Mass Communication Division - National Communication Association

Mass Communication Division
National Communication Association
July 2007
Published three times annually by the Mass Communication Division of NCA.
Publications Editor - Adam Earnheardt, Youngstown State University

Dear Mass Communication Division members:

Greetings! I hope your summer is going well and that your Fall semester gets off to a great start. The Division officers worked very hard to organize all of the MCD panel and paper programs for our upcoming convention in Chicago. On behalf of the entire membership, I thank Vice Chair, Lance Holbert (University of Delaware), and the Research Chair, Heather Hundley (California State University, San Bernardino), for their hard work and time planning our programs for the 2007 NCA Convention. At the time that I am writing this, the preliminary program is online so I encourage you to start making plans now to attend our MCD panels. I especially encourage you to attend the Mass Communication Division Business Meeting, Saturday, November 17 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. in the Chicago Hilton’s Waldorf Room. The Division Reception follows right after the Business Meeting at the same place, from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. By attending the business meeting you can become more active in Mass Communication Division and help us chart our future.

Thank you.

J. Emmett Winn, Chair
Auburn University

Call for Nominations for MCD Officers
Want to be more active in the Mass Communication Division? Submit your name for nomination.
Mary Beth Earnheardt, Youngstown State University

The Mass Communication Division of the National Communication Association is gathering names of those members who are interested in being nominated for open positions. If you submit your name it will appear on the ballot at our next meeting in Chicago. Elections will take place at this time.

Please send nominations to Mary Beth Earnheardt at mearnheardt@ysu.edu. Please consider self-nomination.

The following list details the positions for which we are accepting nominations and a brief description of the positions.

NOTE: Names submitted for Vice-Chair Officer Elect and Secretary Elect are not nominations, they are for the consideration of the committee which will make the final nominations for these positions.

Vice-Chair Elect- (4 years of service) In the first year of service the Vice-Chair Elect will oversee the teaching and service awards. In the second year the Vice-Chair Elect becomes the Vice- Chair and he/she must attend the program planning meeting at NCA, distribute the call for papers, and plan the program (with assistance from others in the organization). The Vice-Chair must also represent the MCD on the Legislative Council. The Vice-Chair Elect then becomes the Chair and must preside over MCD business meetings and at Executive Committee meetings and represent the MCD on the Legislative Council. In the final year of service he/she will serve as Immediate Past-Chair and represent the MCD on the Legislative Council and act as an adviser to the Chair.

Secretary Elect- (2 years of service) The Secretary Elect records notes and election results during the MCD business meeting. He/she is also responsible for distributing these notes after they have been approved. The Secretary Elect then becomes the Secretary who is responsible for distributing notes at the MCD meeting and formally presenting the notes at the meeting.

Vice Chair Elect of Research Committee / First Year Member of Research Committee – (4 years of service, 3 year term on Research Committee, one year on Nominating Committee) The Research Committee’s Vice-Chair elect will serve as Vice Chair in his/her second year and Chair in his/her third year. Additionally after the third year this person will become a member of the Nominating Committee. The purpose of the research committee is to coordinate the evaluation of competitive papers submitted to the Division for the annual convention, to plan the section meetings of the annual convention that are devoted to research in Mass Communication and to coordinate and promote the research activities of the Division.

Graduate Student Representative – (1 year term) The Graduate Student Representative will represent the Division at any meetings held by the Association in which graduate student interests are discussed and in which graduate students are invited to participate.

Representative to NCA Nominating Committee – (1 year term) This person will represent the MCD on the Association’s Nominating Committee which prepares a slate consisting of two or more nominees for the office of Second Vice President and two or more nominees for each at-large position vacant on the Legislative Assembly and the Committee on Committees. NCA officers and members who have served on the NCA Nominating Committee during the previous five years are not eligible to serve in this position.

Representative to the NCA Resolutions Committee – (1 year term) This person will represent the MCD on the Association’s Resolutions Committee which considers resolutions that may be included in the Association’s Policy Platform. NCA officers and members who have served on the NCA Resolutions Committee during the previous five years are not eligible to serve in this position.

