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Annual Convention Issue
Vol. 15, No. 3
October 2010
Published three times annually by the Mass Communication Division of NCA.
Publications/Web Editor - Nicholas David Bowman, Young Harris College

In this issue:

Welcome from the Chair

Dear Mass Communication Division members:

Welcome to The Gatekeeper, the official newsletter of the over 1,200 members of the National Communication Association Mass Communication Division. The big event happens next month, November 14-17, in San Francisco. During this annual conference, there will be dozens of Mass Communication-sponsored panels that will likely pique your interest, but allow me to highlight three scheduled events that you may want to particularly write down, all of which will happen in the same room, Golden Gate 3 at the Hilton:

• Mass Communication Business Meeting, Monday, Nov. 15, 2:00-3:15.
  
• Top Four Paper Panel, Open Division, Monday, Nov. 15, 3:30-4:45.
  
• Top Four Paper Panel, Student Division, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 12:30-1:45.

A special note for the first event is that if you are interested in submitting your name as a potential officer of the Division, please contact Nancy Jennings (jenninna@ucmail.uc.edu).

Finally, this will be the last issue of The Gatekeeper in which I will be serving as your chair. As such, there are so many people to thank for helping to make my life a bit easier. When counting the people assessing papers and panels along with our current officers, the number of people who have contributed to our Division is, quite literally, in the hundreds. I obviously can’t name you all personally, but suffice it to say I can’t imagine working with a better group. However, I must specifically mention three people as their tasks have been particularly large this year. When you see them at NCA, please let them know how much you appreciate their work. First, Nick Bowman (Young Harris College) has done a great job not only with this newsletter but also with the website—I think members are more informed than ever, and Nick is primarily responsible for that. Second and finally, I must offer a combined congratulations to Marina Krcmar (Wake Forest University) and Jennifer Stevens Aubrey (University of Missouri) for jointly leading the efforts to review a great deal of panels and manuscripts in an increasingly short amount of time. They did a great job, and our Division is about to see the fruits of their labor when we gather in San Francisco next month. See you then!

Best,

Andrew C. Billings
Mass Communication Division Chair
Communication Studies Department
Clemson University

MCD Members: The official minutes from the 2009 Business Meeting are available for download here. Please contact Srividya Ramasubramanian if you have any questions regardin these minutes.

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2010 NCA San Francisco Conference MCD Run-Down
All meetings are in the Hilton San Francisco unless otherwise noted

Sunday

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Monday

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Tuesday

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Wednesday

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Sun Speaks to US Patent Office about Internet Policy in China

Odessa, TX -- After publishing her most recent book,"Internet Policy In China: A Field Study of Internet Cafes" (Lexington Books), Dr. Hun Lin (Helen) Sun, Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, was invited to give the keynote address at an upcoming national training conference for government employees.

Dr. Sun, who is originally from the People's Republic of China, delivered a keynote address at the July Global Intellectual Property Academy that was hosted by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Sun spoke about how the Internet has been used by Chinese government and citizens as well as the implications of China Internet policies and regulations.

In addition to her keynote address, Sun's work on Internet policy in China was also featured in a recent issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, where she talked about how Chinese people were using the Internet, specifically in Internet cafes.

A copy of Sun's invitation letter can be viewed here, and links to her book as well as the Chronicle article can be found above.

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Pop Culture Field Study at San Diego's Comic-Con International

San Diego -- If you have students interested in popular culture, marketing, or the media industries, please encourage them to visit www.powerofcomics.com/fieldstudy for information about a field study program at next summer's Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA.

The one-week program (July 20-24, 2011) engages students as participant-observers of Comic-Con International, studying the intersection between mass marketing and fan cultural practices through ethnographic research. Comic-Con is the perfect backdrop to delve into this crossroad as hundreds of vendors and over 125,000 fans gather there to exchange symbolic meaning—and currency! And while Comic-Con features comic books, manga, and graphic novels, students interested in all manner of popular culture can find something of interest to study at the Con, including anime, sci-fi, gaming, film, television, and much, much more. You can see more information about the Con itself at http://www.comic-con.org/cci/.

