MINUTES, ANNUAL MEETING, MASS COMMUNICATION DIVISION, 
SOUTHERN STATES COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION
Adam's Mark Hotel, Winston-Salem, NC, 4:30 p.m. April 5, 2002

Mass Communication Division (MCD) Chair Bill Swain called the business meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. on April 5, 2002, with 11 members in attendance. Swain welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked everyone to sign a roll. Swain called for the approval of the minutes from the 2001 meeting. Gary Copeland moved to accept the minutes as printed in the summer edition of Connections, and Gracie Lawson-Borders seconded. The minutes were unanimously approved.

Swain then began the chair's report in which he announced that the proposed 2003 budget for SSCA was similar to the 2002 budget and that all things appeared financially sound. The only two differences from the 2002 budget were that 1) the interest from investments was down and 2)  the Western States Communication Association back-billed SSCA for past journals purchased.

Swain then stated that the MCD had moved from being the second largest in 2000 (191 members) to being the fourth largest in 2001 with 191 members. The largest division is Rhetoric & Public Address with 326 members, followed by Interpersonal Communication with 202 members and Applied Communication with 192 members.

This led to Swain referencing last year's business meeting where members discussed the lack of mass communication articles in the Southern Communication Journal. Swain noted that by including the members in the MCD, PR Division (105) and the Popular Communication division (111), there are 407 members in SSCA who represent mass communication issues and perspectives and that we therefore should be better represented in the association journal.

Swain also mentioned that the Ad Hoc Committee on Minority Recruitment and Retention had been recognized by the association as a standing committee that is charged with encouraging institutions of higher learning to recruit minority faculty and students. He ended by noting that as chair of the Resolutions Committee he wrote the resolutions presented at the convention.

Vice-Chair Report

John Allen Hendricks made the vice-chair report. Hendricks reported that the MCD programmed 12 panels for the Winston-Salem conference. The division's business meeting and the Media Research Meeting brought the total number of panel offerings to 14. Hendricks reported the panels to be of good quality and noted that he had experienced several last-minute cancellations from panel participants. Overall, he reported the conference to be of good quality given the travel difficulties of the location.

Hendricks noted there were 9 panel proposals submitted, two of which the program planner submitted. One panel focused on the work of Dr. Richard Ranta and the other on a roundtable discussion by mass communication journal editors on the future of mass communication research. All panels submitted were accepted and scheduled.

There were 13 research manuscripts submitted for consideration. Hendricks noted one manuscript seemed more appropriate for the Rhetoric & Public Address Division and was forwarded to that division. One cassette tape was submitted for consideration for the production showcase, but due to a lack of interest and a lack of additional production submissions, the tape was returned to the author. All remaining 11 manuscripts were programmed. Hendricks reported the call for papers was mailed to all members of the MCD and posted on the MCD website in June 200 1. He thanked the following individuals for serving as reviewers for submissions: Wendy Hajjar, Mary Jackson Pitts, Linda Goff, Bill Swain, James Walker, Berrin Beasley, David Goff, Tracy Standley, and Doug Ferguson.

Hendricks reported that Hal Fulmer was notified via email on Jan. 28, 2002, by Hendricks of the MCD award recipients. Top student paper was awarded to Ken Lachlan of Michigan State University. Top Faculty Paper was awarded to Kevin B. Wright of the University of Memphis. The Research Recognition Award went to a co-authored work by Michael Irvin Arrington of Ohio University and Bethany Crandell Goodier of the College of Charleston. Each top paper winner received a plaque and award luncheon tickets. The research award winners received certificates and luncheon tickets. Because each division receives only $150 from SSCA, Hendricks said, the MCD spent $10 over budget on plaques and tickets. He thanked panel respondents and chairs for their work at the 2002 conference.

Hendricks concluded by noting that the scheduling conflict with BEA hurt attendance at the 2002 conference. The MCD sent a letter to Hal Fulmer regarding this scheduling conflict and asked that future SSCA conference dates be compared with future BEA conference dates to avoid overlapping conferences in the future.

Former SSCA Director Explains Scheduling Problems

Richard Ranta, former SSCA director, was attending and asked to speak about the scheduling conflict. He explained that the SSCA constitution limited the conference to 3 weekends, not including Easter, and that the association had tried to connect with BEA in the past for planning purposes, but had been unsuccessful. Gary Copeland added that BEA was difficult to work with.

Swain then recalled that he had left out information from his chair's report and addressed it here. He indicated the 2003 conference would be in Birmingham, AL; the 2004 in Tampa, FL; and the 2005 in Baton Rouge, LA. For 2005, three hotels were being considered: the Sheraton, which is downtown and connected to a casino; the Radisson and the Marriott, both of which are near where 1-10 and 1-12 split. The Sheraton room rates are about $109 while the other two room rates are in the $90's. The problems are that the Sheraton may be short on breakout rooms and the downtown area of Baton Rouge is deserted.

Swain also reported, from the executive committee meeting, that SSCA's Constitution is now correct on the SSCA website. He then explained that the Executive Committee had reported on two issues related to the SCJ. The first issue was that the journal editor had asked SSCA to form a standing committee on publications. According to the editor, this committee did nothing, so online journal talks were not addressed. The second issue was that at the 2001 conference an informal ballot was taken regarding whether SSCA should have a second journal. There was some support for the second journal, but it was not widespread, so SSCA has decided not to launch a second journal. Therefore, the MCD must seek support for the publishing of mass communication manuscripts in the existing journal.