Legislative Assembly Representative - (2 year term) This person will attend the Association’s annual Legislative Assembly meetings and represent the interests of the Division at those meetings, record the proceedings from these meetings, and report a summary of those proceedings at the annual business meeting.

Nominating Committee of the Division - (2 or 3 every year, 2 year terms) This committee is responsible for presenting a slate of potential candidates to the membership during the business meeting. They also hand out, collect, and count ballots. The nominee who receives the most votes will be chair of the committee and therefore a member of the Executive Committee.

Several positions are members of the Executive Committee. Please note the additional requirements of these positions:

In addition to the responsibilities listed above if you are elected to a position on the Executive Committee the responsibilities of this committee are to administer the policy decisions of the organization, handling the resources of the division, and insuring decisions made and actions taken are in accordance with the By-Laws.

The deadline for the call for teaching and service awards has been extended to August 15. Please review application requirements for each award below (and on the award application web pages).

The MCD Teaching Award is designed to recognize excellence in teaching, using the term "teacher" in a broad sense. In order to be considered, the nominee must be a member of NCA and the MCD, must have taught for over ten years (post-graduate), and must have been recognized for teaching excellence by his/her department, unit, college/university, or other group or association. This includes, but is not limited to, awards, merit evaluations, student recognition, etc.

Self-nomination is encouraged in addition to nominations by others. The nomination packet should include the Application for Candidate Nomination (completed online), the applicant's curriculum vitae, and three letters of recommendation (not to exceed two pages; one must be from a current or former student).

The MCD Service Award is designed to recognize excellence in service, using the term "service" in a broad sense. In order to be considered, the nominee must be a member of NCA and the MCD, must have served the NCA and MCD in a number of capacities, and must have evidence of exemplary service to several of the following: NCA, MCD, their profession, their community, their department, and/or their college/university.

If you have any further questions concerning the awards or the nomination process, please contact Mary Beth Earnheardt (Nominations Committee Chair) at mearnheardt@ysu.edu or (303)941-1655.

Nominations should be received by August 15. Over the summer, an award committee will discuss the nominations. The award committee will consist of the immediate past chair, chair, vice-chair, vice-chair elect and secretary of the MCD. The final decision will be made by September 1. The award recipient will be contacted and asked to attend the MCD Business Meeting during the NCA annual convention to receive the award. The MCD reserves the right to not give any awards.

Vice Chair, Lance Holbert (University of Delaware), and the Research Chair, Heather Hundley (California State University, San Bernardino), offer the following report concerning competitive paper and panel submissions to the Mass Communication Division for the 2007 convention to be held in Chicago.

The Division received a total of 149 competitive paper submissions (a 6% increase from the previous year). A total of 99 of the 149 paper submissions were accepted for presentation at the upcoming conference (66% paper acceptance rate). These 93 works have been placed into thematic panel sessions. MCD received 30 panel submissions (a 66% increase from the previous year) and 14 were programmed for the conference (a 47% acceptance rate)

This year NCA provided the MCD 40 panel slots for the conference. Two slots were allotted for our business meeting and social gathering leaving 38 for panel and panel programs. Check out the preliminary program online.

The following is a listing of the Top Paper award winners from this year’s competition – congratulations to all the authors:

Thanks to everyone who submitted competitive papers and panels for the Chicago conference. And a special "thank you" to all who volunteered their time and expertise to review papers and panels.

Empirical studies, methodological pieces, reviews of literature, and new theoretical perspectives are sought for a special issue of Sex Roles focusing specifically on content analysis. Studies of a broad range of media (television, film, video games, music albums, websites/blogs, e-mails, letters, diaries, images, etc.) and message types (entertainment; persuasion; interviews, news, and other "reality" content; etc.) will be considered.

Authors should pay close attention to conceptual, methodological, and cultural issues. In particular, submissions should include explicit conceptual definitions of the content under investigation, a clear rationale for analyzing the content, mention of potential implications of the authors' choice of sample, and, if applicable, a discussion of the role of cultural differences in shaping the analyzed content.

To be considered for this special issue, manuscripts must be submitted by November 1, 2007 via the Sex Roles submission website < http://www.editorialmanager.com/sers/ >. In their cover letter, authors should indicate that their submission is intended for special-issue consideration. The special issue will be edited by special guest editors Rena Rudy and Daniel Linz. Inquiries regarding the appropriateness of topics may be directed to either co-editor.

