AEJMC 2022: Community Journalism Paper Call (Deadline April 1)

The Community Journalism Interest Group (ComJIG) invites scholarly submissions from faculty and graduate students for its competitive paper and poster sessions to be presented at the 2022 AEJMC national conference in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

In addition to the Top Faculty ($100 and plaque) and Top Graduate Student ($150 and plaque) paper awards, ComJIG has a special call and $150/plaque prize for the top graduate student paper with a niche focus on social justice in context of community journalism. All papers should apply or advance theory and/or professional practice in community/local journalism and can use a variety of methods and approaches. All papers up for the graduate student awards cannot be co-authored by a faculty member – indicate in your submission if you want to be considered for it. The deadline for paper submissions is April 1, 2022.

The Scope: Community journalism is in the midst of a paradigm shift in both research and practice. New technologies, an increase in the digital divide, the ongoing shift from print to digital, the encroachment of a global community on local reporting, and the increasing distrust of mainstream news outlets and its effects on audience perceptions of hyperlocal news, to name a few, represent a moving target for community reporting.

The concept of community has also expanded to include well more than just a group defined by characteristics of physical proximity. In the digital age, communities also are defined by the strength of social relationships among individuals based largely on the interests, beliefs, and ideologies that bring them together, irrespective of their geographic location. ComJIG encourages submissions that address these issues as well as this diversity within and about communities in whatever forms they take. It also encourages submissions on the role(s) journalism plays in reporting as well as informing these communities. In addition, it encourages submissions that provide action-oriented insight into effects, trends, and issues facing community journalism outlets that would be of use to industry practitioners. We also encourage research that looks at community journalism (or even community itself) within a broad ideology.

Research topics may include, but are not restricted to:

· Social justice at the community level – coverage, influence, responsibility, etc.

· How and if news organizations—print and digital-- fulfill a community’s critical information needs

· How news organizations build audiences within their communities with or without use of digital technologies

· How community newspapers thrive or struggle to survive in present times and changes, if any, in community journalistic practices in the digital age

· How journalism entrepreneurs juggle advertising with community news reporting

· The effects of the closure of community news outlets—print and online – on communities, specifically those in news deserts or in relation to the digital divide

· How news organizations create and engage with communities through innovative practices

· Conceptual ideas that push our understanding of community in new directions

· Conceptual ideas that explore the meaning and interpretation of “local news” in a global era

The Awards: ComJIG awards top papers in the faculty and grad student categories. The authors of these papers will be invited to publish their manuscripts to ComJIG’s official, peer-reviewed publication, Community Journalism. Others also are encouraged to send their work to the journal for consideration. In addition, and new this year, an award will be given to the top graduate student paper focused on this year’s niche call – social justice and community reporting.

The Submission guidelines:

Format: Paper submissions should include a 100 to 150-word abstract and should not exceed 8000 words, including references, tables and notes. All papers should conform to APA style, Sixth edition. Papers must be typed in 12-point font using Times New Roman and paper text must be double-line spaced with 1-inch margins around each page. The pages should be continuously numbered. References must be provided. Tables or figures can be included within or at the end of the paper. An author can submit more than one paper to ComJIG but no more than two manuscripts. All submissions will be subjected to a blind peer review.

Author Identification: All authors and co-authors should include their information when registering on the online system. It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that no identifying information is included anywhere in the paper or the properties section of the PDF document or it will be disqualified from the conference. Thus, authors are encouraged to submit early to fully check their submissions in the system for self-identifying information and any other technical glitches so they can resubmit their manuscripts, if necessary, before the system closes on deadline. Please follow the directions provided in “submitting a clean paper” section under the uniform paper call on the AEJMC website.

Student Submissions: Graduate students are encouraged to submit papers to the group. Student authors should clearly mark their papers by including the phrase “STUDENT SUBMISSION” on the title page to be considered for the student paper competition. These papers should be authored by students only and not include any faculty co-authors.