Students will also have the rather unique opportunity to make a public presentation of their observations and tentative conclusions at the end of the week as a part of the Comic Arts Conference (http://fac.hsu.edu/duncanr/cac_page.htm) held in conjunction with Comic-Con. The field study is sponsored by Wittenberg University and taught by Matthew J. Smith, Associate Professor of Communication, who can be reached at msmith@wittenberg.edu.

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Four YHC Journalism Students Attend United Press International Seminar; Publish Work

Young Harris, GA -- Black bear sighting, Georgia texting laws, alcohol sales in Union County and the new Recreation Center at Young Harris College took center stage for a group of aspiring journalists as they trained with United Press International’s UPIU program for college reporters. UPIU is a social media platform that showcases the voices of student journalists and offers journalism students mentoring, editing assistance and a chance to earn a byline with respected wire service UPI.

The program is part of a new initiative at UPI to take a more active role in training of tomorrow’s journalists. The first leg of the training consisted of a one-day seminar on Thursday, Aug. 5, as a group of YHC students conferred online with UPIU International Coordinator Harumi Gondo to discuss story assignments and writing for the Internet during a live virtual chat. Each student was assigned a story and had until 4 p.m. to submit copy for critique and publication under the guidance of a professional journalist mentor.

“The YHC group was a great bunch,” Gondo said. “When they filed their stories and did their rewrites I was very impressed. They all filed well before deadline and they quickly caught on to what the mentor was trying to say.”

Four stories were edited and published for the UPIU website, including Young Harris College Opens New Recreation Center by Ethan Burch, a freshman communication studies major from Hiawassee, Ga.; Texting not the only distraction by Amy Dalton, a junior communication studies major from Augusta, Ga.; Contact with humans kills baby cub by Callie Stevens, a sophomore outdoor education major from Clermont, Ga.; and Union County Passes Law Permitting the Sale of Alcohol by Kathleen Layton, a junior communication studies major from Cartersville, Ga.

“I thought it was a great experience, and I would definitely participate in the program again,” Dalton said. Dalton’s story about Georgia’s recent ban on texting and driving was featured in the Top Headlines section of the UPIU webpage.

According to Nick Bowman, assistant professor of communication studies, the YHC-UPIU partnership will continue throughout the Fall 2010 semester. Bowman is currently working with Gondo to incorporate more UPIU training days into the journalism curriculum.

Bowman also serves as the faculty advisor for the student newspaper, Enotah Echoes, which released its first edition on Monday, Aug. 16. The topics for the four stories published by the students for UPIU were also incorporated into the student newspaper.

“The UPIU partnership is truly unique and is a major boon for our nascent program,” Bowman said. “By partnering with a world-renowned news organization such as UPI, our students have the opportunity to realize their class lessons in a very real environment, to get feedback from world-class journalists, and to even get published by a major news agency. Programs such as this are the reason why YHC media studies will be competitive on the open market.”

UPI (United Press International) created UPIU.com for students studying journalism and communications. Users can submit their stories, receive feedback from UPI editors and be in the running for a UPI byline. Starting this fall, UPIU will run week-long training sessions via video conferencing with journalism and communications schools. Email Harumi Gondo at hgondo@upi.com for more details or to sign up your class.

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Great River Technologies extends partnership with MCD

Dubuque, IA -- As a custom digital publisher and a long-standing supporter of NCA, Great River Technologies is happy to once again sponsor The Gatekeeper, the official eNewsletter of the Mass Communication Division of NCA. The sponsorship deal, which was finalized in early October, will allow for MCD's webpage - www.ncamass.org - to remain online through 2012. The site has continued to see a steady growth in traffic since the beginning of 2010, with over 6,750 unique page views over the past three months alone.

For those of you attending the 2010 NCA convention in San Francisco this November, please be sure to visit GRT in the exhibit hall to learn more about their services. Until then, find out more about GRT at http://www.greatrivertech.net/about.cfm or join them on Facebook. You can also follow the GRT blog for several example of the company's work in a variety of different educational settings.