Rena Rudy, rena@umail.ucsb.edu
U of California, Santa Barbara

Manuscripts must conform to the specifications of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Ed. Additional guidelines for manuscript preparation may be found in recent issues of the journal and on the journal web page: < http://www.editorialmanager.com/sers/ >.

CFP: American Behavioral Scientist
Special Issue - "Sport, Communication, and the Culture of Consumption"

American Behavioral Scientist, one of the world's preeminent interdisciplinary journals in the social and behavioral sciences, published by Sage Publications, is pleased to call for papers for a special issue focused on "Sport, Communication, and the Culture of Consumption." From media events such as the Super Bowl and the Olympic Games to global sport celebrities such as Tiger Woods and David Beckham to the transnational media and advertising corporations that drive them all, it is easy to recognize that the communication of sport has become a large engine of consumer culture. Such mega-phenomena combine with the constant drip of sports communication, not only in specialty sports networks and in print and web publishing, but in interpersonal and group settings where we make sense of what sport and its promotional culture means. Through communication, the sensibilities of sport are often intertwined with decisions about what we drink and eat, what we drive, what we wear and the activities we choose to value. Because such decisions circulate meaning themselves, the influences of sport and its commodification become more even more ubiquitous and naturalized. Towards understanding such phenomena, this special issue seeks to examine emerging concerns and trends associated with the increasingly large social and cultural footprint of sport and its commodification. The issue explores the role and impact of communication and media in enabling sport and its culture to serve as an engine of consumer culture. The special issue especially seeks studies that examine how the shadow of sport fans out via marketing, advertising, and other promotional strategies to make connections with audiences and consumers. Also of interest are studies that shed light on the role that norms and values that come with the commodification of sport play in interpersonal and group communication settings. There is special interest in hearing from scholars from diverse disciplinary and geographic quarters on topics that assess the forces of globalization in the consumption culture of sport and consider its impacts in relation to race, gender, class, religion, age, and disability.

Manuscripts should not exceed 30 pages, including text, references, notes, tables, and figures, and must conform to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition). In order to facilitate the blind, peer review process, no material identifying the author(s) of submitted manuscripts should appear anywhere other than the title page. The title page should include:

The first page of the manuscript itself should include the title of the paper, an abstract of not more than 200 words, and up to six key words for indexing.

Manuscripts must be received via email attachment in either MS-WORD (.doc) or Rich Text (.rtf) formats by September 1, 2007 at lwenner@lmu.edu. In the subject line of the email message, authors should specify "ABS Submission." In the text of this email message the submitting author should provide:

Announcing the 4th biennial William A. Kern Communications Conference
Call for Papers
Visual Communication: Rhetorics and Technology
April 10-13, 2008
Rochester Institute of Technology
Strathallan Hotel, Rochester New York

Call for Papers: The first Kern conference on Visual Communication took place in 2001 and provided a wide-ranging forum for scholars and practitioners to share their work. Since then, the interdisciplinary study of visual communication has continued to grow, generating a variety of projects, books, journals, studies, and methodological approaches to research and critical studies. The fourth and final Kern conference on visual communication continues the conversation with a renewed commitment to interdisciplinary interests and scholarship. The 4th and final Kern conference on Visual Communication: Rhetorics and Technology (April 10-13, 2008, Rochester NY) focuses on the study of visuality as communication with special interest on the interconnections between visual rhetoric and visual media technologies.

We invite submissions that address this theme in the widest ways we can imagine. How does scholarship in visual communication interact with traditional approaches to the processes of human communication, inclusive of rhetoric and communication media technology? How do individual cases of visual communication, visual rhetoric, visual documentation and creativity enlarge our understanding of human communication? How does the history and practice of visuality inform our teaching of communication, media and rhetoric? Where are individual research projects taking us? Individual papers, presentations, experimental "work in progress," panel and workshop proposals are welcome.
Send complete papers or 500 word abstracts via email as a Word document attachment to Diane S. Hope, or by paper mail to Diane S. Hope, Kern Professor in Communications, 92 Lomb Memorial Drive; Rochester Institute of Technology; Rochester NY, 14623, by December 1, 2007.

