AEJMC Supports Net Neutrality
January 26, 2010 by Mich Sineath
Filed under Newsroom
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2010
Contacts:
Carol Pardun, AEJMC President (803) 777-3244, pardunc@mailbox.sc.edu
Bill Herman, AEJMC Member and Media Law Scholar, (215) 715.3507 (mobile), billdherman@gmail.com
AEJMC Supports Net Neutrality
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) urges the Federal Communications Commission to adopt rules preserving open and nondiscriminatory access to the internet.
The debate about network neutrality is complex and contentious, but we wish to address a specific myth advanced by network neutrality opponents: that this regulation would stifle innovation and create disincentives for investment in next-generation broadband networks.
The AEJMC rejects this claim.
The most important internet innovations have not come from network providers, but from creative outsiders who built their inventions on top of a neutral network. Requiring network neutrality is vital to preserve competition and investment in internet content, services, and applications.
The FCC should codify the internet openness principles that already guide the agency, and Congress and the courts should support this move. The rules would protect both consumers and innovators of content, services, and applications from unfair discrimination by internet service providers. Perhaps most importantly, these rules would help preserve and develop the internet as a key tool for communication that serves our democracy.
This statement was issued by the President of AEJMC and through the President’s Advisory Council.
Related links
- Federal Communications Commission
- Network Neutrality (Wikipedia)
- “Net Neutrality” in the news (Google)
About AEJMC
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is a nonprofit, educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students and media professionals. The Association’s mission is to advance education, foster scholarly research, cultivate better professional practice and promote the free flow of communication.
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Prosecutors Investigate Students; AEJMC Urges Subpoena Quash
November 3, 2009 by Mich Sineath
Filed under Newsroom
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2009
Contacts:
Carol Pardun, AEJMC President (803) 777-3244, pardunc@mailbox.sc.edu
Bill Cassidy, AEJMC Newspaper Division Chair, (815) 753-7005, bcassidy@niu.edu
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) has issued the following statement in support of David Protess, Professor and Director of The Medill Innocence Project, associated journalism students, and the protection of journalists to report on government:
Prosecutors Investigate Students; AEJMC Urges Subpoena Quash
According to a New York Times story by Monica Davey, prosecutors in Illinois have subpoenaed the “grades, grading criteria, class syllabus, expense reports and e-mail messages” of students involved with Northwestern University’s Medill Innocence Project who investigated whether a man convicted of murder three decades ago had been wrongfully convicted. Prosecutors reportedly want to discover whether there were links between new information learned by the students and their grades. A hearing is set this month at the Cook County (Illinois) Circuit Court regarding this issue.
AEJMC’s position is that this highly unusual request is inappropriate for three reasons:
- The Medill journalism students should be protected under the Illinois state shield law;
- If the court grants the prosecutors’ request, journalism students involved with similar projects would think twice about criticizing governmental actions if personal information, such as grades and e-mails, could become public; and
- Journalists should not be treated as instruments of the State.
AEJMC strongly urges the judge responsible for this case to quash the subpoena and direct prosecutors to investigate the evidence uncovered by the journalism students in a timely and unbiased way.
This statement was issued by the President of AEJMC and through the President’s Advisory Council.
Related links
- Medill Innocence Project
- We Expose Wrongful Conviction of Chicago Area Man Incarcerated for 31 Years — Prosecutors Respond with Subpoenas – by David Protess
Related documents (PDF)
- McKinney Brief Filed
- McKinney Subpoena
- Shield Law Response to States Brief
- Shield Law States Response
- AEJMC Letter to Judge Cannon
About AEJMC
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is a nonprofit, educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students and media professionals. The Association’s mission is to advance education, foster scholarly research, cultivate better professional practice and promote the free flow of communication.
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Carol Pardun becomes President, Plans “lively” future for AEJMC
October 1, 2009 by Mich Sineath
Filed under Newsroom
October 1, 2009 — Dr. Carol J. Pardun succeeds Barbara Hines, Howard, as the 91st* President of AEJMC.
Pardun is the director of the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Prior to her appointment at USC, Pardun was the director of the School of Journalism at Middle Tennessee State University from August 2005 through July 2008. She has held faculty positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1997-2005) and Kansas State University (1992-97).
Pardun sits on the editorial boards of Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journalism and Communication Monographs, Journal of Media & Religion, Simile, Mass Communication & Society, and Journal of Advertising. She was the co-principal investigator with Jane Brown (UNC-Chapel Hill) from 2001-06 for a $2.6 million grant investigating the impact of the media on adolescents’ sexual attitudes and behavior funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Pardun’s research has been published in the Journal of Early Adolescent Research, Pediatrics, Newspaper Research Journal, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journal of Advertising Research, Public Relations Review, and elsewhere. Her current research investigates the prevalence of co-existing messages of nutrition and physical activity in entertainment programming, and advertising aimed at young elementary school-aged children. Her new book, Advertising and Society: Controversies and Consequences, is published by Wiley-Blackwell.
Pardun holds a PhD from the University of Georgia in mass communications, an MA from Wheaton (IL) College Graduate School in communications, and a BA in English Literature from Wheaton College.
CONTACT: University of South Carolina, Office: (803) 777-3244 E-mail: pardunc@mailbox.sc.edu
*Historical records indicate no sitting president or convention from 1918-20. Additionally, several presidents served two consecutive terms, including: Merle Thorpe, Kansas, 1914-16; Ralph L. Crossman, Colorado, 1932-34; Charles L. Allen, Northwestern, 1939-41; Douglas W. Miller, Syracuse, 1942-44; and Frederic E. Merwin, Rutgers, 1944-46, making Pardun the 91st person elected to lead AEJMC.
The Future of AEJMC
To help kick off the new year, we sat down with Carol and asked her to share some of her thoughts and plans for AEJMC during her term as president. Read more
