September 02, 2011

Community Journalism Interest Group Call for Panel Proposals

The Community Journalism Interest Group is seeking panel proposals for the AEJMC national conference in Chicago, Illinois. While the interest group will seek to offer a diverse program, we hope to receive some proposals that make a thematic connection to AEJMC’s centennial celebration in 2012. The panel proposals are due by Oct. 21, 2011. The proposals should include the following information:

• Summary of what the session topic will be
• Possible speakers, including names if possible
• Suggested co-sponsoring divisions/interest groups (A listing of other AEJMC groups can be found here.
• Estimated cost, if any
• Name of contact person for the session
• Email proposals to COMJIG vice chair John Hatcher.

As the vice chair of the Community Journalism Interest Group I'm here to facilitate ideas for panels and teaching sessions. This past August, Andris Straumanis and Joe Marren did a great job with our programming. You can see a summary of what we offered on the COMJIG blog.
Chicago is a city that is ripe for COMJIG-related panels thanks to the rich tradition in community journalism research via the Chicago School and the vibrant community media that include ethnic media, online communities and a vibrant neighborhood press. We are eager to create panels that explore these areas.
We are also hoping to explore panels that will look at issues related to diversity and to exploring community journalism as an international phenomenon. We have already had some initial discussions with interest groups and divisions interested in partnering with us in these areas.

I'm here to help you in this process as much as possible, but I need your ideas. Even if you do not have a formal panel proposal, please help us brainstorm a list of possible panels. The easiest way to do this is to comment at the end of this post. I’ve already tried to start the brainstorming with one blog entry here. You can also “like” our Facebook page and share your ideas there.

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