Please check the website: www.rit.edu/kern for updates, details and registration information.

Diane S. Hope (dshgpt@rit.edu)
William A. Kern Professor in Communications
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY 14623
585-475-605

L. Patrick Devlin, Emeritus Professor, University of Rhode Island has formed a partnership with Darrell West, Brown University and author of "Air Wars" to continue the collection and distribution of historic presidential campaign television ads. Individuals seeking 2008 or earlier (1952-2004) ad collections from the Devlin/West archive should contact Darrell West at Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, (401)863-1163 or Darrell_West@brown.edu.

Available Collections on VHS or DVD:

Johnson C. Smith University, a historically African-American university located in Charlotte, North Carolina, invites applications for the positions of:

Responsibilities: Teach four courses in, as well as other courses within, the candidate's area of expertise. The appointee will serve as senior paper advisor, conduct research, participate in grant writing activities and be involved in academic advising, curriculum development, committee service and other duties as required in support of organizational goals.

Qualifications: An earned doctorate (or terminal degree) in communication arts, film, fine arts, and/graphic design. Preference will be given to candidates who have demonstrated effectiveness in teaching and whose specialties include Mass Communications. Candidates should demonstrate the ability to teach all levels of undergraduate courses, serve as senior paper advisor as well as establish and maintain a positive educational relationship with students and colleagues.

Application: Send curriculum vitae or resume, letter of application which responds to the minimum and desired qualifications, a one-page statement of the candidate's teaching philosophy, a one-page statement on research interests, unofficial transcripts from all institutions attended (official transcripts will be required of all finalists) and three recent letters of recommendation from individuals familiar with the candidates teaching and research abilities to:

Johnson C. Smith is an independent, private, coeducational institution of higher education, dedicated to providing an outstanding education to over 1470 students. The University offers a liberal arts education in conjunction with concentrated study in 27 specialized fields. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.jcsu.edu.

The interdisciplinary programs in Journalism Studies and Women’s Studies at Texas A&M University (TAMU) invite applications for a Fall 2008 appointment as ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN GENDER AND THE MASS MEDIA, entry level.

The candidate must have a Ph.D. in Mass Communication, Communication, Media Studies, or related fields, as well as a demonstrated commitment to Women’s Studies as a discipline (a graduate certificate or advanced degree in Women’s Studies is a plus, but candidates might also fulfill this requirement through a track record of publications
and/or dissertation work in the area of gender studies). Equally important is a disciplinary commitment to Journalism Studies demonstrated through research and/or previous teaching assignments. The best candidate also would have media experience.

The candidate should have a primary interest in gender and the media; broadcast, print, and/or new media would all be acceptable focuses. Particularly desirable would be a focus on gender in any of the following areas: television news, the Internet, international media studies, ethnic media studies, media and sexuality, history of the press. The
candidate must be prepared to teach on a regular basis Introduction to Women’s Studies and introductory and/or writing, editing, and design courses offered through Journalism Studies. The candidate would have an opportunity to develop new courses for both disciplines. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who will increase the exposure of our students to a diverse culture.

For full consideration, applicants should send a letter of application, curriculum vitae, statement of research and teaching interests, writing sample, and three letters of recommendation by October 1, 2007 to:

If you have questions about this search, please direct e-mails to Randall Sumpter (Journalism Studies and chair of the search) at r-sumpter@tamu.edu or Claudia Nelson (Women’s Studies) at claudia_nelson@tamu.edu. Texas A&M University is an AA/EEO institution, is deeply committed to diversity, and responds to the needs of dual-career couples.

