News from American Journalism and the American Journalism Historians Association
Spring 2021
Endnotes
The board of directors for the American Journalism Historians Association announced that due to ongoing concerns about Covid-19 and university travel policies, its 2021 annual conference will be held virtually Oct. 8-9, 2021.
The submission deadline for papers, panel proposals, and research-in-progress abstracts is June 15, 2021. More details on submissions and virtual conference registration information are available online at https://ajha.wildapricot.org/.
Winter 2021
Awards
Ford Risley, a distinguished professor at the Bellisario College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University and former editor of American Journalism (from 2014-2020), received the American Journalism Historians Association’s 2020 Sidney Kobre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism History. A renowned Civil War-era journalism scholar, he is the author of four books, six book chapters, and more than two dozen academic papers which have appeared in American Journalism, Journalism History, Civil War History, and the Georgia Historical Quarterly. He is a former president of the American Journalism Historians Association.
Mike Conway received the American Journalism Historians Association’s 2020 Book of the Year Award for Contested Ground: ‘The Tunnel’ and the Struggle over Television News in Cold War America. He is an associate professor in The Media School at Indiana University-Bloomington.
Michael Fuhlhage, an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Wayne State University, received the 2020 National Award for Excellence in Teaching, presented by the American Journalism Historians Association. The annual award honors a college or university teacher who excels at teaching in the areas of journalism and mass communication history, makes a positive impact on student learning, and offers an outstanding example for other educators.
Announcements
The 40th annual American Journalism Historians Association convention will be held October 7-9, 2021, at the Westin Great Southern Columbus. The deadline to submit original research papers, panel proposals, and research in progress abstracts is June 1, 2021. More information about the convention is available at www.ajhaonline.org.
American Journalism seeks applicants for the Rising Scholar Award. The award provides research assistance for a junior faculty member who has not yet achieved tenure. The proposed research project must be related to media history. All methodological approaches are welcomed. Funding may be used for travel to work with archival collections, copying/digitization expenses for archival material, or to pay a research assistant. The deadline for nominations is June 15, 2021. More information about the award is available at www.ajhaonline.org.
Nominations are being accepted for the 2021 American Journalism Historians Association’s National Award for Excellence in Teaching. An honorarium of $500 accompanies the award, and the winner will be recognized at the AJHA convention. Nominees may be tenured or untenured, and should hold either a full- or part-time appointment at a college or university that confers an associate, baccalaureate or higher degree in journalism, mass communication, communication studies, or history, as of the submission due date. Nominees must have responsibility for teaching the history of journalism and mass communication either as a stand-alone course or as part of a broader course. The deadline for nominations is July 15, 2021. More information about the award is available at www.ajhaonline.org.
Summer 2020
Awards
Stephen Bates, an associate professor in the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is the winner of the Best Article Award presented by American Journalism. His article, “Prejudice and the Press Critics: Robert McCormick’s Assault on the Hutchins Commission,” appeared in the Fall 2019 issue. The award honors research published in the journal during the last year that is original, rigorous, and makes an outstanding contribution to developing scholarship in the field of journalism and mass communication history.
Matthew Pressman, an assistant professor at in the College of Communication and the Arts at Seton Hall University, is the winner of American Journalism’s Rising Scholar Award for his research project, “A History of the New York Daily News and its Populist Politics.” The award provides research assistance of $2,000 for a junior faculty member who has not yet achieved tenure. The proposed research project must be related to media history.
Spring 2020
The American Journalism Historians Association recently assessed the teaching of mass communication history at American universities. The “History in the Curriculum Report” can be found at https://ajha.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/AJHAHistoryInCurriculum2019.pdf.
Winter 2020
Awards
Debra Reddin van Tuyll, a professor at Augusta University, received the American Journalism Historians Association’s 2019 Sidney Kobre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism History. She is the author or editor of six books, as well as numerous book chapters, journal articles, and reviews. She is the editor of the Southeastern Review of Journalism History and serves on the editorial board of Journalism History. She has served two terms on the board of directors of the American Journalism Historians Association.
Thomas Aiello received the American Journalism Historians Association’s 2019 Book Award for The Grapevine of the Black South: The Scott Newspaper Syndicate in the Generation Before the Civil Rights Movement. He is an associate professor of history at Valdosta State University.
David Vergobbi, an associate professor of communication at the University of Utah, received the 2019 National Award for Excellence in Teaching, presented by the American Journalism Historians Association. The award honors a college or university teacher who excels at teaching in the areas of journalism and mass communication history, makes a positive impact on student learning, and provides an outstanding example for other educators.
Announcements
The 39th annual American Journalism Historians Association convention will be held October 1-3, 2020, at the Sheraton Memphis Downtown. The deadline to submit original research papers, panel proposals, and research in progress abstracts is May 15, 2020. More information about the convention is available at www.ajhaonline.org.
American Journalism seeks applicants for the Rising Scholar Award. The award provides research assistance for a junior faculty member who has not yet achieved tenure. The proposed research project must be related to media history. All methodological approaches are welcomed. Funding may be used for travel to work with archival collections, copying/digitization expenses for archival material, or to pay a research assistant. The deadline for nominations is June 1, 2020. More information about the award is available at www.ajhaonline.org.
Nominations are being accepted for the 2020 American Journalism Historians Association’s National Award for Excellence in Teaching. An honorarium of $500 accompanies the award, and the winner will be recognized at the AJHA convention. Nominees may be tenured or untenured, and should hold either a full- or part-time appointment at a college or university that confers an associate, baccalaureate or higher degree in journalism, mass communication, communication studies, or history, as of the submission due date. Nominees must have responsibility for teaching the history of journalism and mass communication either as a stand-alone course or as part of a broader course. The deadline for nominations is July 15, 2020. More information about the award is available at www.ajhaonline.org.