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CONFERENCES AND CALLS

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Contemporary Media Ethics: A Practical Guide for Students, Scholars and Professionals in the Globalized World (2nd ed.)
edited by Mitchell Land, Koji Fuse and Bill W. Hornaday
Deadline for Proposals: December 1, 2010

The editors are seeking chapter proposals (the maximum of 1,000 words, including endnotes) for the second edition of Contemporary Media Ethics, which will be published by Marquette Books. This is a major revision. All chapters solicited are case analyses that compare utilitarian and non-utilitarian approaches to decision making in mass media practices. The non-utilitarian approach can be either non-Western or non-dominant Western. In particular, cross-cultural proposals that attempt to apply a non-Western philosophical foundation (e.g., the palaver, Confucianism, Daoism, Islam) to a U.S. domestic case are welcome. Proposals are due Dec. 1, 2010, and chapters due June 30, 2011. For full details, go to http://fuseprojects.weebly.com/mediaethics.html, or e-mail Koji Fuse at kfuse@unt.edu.

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CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Interfaith Dialogue in Practice: Living Between the Abrahamic Traditions
edited by Daniel Brown
Deadline for Proposals: December 1, 2010

One-page proposals are invited from communication and media studies scholars. Proposals will describe potential 3,000 – 3,500-word essays that explicitly examine issues related to interfaith dialogue and relationships within the Abrahamic Faith traditions. The Abrahamic Faiths – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – represent the three primary monotheistic world religions. These traditions are intertwined with a shared history, many common values, and unique theological assumptions that distinguish them from non-Abrahamic religious faiths. They also share a troubled past and present, marked by mistrust, hatred, and even war. Chapter authors will present their experiences with interfaith dialogue involving two or more of the Abrahamic Traditions.

Interfaith Dialogue in Practice will be an essential reader that examines contemporary communicative issues surrounding interfaith dialogue and relationships. Unlike other readers, the volume will be written from the disciplinary perspective of communication studies. All authors are communication or media studies scholars who are involved in interfaith dialogue at a variety of levels: home/family, community, campus, curricular, and house of worship. The authors of the chapters will provide an array of views and perspectives intended to impact the field of interfaith dialogue. Avoiding sectarianism and abstaining from proselytizing, the contributors explain and reflect on their experiences from a broadly-defined communication-studies-perspective. Because all authors are media and communication studies scholars, the chapters will focus on messages: message construction, message reception, message transmission, and so on.

Full title: Interfaith Dialogue in Practice: Living Between the Abrahamic Traditions
General Editor: Daniel S. Brown, Jr., Ph.D. (Louisiana State University)
Department of Communication Studies
Grove City College
100 Campus Avenue
Grove City, PA 16127 USA
dsbrown@gcc.edu

Publisher: TBD – A university or other scholarly press with a record of successful publication and marketing of texts related to communication and religion.

Description: Popular and scholarly interest in interfaith dialogue is complex and increasingly ubiquitous. The goal for authors is to provide an overview of their selected topics. Chapter authors are charged with providing a brief description of the individuals and situation about which they are writing. Chapters may include the following: Definition and/or explanation of their assigned topic, discussion of what has been done by others, discussion of what was done in the current relationship or situation, and discussion of what could or should be done in the future. Any other information the author feels is necessary, such as print or online resources that relate to their topic, should be included as well. Ideally, this volume will serve as a primer for others interested in pursuing interfaith dialogue and understanding.

Send proposals and inquiries to Daniel S. Brown, Ph.D., at Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania (dsbrown@gcc.edu). Proposals should include the following: a one-page chapter proposal and a brief c.v. (or alternatively a one-paragraph biographical statement) from the author(s).

