Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, commonly known as AEJMC, is a United States-based academic membership organization serving educators, researchers, students, and other scholars concerned with journalism and mass communication. It is a major association in the field and maintains an international-facing membership and scholarly program, although its historical institutional relationships are especially strong within American journalism and communication education. AEJMC supports the field through national and regional conferences, refereed journals, membership divisions, interest groups, online resources, and professional communities. Its activities connect university teaching with research on journalism, advertising, public relations, broadcasting, digital media, media institutions, communication law, media history, media economics, public opinion, persuasion, and the social effects of media. The organization also provides venues in which scholars and educators can present research, exchange teaching practices, develop professional networks, and discuss the future of journalism and mass communication education. The association operates in an academic environment where journalism departments have increasingly developed into schools or colleges of mass communication, journalism and mass communication, or related communication disciplines. These programs may combine professional instruction in reporting, editing, publishing, radio, television, film, advertising, and public relations with research-oriented study of media systems and communication processes. At the graduate level, mass communication research may encompass quantitative and experimental methods such as surveys, public-opinion polling, and content analysis, alongside qualitative approaches including interviews, ethnography, focus groups, and case studies. AEJMC provides an institutional home for this broad range of interests. Its principal publications include Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, formerly known as Journalism Quarterly; Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, formerly Journalism Educator; and Journalism & Communication Monographs, formerly Journalism Monographs. These refereed publications disseminate research and support discussion of teaching, curriculum, professional preparation, and communication scholarship. The organization also contains specialized divisions and interest groups that allow members to participate in more focused areas of the discipline. AEJMC is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Columbia, South Carolina. Reference material identifies it as operating with tax-exempt status as of August 1952, but the available material does not establish the association's original founding year or founder. Its activities overlap with those of organizations such as the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association, while AEJMC has historically maintained a particularly close connection to journalism education and the mass communication professions in the United States.

AEJMC developed within the institutional growth of journalism and mass communication education in American higher education. Many university journalism departments, particularly at public universities in the Midwest, West, and South, expanded beyond traditional newspaper instruction and became schools or colleges with broader mass communication mandates. These programs addressed both professional preparation and academic research, creating a need for an organization capable of serving instructors, scholars, students, and practitioners across related specialties. The association's scope includes journalism practice and education as well as advertising, public relations, broadcasting, film, publishing, media law, media history, media economics, and communication research. Its academic community studies media institutions and processes, the diffusion of information, persuasion, public opinion, and the effects of media on individuals and society. Research traditions represented in the field include surveys, public-opinion polling, experiments, and quantitative content analysis. Qualitative methods such as interviewing, ethnographic research, focus groups, and case studies have also gained support, while critical and cultural approaches form part of the wider communication landscape. AEJMC's principal institutional activities are conferences, scholarly publishing, member divisions, interest groups, and professional resources. Its national and regional meetings allow members to present research, discuss teaching, compete for recognition, and form networks across universities and specialties. The division structure gives the association a way to accommodate topics ranging from journalism studies and mass communication theory to media management, public relations, advertising, and teaching. This combination of research and pedagogy distinguishes AEJMC from a purely professional journalism body. The association publishes three principal refereed periodicals. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly was previously titled Journalism Quarterly and serves as a major research journal. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, formerly Journalism Educator, focuses more directly on teaching, curriculum, and educational practice. Journalism & Communication Monographs, formerly Journalism Monographs, provides extended scholarly treatments of focused subjects. The renamed titles reflect the broadening of the field from traditional journalism toward a wider conception of mass communication. AEJMC is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, and is organized as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) association. The available reference material records tax-exempt status as of August 1952, but does not specify the organization's original founding date or founder. Its work overlaps with the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association, both of which also support communication research and publications. AEJMC nevertheless retains a distinctive historical relationship with journalism schools, mass communication programs, and the professional education of journalists and media specialists in the United States. The organization remains active as a membership and scholarly association. Its continuing role is to sustain academic exchange, publish peer-reviewed work, support educators, and provide a professional home for research and teaching concerning journalism and mass communication in an increasingly digital and converged media environment.

• 1952

  Tax-exempt nonprofit status recorded

  [1]Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communicationen.wikipedia.org

  Reference material identifies AEJMC as operating with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status as of August 1952. This date is not presented as the organization's founding year.

• Publication titles broaden beyond traditional journalism

  [1]Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communicationen.wikipedia.org

  The association's principal journals adopted titles incorporating mass communication, reflecting the expansion of the field beyond traditional journalism education and research.

A scholarly and professional association linking journalism and mass communication research, teaching, academic publishing, and professional education, with a particularly strong historical base in the United States.

• Refereed scholarly journal

  Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly

  AEJMC's principal research journal, publishing peer-reviewed scholarship on journalism and mass communication. It was formerly titled Journalism Quarterly, and its current name signals coverage extending from traditional journalism into broader studies of media institutions, communication processes, media effects, and related academic fields.

• Refereed education journal

  Journalism & Mass Communication Educator

  A refereed periodical focused on journalism and mass communication education. Formerly known as Journalism Educator, it supports discussion of curriculum, pedagogy, professional preparation, classroom practice, and the changing responsibilities of educators in media-related programs.

• Refereed monograph series

  Journalism & Communication Monographs

  A refereed scholarly monograph publication formerly titled Journalism Monographs. It provides space for extended studies of focused questions in journalism, communication, and mass media that require more sustained treatment than a conventional journal article.

• Academic membership program

  AEJMC conferences and divisions

  AEJMC's national and regional conferences, divisions, and interest groups form its principal member-facing program. They support paper presentation, scholarly debate, teaching exchange, networking, and specialization across journalism, advertising, public relations, media research, and related areas.

• AEJMC publishes three principal refereed periodicals under updated titles[1]Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communicationen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The association's major publication portfolio includes Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, and Journalism & Communication Monographs. Each title reflects a renamed or continued publication serving research or education in the field.

• AEJMC maintains a broad conference and division structure[1]Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communicationen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  AEJMC provides national and regional conferences and organizes members through divisions, interest groups, publications, and associated websites, creating multiple channels for scholarly exchange.

1. 1Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communicationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2AEJMC official websiteaejmc.org