Uploading Manuscripts: The papers should be submitted to ComJIG via a link on the AEJMC website. Please see the AEJMC’s paper competition uniform call for more information.

Presentation Requirement: For the manuscript to be considered for presentation in the panel or poster session at the conference, at least one of the authors must attend in person to talk about the research. An exception may be made for papers with ONLY student authors; if the graduate students are unable to attend, then they must arrange for someone else to present the research on their behalf.

Questions, Concerns, Clarifications? Please contact ComJIG Research Committee Chair Aaron Atkins, assistant professor of communication, digital media, and journalism at Weber State University, datkins@weber.edu

AEJMC SE Colloquium Deadline Dec 18

 A reminder that the paper submission deadline for the AEJMC Southeast Colloquium is just a few days away.

https://www.memphis.edu/jrsm/southeast2022.php

COMIG seeks panel proposals for AEJMC New Orleans 2021

 Dear Community Journalism folks, 

 

We need your help brainstorming and planning panels for COMJIG for AEJMC 2021. We want our conference programming to be about you and relevant to you. So, think about the topics that interest you, the concerns you would like discussed at a national level and ideas that have emerged in your classrooms or excited your students. 

 

There are several large issues facing community journalism right now and, as an interest group, we want to include and represent as many unique voices as possible in our conference programming. 

 

Here is a template to guide you through the process of pitching panels. 

• Panel Title: Give your idea a creative name. 
• Panel Type:  
• If your panel idea is more academic in nature, pick Research.  
• If it's more about involving students or revolves around pedagogical practice, pick Teaching.  
• If it's about freedom of speech, the journalism profession, or ethical issues, then PF&R (Or, professional freedom and responsibilities) is what you want to select. 
• Panel Sponsorship: If you think there is another AEJMC division or interest group that might be interested in collaborating with COMJIG for the idea you have suggested, please list them. Consider which groups might compliment the idea of what will be talked about during the panel you’re proposing. We will follow up with the division or group you suggest when finalizing the panel proposals. 
• Description of Panel: In 150-250 words, describe what this panel is about and the discussion points you would like covered. Consider that we’ll use this description to help attract other divisions or interest groups.  
• Possible Panelists: Consider an array of diverse people and perspectives when pitching who you think would be good to invite. You don’t need to have your panelists locked down yet, you can treat this as who’d you like if the panel is accepted.  
• Moderator: You can recommend someone else or yourself for moderating the panel, should you intend to attend AEJMC in New Orleans next year.• Contact: Provide the best way for me to get in touch with you should I need additional information or clarification for the panel you have proposed. 

Please provide the information outlined in a Word document and email it to me at christina.smith1@gcsu.edu by September 10. 

 

I am excited to hear ideas from all of you. It is with your input and ideas that we will be able to create a program that truly represents the voice of its members. Once the program has been finalized, we will send you the details via email and post it on our blog as well as our Twitter and Facebook pages. 

 

Thank you for your continued support of COMJIG! 

 

Christina C. Smith 

Vice Chair 

Community Journalism Interest Group 

AEJMC's COMJIG announces paper call for August 2020 conference

AEJMC's Community Journalism Interest Group invites scholarly submissions from faculty and graduate students for paper and poster sessions to be presented at the 2020 AEJMC national conference in San Francisco, California, USA. The papers should advance theory and/or practice in community/local journalism and can use a variety of methods and approaches. The deadline for paper submissions is April 1, 2020. 

Scope: The concept of community has expanded to more than just a group defined by physical proximity. In the digital age, communities also are defined by the strength of social relationships amongst individuals and the interests that bring them together, irrespective of their geographic location. COMJIG encourages submissions that address this diversity within and about communities and the role(s) journalism plays in reporting about as well as informing these communities. COMIG also encourages submissions that provide action-oriented insight into trends and issues facing community journalism outlets that would be of use to practitioners in community journalism industries.

