effective March 16, remains in that role and continues to serve as conference manager. You may contact her anytime: amanda[at]aejmc.org.
Felicia Brown will continue to serve as the assistant director, among her other roles including desktop publisher and council of divisions liaison. You may contact her anytime: felicia[at]aejmc.org.
Please feel free to contact any member of the AEJMC office staff anytime:
http://www.aejmc.com/home/about/contact-aejmc/
We remain here to continue to serve our members and the AEJMC/ASJMC community.
Sincerely,
AEJMC/ASJMC Leadership
AEJMC Board of Directors:
http://www.aejmc.com/home/about/officers/board-of-directors/
ASJMC Executive Board:
http://www.asjmc.org/about/committees/executive.php
AEJMC/ASJMC Staff:
http://www.aejmc.com/home/about/contact-aejmc/
A Statement from the Organizations’ Leadership Supporting UNC Faculty
CONTACT: Tim Vos, Michigan State University, 2020-21 AEJMC President and Gracie Lawson‐Borders, Howard University, 2020-21 ASJMC President and Jerry Crawford, University of Kansas, AEJMC PF&R Committee Chair | May 24, 2021
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” – Harry S. Truman
We, the Boards of Directors of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC), write to support the faculty of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in their call for further explanations from university leaders regarding the university’s failure to award tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones. The foundation of our support is based on reporting that Hannah-Jones had completed the tenure process from the school, external reviewers, and university-level committees with positive recommendations.
In fact, according to Susan King, dean of UNC Hussman, Hannah-Jones submitted a (tenure) package that was as well reviewed as any King had ever seen. Hannah-Jones had the full support of Hussman faculty and the unit’s promotion and tenure committee.
Hannah-Jones is a Pulitzer Prize winner and a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant.” She was also awarded AEJMC’s 2019 First Amendment Award, which recognizes professionals with a strong commitment to freedom of the press, and who practice courageous journalism. Hannah-Jones’ credentials and experience led Hussman to offer her the school’s Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism, which is a tenured professorship. Hannah-Jones is a 2003 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill.
The tenure process is a cornerstone of a shared governance model, which allows faculty to have a strong voice in academia. The statement by the Hussman faculty and the support of the Hussman administration indicate Hannah-Jones has earned the rights and privileges of tenured faculty members. Reports also indicate that previous Knight chairs at UNC received tenure upon being hired, underscoring questions about disparate treatment of Hannah-Jones.
Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, has stated, Hannah-Jones is “eminently qualified for appointment and would urge the trustees of the University of North Carolina to reconsider their decision within the timeframe of our agreement.”
We find it troubling that, based on the available evidence, Hannah-Jones is being asked to accept a different appointment than she was offered. The appointment as a Professor of the Practice, with a set five-year term and the option of consideration for tenure at the end of the first year, was described as a “work-around” for perceived political intervention by UNC’s board. This is troubling.
AEJMC and ASJMC stand alongside the faculty and administration of Hussman, the UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor, and the Knight Foundation in advocating for Nikole Hannah-Jones to be awarded the tenured Knight Foundation Professorship she has already earned.
________________________________________
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit organization comprised of educators, students and practitioners from around the globe. Founded in 1912, by Willard Grosvenor Bleyer, the first president (1912-13) of the American Association of Teachers of Journalism, as it was then known, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better informed public, and wider human understanding.
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
ASJMC is a non-profit, educational association composed of some 190 JMC programs at the college level. The majority of the association’s members are in the United States and Canada. ASJMC promotes excellence in journalism and mass communication education. Founded in 1917, ASJMC works to support the purposes of schools of journalism and mass communication in order to achieve the following goals: to foster, encourage and facilitate high standards and effective practices in the process and administration of education for journalism and mass communication in institutions of higher learning; to cooperate with journalism and mass communication organizations in efforts to raise professional standards and promote a public understanding of the role of journalism and mass communication in a democratic society; and to support and participate in the accreditation process of journalism and mass communication units through the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC).