Tentative schedule for publication
Submission of book chapter proposals: December 1, 2010
Editor notifies authors of accepted chapter proposals: December 15, 2010
Authors submit full book chapters (between 10 -15 pages): February 15, 2010
Peer reviews of book chapter manuscripts sent to author(s): March 15, 2011
Revised/Final version of chapters received by editor: April 15, 2011
Final book submitted to publisher: June 1, 2011
Anticipated publication: Early 2012

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Promotions, Awards, and Publications

Promotions and Appointments

Dane Claussen, Point Park University, has been appointed Chair of Faculty for the School of Communication. He previously was Director of Graduate Programs for nine years. Claussen continues as Editor of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, published by the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication.

Vanessa G. Cunningham-Engram, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, was granted tenure in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Heather Hundley, California State University - San Bernardino, has been appointed Director of Special Events and Technology for the Palm Desert campus.

Nancy Jennings, University of Cincinnati, was promoted from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Communication.

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Awards

Vanessa G. Cunningham-Engram, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

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Grants

Vanessa G. Cunningham-Engram, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, was awarded a $4,500 grant to develop a Communication Law & Ethics distance learning course.

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Publications

Leon Barkho, Jonkoping University, published the book "News from the BBC, CNN, and Al-Jazeera: How the Three Broadcasters Cover the Middle East" (Hampton Press, 2010).

Pablo Boczkowski, Professor of Media, Technology and Society at Northwestern University, published the book "News at Work: Imitation in an Age of Information Abundance" (The University of Chicago Press, 2010).

Vanessa G. Cunningham-Engram, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, published a chapter titled “Change in the Oval Office: The Impact of Race on First-Time African American Voters,” Context V: Politics, Chapter 20, in the first edition of Interracial Communication: Contexts, Communities, and Choices (Kendall Hunt, 2011).

Stephen J. Farnsworth and S. Robert Lichter, George Mason University, published the book "The Nightly News Nightmare: Media Coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections, 1988-2008" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010).

Katherine Fowkes, Professor of Communication at High Point University, published the book "The Fantasy Film" (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).

Yahya Kamalipour, Purdue University Calumet, published the book "Media, Power, and Politics in the Digital Age: The 2009 Presidential Election Uprising in Iran" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010).

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NCA's RFP Tracker - Opportunities for Mass Communication Research

NCA's RFP Tracker identifies funding opportunities (including research grants, residential fellowships, travel funds, awards, etc.) for communication scholars. There are many grant opportunities for those interested in mass communication research. The RFP Tracker lists funding and fellowship opportunities for graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and people outside of the academy. Check out the RFP Tracker website at http://www.natcom.org/index.asp?bid=10977 and download the most recent report.

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NCA looking for Subject Matter Experts for national database

Jennifer Glicoes of the National Communication Association main office is looking for MCD members interested in serving as Subject Matter Experts to be contacted by news media organizations. If you are interested in this opportunity, please e-mail Jennifer (jglicoes@natcom.org) with the following information:

• Name and affiliation
• Email address 
  
• Telephone number
  
• Brief 300 word biography
  
• Names of any relevant publications (3-5)
  
• Names of any relevant courses you teach

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Position Announcements

La Sierra University
Assistant Professor
Mass Media/Advertising/Public Relations/Journalism
Review of applications starts December 13, 2010

The Department of English and Communication seeks to fill one position at the rank of Assistant Professor, beginning July 1, 2011. Regular nine-month load of 32 to 36 quarter
credits. The primary responsibility will be teaching undergraduate Communication courses in the areas of Mass Media/Advertising/Public Relations/Journalism and methods
of research. A communication studies generalist who has a secondary expertise in new communication technologies will be considered a plus. The successful candidates will
be able to 1) teach a variety of courses within the discipline, 2) demonstrate a record of involvement with externally funded research, 3) share in advising Communication
majors and minors; 4) supervise internships and 5) serve on departmental and university committees.

Qualifications: Ph.D. in Communication or related discipline. In lieu of a Ph.D., at least ten years of professional journalism/media experience will be considered.

La Sierra is a small Liberal Arts University religiously affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church and reserves the right to prefer members. As a Christian school we
seek applicants who will operate in the context of a Christian environment and support the mission of the University.