Research topics may include, but are not restricted to:

·       How and if news organizations—print and digital-- fulfill a community’s critical

information needs

·       How news organizations build audiences within their communities with or without

use of technologies such as social media

·       How community newspapers thrive or struggle to survive in present times and changes,

if any, in community journalistic practices in the digital age

·       How journalism entrepreneurs juggle advertising with community news reporting

·       The effects of the closure of community news outlets—print and online – on communities, specifically those in news deserts

·       How news organizations create and engage with communities through innovative practices

·       Conceptual ideas that push the meaning and our understanding of community

in new directions

·       Conceptual ideas that explore the meaning and interpretation of “local news”

in a global era

Awards: The Group awards top papers in the faculty and student categories. The authors of these papers will be invited to publish their manuscripts to COMJIG’s official, peer-reviewed publication, Community Journalism. Others also are encouraged to send their work to the journal for consideration.

Submission guidelines:

Format: Paper submissions should include a 100 to 150-word abstract and should not exceed 8000 words, including references, tables and notes. All papers should conform to APA style, Sixth edition. Papers must be typed in 12-point font using Times New Roman and paper text must be double-line spaced with 1-inch margins around each page. The pages should be continuously numbered. References must be provided. Tables or figures can be included within or at the end of the paper. An author can submit more than one paper to COMJIG but no more than two manuscripts. All submissions will be subjected to a blind peer review. 

Author Identification: All authors and co-authors should include their information when registering on the online system. It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that no identifying information is included anywhere in the paper or the properties section of the pdf document or it will be disqualified from the conference. Thus, authors are encouraged to submit early to fully check their submissions in the system for self-identifying information and any other technical glitches so they can resubmit their manuscripts, if necessary, before the system closes on deadline. Please follow the directions provided in “submitting a clean paper” section under the uniform paper call on the AEJMC website. 

Student Submissions: Graduate students are encouraged to submit papers to the group. Student authors should clearly mark their papers by including the phrase “STUDENT SUBMISSION” on the title page to be considered for the student paper competition. These papers should be authored by students only and not include any faculty co-authors.

Uploading Manuscripts: The papers should be submitted to COMJIG via a link on the AEJMC website. Please see the AEJMC’s paper competition uniform call for more information.

Presentation Requirement: For the manuscript to be considered for presentation in the panel or poster session at the conference, at least one of the authors must attend in person to talk about the research. An exception may be made for papers with ONLY student authors; if the graduate students are unable to attend, then they must arrange for someone else to present the research on their behalf.

Questions, Concerns, Clarifications? Please contact COMJIG Research Committee Chair Christina Smith, assistant professor of communication at Georgia College and State University, at christina.smith1@gcsu.edu.

Happy 15th birthday, COMJIG

Today marks a special day for COMJIG.

it was 15 years ago that about 25 of us, led by the indefatigable Jock Lauterer, gathered in a poorly lit coferece room at Toronto's Sheraton Centre to form the Communty Journalism Interest group of AEJMC.

Fittingly, we are back at the Sheraton Toronto this year.

With recent develoments in journalism, the need for COMJIG has never been greater.

I hope you'll try to attend today's (Friday's) research session (4:45 p.m. in the Cedar Room - mezzanine). If you can't make that, come by the business meeting at 6:30 in the same room to wish COMJIG a hapy birthday and many more. - Doug Fisher

Academic poster sesions

With academic conference season in full swing and AEJMC around the corner, a revisit to this lengthy and thoughtful post (also read the comments) is worth our time ...

http://www.ivacheung.com/2017/10/academic-conference-posters-suck/

Four ways to get more involved in COMJIG

The 2018 AEJMC conference is just a month away! As you look forward to August, I hope you’ll consider getting more involved (or continuing your involvement) in the Community Journalism Interest Group. Here are four great ways to do that:

1. Attend the annual COMJIG business meeting. This year’s business meeting will be Wednesday, Aug. 8, at 7 p.m. (location TBD). The business meeting is a great place to learn more about what COMJIG does. You can meet potential research collaborators, learn about publication/presentation opportunities, discuss opportunities to connect with community journalists, and more. Also consider attending our annual off-site social immediately following the business meeting. This year’s social will be at Brasserie Beck, located at 1101 K Street (just a few blocks from the conference hotel). 
2. Volunteer for a leadership position. If you’d like to nominate yourself for one of our six leadership positions (they’re listed in the bar on the right), please send an email with your name and the job you’re interested in to COMJIG head Clay Carey by Monday, July 23. If you have questions about what the positions entail, please reach out to Clay or any of our current officers – they would be happy to help. We also welcome contact from folks who are interested in pitching in but not sure they want to commit to holding and office – if you want to contribute, we can find an opportunity for you.
3. Develop a panel for 2019. It isn’t too early to start thinking about programming you’d like to see at next year’s conference. Interest group members traditionally begin brainstorming panel ideas for the following year’s conference at our annual business meeting. So if you have an idea for a panel on community journalism, bring it to the business meeting for some feedback. If you have a general concept and would like to refine it, we can do that as well. For that matter, come and participate even if you don’t have a panel to pitch – your expertise might be a great fit for someone else’s panel. 
4. Write for the COMJIG blog. Do you have an idea for an article that would be of interest to COMJIG members? If so, email your pitch to Webmaster Doug Fisher. 

I hope to see you at the COMJIG business meeting next month!

Clay Carey

Arenberg, Lowrey, Speakman receive COMJIG top paper honors at AEJMC

Members of the Community Journalism Interest Group were involved in several outstanding panels at last week’s AEJMC conference. We were also treated to some fantastic research and had a fruitful business meeting.

Two of the highlights of our conference programming were the presentation of our Top Faculty and Top Student papers. Tom Arenberg and Wilson Lowrey of the University of Alabama received the Top Faculty Paper award for their study entitled “The Impact of Web Metrics on Community News Decisions: A Resource Dependence Perspective.” From the study abstract:

This comparative case study of two community news organizations takes a Resource Dependence approach to assess impact of audience metrics on news decisions, and on mechanisms underlying these decisions. Findings show that the organization that more strongly emphasizes metrics publishes fewer in-depth civic-issue stories, and metrics are more likely to influence newsworthiness. However, reporters’ expertise with strategies for increasing numbers may actually free reporters for enterprise work. Findings also suggest effects from community size.

(From left) Outgoing COMJIG Head Marcus Funk and COMJIG Research Chair Rich Johnson present the Top Faculty Paper Award to Wilson Lowrey and Tom Arenberg.

Burton Speakman of Ohio University received the Top Student Paper award for his study entitled “Technology and the Public: The Influence of Website Features on the Submission of UGC.” From the study abstract:

Web 2.0 creates a situation where the Internet increasingly focuses on submissions of content from non-professionals and interaction between the masses as a method of creating dedicated audiences. Community newspapers work within this rapidly changing media market and one must follow their audience online, despite any reservations about if the web provides a hospitable economic environment. This study examines how community newspaper websites choose to engage in gatekeeping as it relates to UGC. Despite changes in technology gatekeeping continues to occur on community newspaper websites. Furthermore, it provides clarity about what type of audience submitted content is more likely published at community media.

Burton Speakman (center) receives the Top Student Paper Award from COMJIG Research Chair Rich Johnson (left) and outgoing COMJIG Head Marcus Funk.

Abstracts for other research papers presented at COMJIG panels can be found here.

AEJMC 2017: Call for community journalism panel proposals

The Community Journalism Interest Group is accepting panel proposals for the 2017 AEJMC conference in Chicago, and we would love to hear your programming ideas.

Members may submit three types of panel proposals: Professional Freedom & Responsibility (PF&R), Teaching, or Research. All division members must submit their panel proposals by September 26. Proposals may be sent to Programming Chair Clay Carey at mcarey@samford.edu.