AEJMC and ASJMC joint statement supporting the use of the title of “doctor” for those who have earned a terminal degree beyond the master’s level and condemning all forms of misogyny
CONTACT: Tim Vos, Michigan State University, 2020-21 AEJMC President and Gracie Lawson‐Borders, Howard University, 2020-21 ASJMC President and Jerry Crawford, University of Kansas, AEJMC PF&R Committee Chair | December 21, 2020
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
and Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
“Equality is the soul of liberty; there is, in fact, no liberty without it.” – Frances Wright
We the Boards of Directors of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC) support the use of the title of “doctor” for those who have earned a terminal degree beyond the master’s level, such as a Ph.D. or Ed.D., and condemn all forms of misogyny. This statement is not merely a rebuke of one individual, who was possibly interested in drawing attention for a news cycle during a challenging time in our current American political theater. Instead, it supports academics in their use of appropriate titles and denounces attempts to belittle the contributions of scholars and teachers who are women.
Women represent a majority of educators in many journalism and mass communications subfields in the academy and in many individual college and university programs. They are champions of free speech and expression. Yet they – like women with terminal degrees in other fields, including Dr. Jill Biden – sometimes face challenges male colleagues do not in getting students, members of the public, and others to refer to them in professional modes of address.
Dr. Jill Biden has devoted her life to being an educator. She has made the all-too-familiar sacrifices women have had to make in maintaining a family and a career. She has been a champion of the American military, women’s issues, and, yes, the importance of life-long learning for many adults looking to reach for the American Dream through education. She does not need her title as First Lady/spouse of the President to define her. Her authenticity and worldview have defined her. Her life, as an educator, mother, stepmother, and grandmother define her. No title. No grandstanding. She simply worked hard, studied, cared about a topic – education – and earned her doctorate in that discipline.
We are not writing to defend one terminal degree over another degree. We understand there are medical doctors, doctors of philosophy, doctors of law, and others. Each are worthy of the rights and privileges bestowed on the degree. For those who refuse to recognize the title for those outside of the medical field, the question is “Why?”
One of the daughters of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bernice King, commented on her Twitter account, “My father was a non-medical doctor. And his work benefitted humanity greatly. Yours does, too.” Dr. Biden does not need to be defended. Forty-eight years after the failure to pass the Equal Rights Amendment demonstrates why we need to defend the rights of all women to be seen as equals in the workplace and throughout society. No attempts at being humorous or to diminish women should be tolerated.
America has shown the ability to correct and change when the rights of the underrepresented have been trampled. If not now, when?
Journalists know words have power. They have meaning. The messages they convey are able to portray groups as different and not as important as the majority. Women, individuals with disabilities, people of color, LGBTQ people and those within marginalized socio-economic groups know the power of these words. Research has shown, through the years, that media messages help to form how people see and think of others, and themselves.
News organizations and multimedia outlets, as well as those in the academy who are teaching the next generation of communications leaders, should do more than be reactive to destructive words. What is needed is an authentic and steady portrayal of all people and groups as equals in society. It should be acknowledged that The First Amendment allows those to share their voices to ridicule and minimize. It also allows others to rebut that speech with more speech. Moreover, misogynistic, anti-intellectualism and reinforcement of racial and gender hierarchies may create a buzz for a day, or even a week, but those messages should be dispelled by the truth and fact-based messages we see in everyday news coverage.
Journalism can play an important part in this work. Many of the stylebooks and traditions in newsrooms and editorial decisions are outdated and archaic. This needs to be addressed by including new standards – use of non-binary descriptors, race, cultural, and other societal changes – as part of a more inclusive framework.
This is worthy of discussion and it will take partnerships with other stakeholders to make this work.
AEJMC and ASJMC are primed to assist in this important conversation. In accordance to one of the Core Values of AEJMC, which focuses on Caring, “Members act with respect, sensitivity, consideration of others, compassion, and mercy. We try to protect others from abuse and coercion.”
We stand ready.
________________________________________
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit organization of more than 3,700 educators, students and practitioners from around the globe. Founded in 1912, by Willard Grosvenor Bleyer, the first president (1912-13) of the American Association of Teachers of Journalism, as it was then known, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better informed public, and wider human understanding.
Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC)
ASJMC is a non-profit, educational association composed of some 190 JMC programs at the college level. The majority of the association’s members are in the United States and Canada. ASJMC promotes excellence in journalism and mass communication education. Founded in 1917, ASJMC works to support the purposes of schools of journalism and mass communication in order to achieve the following goals: to foster, encourage and facilitate high standards and effective practices in the process and administration of education for journalism and mass communication in institutions of higher learning; to cooperate with journalism and mass communication organizations in efforts to raise professional standards and promote a public understanding of the role of journalism and mass communication in a democratic society; and to support and participate in the accreditation process of journalism and mass communication units through the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC).
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