La Sierra University is located in southern California; we have a beautiful campus that has been designated as an arboretum. We enroll 2,015 students who come from nearly
every state in the U.S. and 60 countries around the world. They represent a variety of social, ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds. Our classes are small; we encourage
student-faculty research and foster a sense of community.

Review of applications will begin on December 13, 2010 and continue until the position is filled. Please include 1) La Sierra University application, 2) a curriculum vitae; 3) a letter of application that includes a statement of educational philosophy, teaching experience, and research interests; 4) evidence of teaching effectiveness; 5) evidence of
scholarship; 6) three letters of recommendation; and 7) graduate school transcripts. Please send application materials to:

Desiree Noah
Human Resources
La Sierra University
4500 Riverwalk Parkway
Riverside, CA 92515
Phone: (951) 785-2328
FAX: (951) 785-2087
E-mail: dfnoah@lasierra.edu

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North Central College
Assistant Professor
New Media and Public Relations
Review of applications starts November 1, 2010

North Central College invites applications for a tenure-track position as assistant professor of speech communication beginning September 2011. Higher rank may be considered for suitably qualified applicants. A Ph.D. is required by September 1, 2011. Applicants should demonstrate potential for excellence in teaching and commitment to scholarly activities.

We seek a broadly trained teacher/scholar who specializes in public relations and has expertise in new media. The ideal candidate will be able to develop new public relations courses that will serve the broadcast and organizational communication tracks within the department as well as teach a variety of courses which may include, but are not limited to, introduction to new media, public speaking, business and professional communication, broadcast copywriting/news, and/or group process. Candidates with professional public relations and/or media experience are highly desired.

North Central College, founded in 1861, is a selective, comprehensive liberal arts college of 2900 students located 30 miles west of Chicago in Naperville in the heart of the Illinois Research and Development corridor. See http://www.noctrl.edu for more information about the college and the department.

Send letter of application, resume, transcripts, teaching philosophy, teaching evaluations and three letters of recommendation to Dr. Mara Berkland, c/o Cheryl Horton, Office of Academic Affairs, North Central College, 30 N. Brainard St., Naperville, IL 60540. Review of applications will begin November 1, 2010, and continue until the position is filled. Preliminary interviews will be held at NCA. Applicants who would enrich the diversity of the campus community are strongly encouraged to apply. EOE.

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University of Missouri
Assistant Professor
Political Communication
Review of applications starts October 30, 2010

The Department of Communication at the University of Missouri-Columbia invites applications for a full-time tenure-track faculty member to begin in Fall, 2011. Appointment will be at the Assistant Professor level.

We seek the strongest political communication scholar regardless of research emphasis to contribute to our graduate and undergraduate programs, with a secondary interest in an area that complements departmental areas of research. Candidates should have demonstrated teaching effectiveness, and an established record or clear promise of being a productive scholar by pursuing publications and external funding. Candidates should have completed the PhD by August, 2011.

The Department of Communication offers the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees. The University of Missouri is the flagship institution of the state. Columbia, a college town of 100,000 midway between St. Louis and Kansas City, has been recognized repeatedly among the top cities in the U.S.   The department will move into a newly renovated, state-of-the-art building located in the center of the campus in the summer of 2011.  For more information about the department, refer to http://communication.missouri.edu. For more information about the university, visit http://www.missouri.edu. For more information about the community, see http://www.columbiamochamber.com/.

Salary is competitive. Review of applications will begin October 30 subject to final budget approval and continue until the position is filled. Minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. The University of Missouri is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/ADA Employer.  Send a letter of application, curriculum vita, a copy of a published article (or equivalent sample of scholarship), and three letters of recommendation to:
 
Dr. Mitchell McKinney
Search Committee Chair
115 Switzler Hall
Department of Communication
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO  65211
phone:  (573) 882-9230
e-mail: mckinneym@missouri.edu