Proposals should include the following information (think of the list as a template for your proposal):

Panel Title

Panel Type (PF&R, Research, or Teaching)

Description of Panel (Generally 150-250 words)

Possible Panelists (List up to five, including affiliations and contact information. If you have already contacted the potential panelists about your panel, please say so)

Possible Moderator

Your Contact Information (name, affiliation, phone number, and email address)

Teach the value of community journalism at AEJMC preconference session

We still have spots available for our pre-conference session "‘Hyping’ hyperlocal: Teaching the value of community journalism in the classroom and the startup." I've listed this session as one of our interest group's biggest accomplishments because I think it offers the perfect opportunity and the necessary time to really explore the issue that makes our group tick: the impact of community on journalism and vice versa and how to apply it in the ever-changing new media world.

Speakers include members and past presidents of the interest group, such as Bill Reader, Ohio University; Al Cross, University of Kentucky; Barbara Selvin, Stony Brook; and  John Hatcher, University of Minnesota Duluth. Toni Albertson, Mt. San Antonio College, will also share how she has used Medium.com to empower her college's student newspaper, and Timothy Waltner, retired newspaper publisher, and ISWNE member, will share how the industry is incorporating community in all they do.

Please share this post with anyone you think is interested. The session will take place Wednesday, Aug. 3 from 1 to 5 p.m. It costs $10, but that's just to cover AV needs and a short drink break for everyone at 3 p.m.

Thanks to Toni Albertson and Rich Johnson, COMJ's teaching standards chair for setting this up. If you have any questions, drop them a line at TAlbertson@mtsac.edu or RichJohnson@creighton.edu. Let's make sure we have a full house for this important session.

COMJIG revamps call for papers to expand definition of community

Last year, I made an impassioned Buzzfeed style plea for scholars to consider to submitting their papers to the Community Journalism Interest Group for presentation at the annual Association for Journalism and Mass Communication conference.

This year, I thought about just referring you to last year's post, but then I remembered the hard work our leadership group, and especially Research Chair Clay Carey did to revamp our call for papers. I've included the new call below.

Everything from last year still holds true. Our interest group remains the friendliest, most complete and useful reviewing bunch this side of Minneapolis, the site of this year's convention. We also still offer publishing opportunities with our journal Community Journalism and reasonable acceptance rates,

But I think we've done even more to expand the definition of community and examine its intersection with the democratic mission of journalism with this revision. Please give it a read and submit your research to us. We'd love to double last year's number of accepted papers, 8, and feature even more at our top paper session on Saturday, Aug. 6.

If you plan to be in Minneapolis this summer, one other opportunity, I'd strongly ask you to consider as well is our pre-conference workshop, “Putting the ‘Hyper’ Back in Hyperlocal: Teaching Students to Get Excited about and Involved in Community Journalism”. For just $10 (that provides a drink break halfway through) you can learn from some of the top community journalism educators, including Bill Reader, John Hatcher, Al Cross and Toni Albertson, how to get your students excited about providing an important news service for people across this great country.

Thanks and I look forward to reviewing your papers!

COMJIG’s goal is to identify and present original, meaningful research that advances the understanding of the role of journalists and news organizations as members of communities, be they geographic, topical, or digital. Communities are multifaceted, and community as a field of study may be understood in different ways: It may be defined as a geographically bounded place, a group defined by social boundaries, or a collective that exists in the online world. Papers presented in COMJIG’s research sessions reflect the diverse approaches to understanding the ways various types of communities interact with and/or exist through media, and how journalism formats and products cater to those communities. Possible research topics could include the ways community formation affects the process of journalism, how journalists take advantage of community to build audience and/or to improve journalism, or the ways news companies and individual journalists encourage community among readers, listeners, or viewers. The interest group is also interested in research that extends our understanding of “community” in new directions: Papers could address such issues as how community is defined or how its meaning changes in an increasingly digital media environment. All methodologies and theoretical frameworks are welcome.