Swain concluded by thanking Hendricks and Beasley for their work as officers during the past year. He specifically thanked Hendricks for his program planning and for "handling thorny issues with great aplomb" and asked for a resolution of appreciation to Hendricks for his work. Tony DeMars moved to accept the resolution and Margaret D'Silva seconded the motion. It passed by acclamation.

Secretary's Report

Beasley followed Swain with the secretary's report, during which she noted she had written a letter regarding the scheduling conflict with BEA, which she mailed to Hal Fulmer. She produced two newsletters during her term, noting that a high number of the mailings had been returned to her marked by the post office as no longer being at the address. She explained that the session "From Mammies and Jezebels to Journalists and Lawyers: An Exploration of the Images of African-American Women in Prime-Time Television from the 1950s to the 1990s" had been cancelled because none of the scheduled panelists could attend the conference. Beasley concluded by reporting that MCD founding-member Linda Dysart Goff was recovering well from major surgery, which kept her and her husband, David Goff, another founding member, from attending this year's conference.

Hendricks mentioned that he had had a number of conference participants cancel on him this year for a variety of reasons and indeed needed someone to moderate the Vice President's Spotlight panel for the next day. Gracie Lawson-Borders volunteered because of her familiarity with the subject under discussion.

Swain asked Hendricks about the $10 the MCD went over budget to buy plaques and award luncheon tickets for this year's top papers. Hendricks said he had had no word from Fulmer, but if asked about it he would send Fulmer a check for the amount. Hendricks also served as the MCD website manager for 2001, so he reported that he kept the site updated during the past year by posting the minutes approved at the 2001 business meeting, posting the call for papers, and maintaining an active members' list on the site. Hendricks noted that the MCD was one of the few SSCA divisions to regularly maintain a website.

Rob Bellamy gave his report as the Nominating Representative. He reported that communication with other Nominating Committee Representatives was sporadic at best, and that although he had attended NCA for the past two years in his official capacity, he had not been able to locate the Nominating Committee members for the scheduled meetings. Ranta explained that NCA had approved committee members to meet outside of the convention, primarily through email, which may have explained why Bellamy could not find members at NCA. Bellamy indicated that he had received emails from the committee and approved them. Ranta noted that the Web page editor for the MCD was not listed in the 2002 SSCA convention program, which Hendricks said must have been an oversight because all officer's names and titles were submitted for inclusion.

At that point Swain called for discussion of old business. The issue of the lack of mass communication articles in the journal resurfaced. Swain indicated that last year there had been a motion to invite the incoming journal editor to the 2002 MCD business meeting. The invitation had been extended, but not accepted. Hendricks indicated he had personally invited both Ken Sisna (former editor) and Joy Hart (incoming editor) to participate on an MCD panel at the 2002 conference regarding the future of mass communication research. Both had politely declined. Swain pointed out there was going to be a "meet the editors" session the next day and he said Hart and Sisna would be there, if anyone wanted to attend. Copeland mentioned he is on the journal's editorial board, but that he is the only member from a mass communication background. He explained that part of the reason MCD members saw few (if any) related manuscripts in the journal was that he rarely read manuscripts that were of high enough quality to recommend publishing. Copeland believes that SCJ is the last place people send their manuscripts, after they've been rejected elsewhere.

Swain noted that people seeking tenure are told to submit to national journals, not regionals, and with the journal's history of not publishing mass communication-related pieces, that many good researchers do send their work elsewhere. Hendricks asked Copeland how he would recommend getting the MCD's voice heard by the editors. Copeland responded that he would like to see at least three people on the board who can review mass communication manuscripts. Ranta noted that with the size of our division we should be better represented on the board. Swain indicated that the numbers of Popular Communication and Public Relations members, in addition to MCD members,  add credibility to our cause. Ranta suggested we begin by drafting a letter to the editor suggesting that more people from a mass communication background be added to the editorial board. Lawson-Borders moved to accept Ranta's motion and James Whitfield seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Hendricks announced he would be happy to have names for potential board members suggested to him. James Whitfield of the University of Louisiana volunteered.

In other old news, the Membership Recruitment Committee (represented by Hendricks) reported that members Hendricks, Beasley and Paul Traudt (chair) had not accomplished much this year. Hendricks said he had posted the SSCA membership form on the MCD website and included the form in all letters to convention participants who were not members. Swain indicated he would leave the reviving of the committee to the incoming chair. He then called for any new business. None was mentioned, so he moved on to the election of new officers. DeMars nominated Gracie Lawson-Borders of Southern Methodist University for the 2-year appointment of Nominating Committee Representative, a position that no longer officially involves travel. No one was nominated to run against her. D'Silva seconded the motion and it passed by acclamation. Copeland nominated DeMars of Sam Houston University for the position of web editor. No one was nominated to run against him. Whitfield seconded the motion, which was passed by acclamation. Hendricks nominated Dennis Robertson of the University of Texas at Tyler for the position of secretary. This is a three-year commitment as the secretary moves up to vice-chair and then chair by the end of his term. No one was nominated to run against him. DeMars seconded the motion and it passed by acclamation. Robertson will be planning the Tampa convention.

Swain then officially passed the chair's gavel to Hendricks, who adjourned the meeting at 5:30 p.m.

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