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MCD Officers 2009-2010

MCD Officers
Chair Andrew C. Billings Communication Studies Dept. Clemson University 409 Strode Tower Clemson, SC 29634 acbilng@clemson.edu (864) 656-1477	Vice Chair Marina Krcmar Department of Communication Wake Forest University PO Box 7347 Winston-Salem, NC 27109 Krcmarm@wfu.edu (336) 758-5407
Vice Chair-Elect Adam Earnheardt Youngstown State University Department of Communication 1 University Plaza Youngstown, OH  44555 acearnheardt@ysu.edu (330) 941-1845	Past Chair Travis L. Dixon Department of Speech Comm. U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 304 Communication Bldg. Urbana, IL 61801 tldixon@uiuc.edu (217) 244-01041
Secretary Srividya Ramasubramanian Texas A&M University Department of Communication 211 Bolton Hall College Station, TX 77843 srivi@tamu.edu (979) 845-5178	Secretary-Elect Jake Jensen Purdue University Department of Communication BRNG 2144 West Lafayette, IN 47907 jdjensen@purdue.edu (765) 494-7781
Publications and Web Editor (expires '12) Nicholas David Bowman Young Harris College Department of Comm. Studies 102C Goolsby Hall Young Harris, GA 30582 ndbowman@yhc.edu (706) 379-5215	Graduate Student Rep. Elizabeth Hatfield Texas A &M University Department of Communication MU 4234 TAMU College Station, TX ehatfield@tamu.edu (979) 845-6594
Research Committee
Chair Jennifer Stevens Aubrey University of Missouri-Columbia Department of Communication 136 Heinkel Bldg. Columbia, MO 65211 aubreyj@missouri.edu (573) 882-0739	Vice Chair-Elect ('10) Sumana Chattopadhyay Marquette University Diederich College of Comm. 403 Johnston Hall Milwaukee, WI 53233 sumanach@gmail.com (414) 288-3488
Vice Chair-Elect ('11) Srividya Ramasubramanian Texas A&M University Department of Communication 211 Bolton Hall College Station, TX 77843 srivi@tamu.edu (979) 845-5178
Nominations Committee
Chair (expires '11) Nancy Jennings University of Cincinnati McMicken Coll. of Arts & Sci. 137 McMicken ML 0184 Cincinnati, OH 45521 nancy.jennings@uc.edu (513) 556-4456	Committee (expires '11) Melissa Click University of Missouri-Columbia Department of Communication 132 Heinkel Bldg. Columbia, MO 65211 ClickM@missouri.edu (573) 884-4694
Commitee (expires '10) Michaela Popescu Cal State-San Bernandino Dept. of Communication Studies 5500 University Parkway San Bernardino, CA 92407 popescum@csusb.edu (909) 537-5862	Commitee (expires '10) Elizabeth Behm-Morawtiz University of Missouri-Columbia Department of Communication 137 Heinkel Bldg. Columbia, MO 65211 behmmorawitze@missouri.edu (573) 882-9786
Commitee (expires '10) Laura Beth Daws Georgia Highlands College Department of Humanities Room 311 Cartersville, GA 30121 ldaws@highlands.edu (770) 597-5923	Commitee (expires '10) Rebecca M. Chory West Virginia University Department of Comm. Studies 108 Armstrong Hall Morgantown, WV 26506 rchoryas@wvu.edu (304) 293-3905
Representatives to NCA General Assembly
Legislative Assembly (expires '10) Stan Tickton Norfolk State University Mass Communication/Journalism 700 Park Ave., Unit 3249 Norfolk, Virginia 23504 stickton@nsu.edu (757) 823-2383	Legislative Assembly (expires '11) Jeff Tyus Youngstown State University Department of Communication 1 University Plaza Youngstown, OH  44555 jltyus@ysu.edu (330) 941-3631
NCA Resolutions Committee Karyn Riddle University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication 5014 Vilas Communication Hall Madison, WI 53706 kriddle@wisc.edu (608) 263-7836	NCA Nominating Committee Mina Tsay Boston University Department of MC/ADV/PR 640 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, MA 02215 minatsay@bu.edu (617) 358-5860

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