Chair - J. Emmett Winn Dept. of Communication & Journalism 217 Tichenor Hall Auburn University Auburn, Alabama 36849 winnjoh@auburn.edu (334) 844-2761	Vice Chair - R. Lance Holbert Department of Communication 250 Pearson Hall Newark, DE 19716 University of Delaware holbert@udel.edu (302) 831-8041
Vice Chair Elect - Travis L. Dixon Dept. of Speech Comm. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 702 S. Wright St. #244 Lincoln Urbana, IL 61801 tldixon@uiuc.edu (217) 244-0104 (phone) (217) 244-1598 (fax)	Past Chair - Kristen Harrison Dept of Speech Communication University of Illinois 131 Lincoln Hall, 702 S. Wright St. Urbana IL 61801 krishar@uiuc.edu (217) 244-7536 (phone) (217) 244-1598 (fax)
Secretary - Dana E. Mastro Department of Communication University of Arizona Building 25, Room 317 Tucson, AZ 85721 mastro@email.arizona.edu (520) 307-0697	Secretary Elect - Jae-Hwa Shin University of Southern Mississippi School of Mass Communication and Journalism Box 5121 Hattiesburg, MS 39406 jaehwashin@yahoo.com (601) 266-4282
Publications/Web Editor - Adam Earnheardt (term expires November 2009) Youngstown State University Dept. of Communication 1 University Plaza Youngstown, OH 44555 acearnheardt@ysu.edu (330) 941-1845	Graduate Student Rep - Cortney Moriarty Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Dept. of Speech Comm. 702 S. Wright St. #244 Lincoln Urbana, IL 61801 cmoriart@uiuc.edu (217) 333-9106
Research Committee
Research Committee Chair - Heather Hundley Dept of Communication Studies California State University, San Bernardino 5500 University Parkway San Bernardino, CA 92704 hhundley@csusb.edu (909) 880-7377	Research Committee Vice Chair - Sharon R. Mazzarella Communication Studies Dept Clemson University 410 Strode Tower Clemson, SC 29634-0533 smazzar@clemson.edu (864) 656-4399
Research Committee Vice Chair Elect - Rebecca M. Chory Department of Communication Studies 108 Armstrong Hall, P.O. Box 6293 Morgantown, WV 26506-6293 West Virginia University rchoryas@wvu.edu (304) 293-3905
Nominations Committee
Chair - Mary Beth Earnheardt Youngstown State University Department of English 1 University Plaza Youngstown, OH 44555 mearnheardt@ysu.edu (330) 941-1655	Meghan Sanders Louisiana State University Manship School of Mass Communication Louisiana State University 211 Journalism Bldg. Baton Rouge, LA 70803 msand@lsu.edu (225) 578-7380
Sahara Byrne U.C., Santa Barbara Dept. of Communication Santa Barbara, CA 93106 saharabyrne@umail.ucsb.edu (805) 893-2393	Janellen Hill Department of Communication Arts Regis University 3333 Regis Blvd, E-8 Denver, CO 80221 jhill@regis.edu (303) 458-4969
Rebecca Verser University of Missouri-Columbia Dept. of Communication 115 Switzler Hall Columbia, MO 65211 verserr@missouri.edu (573) 882-4431	Glenda Balas Vice Chair University of New Mexico Communication & Journalism C & J Bldg Room 228 Albuquerque, NM 87131 gbalas@UNM.EDU (505) 277-4422
NCA
Legislative Assembly - Stan Tickton (term expires November 2008) Mass Communication/Journalism 700 Park Ave., Unit 3249 Norfolk State University Norfolk, Virginia 23504 stickton@nsu.edu (757) 823-2383	Legislative Assembly - Jeff Tyus (term expires November 2007) Sinclair Community College Communication Dept 444 W 3rd St Dayton, OH 45402-1421 jeffrey.tyus@sinclair.edu (937) 512-3119
Resolutions Committee - Andrew Billings Dept. of Communication Studies Clemson University 409 Strode Tower Clemson, SC 29634 acbilng@clemson.edu (864) 656-1477	Nominating Committee - Dana E. Mastro Department of Communication University of Arizona Building 25, Room 317 Tucson, AZ 85721 mastro@email.arizona.edu (520) 307-0697

The next issue of the Gatekeeper (newsletter for the NCA Mass Communication Division) is coming in late-October 2007 and we need your news. Please provide me with any content you would like considered for publication in the newsletter (position announcements, new books, appointments, etc.). Please provide me with all content by October 1, 2007. Send updates to Adam Earnheardt at acearnheardt@ysu.edu or call 330-941-1845 and leave a message.