44th Annual AJHA Convention
Long Beach, California | Sept. 25-27
Convention contacts Convention Coordinator Ohio University Registration Coordinator California Polytechnic State University Program Coordinator Arizona State University Convention hosts Madeleine LisebladCal State University Long Beach San Diego State University Pepperdine University Conference Sponsors:
Department of Journalism & Public Relations and the College of Liberal Arts
Seaver College and Communication Division | 
Sidney Kobre Award for Lifetime Achievement AJHA's highest honor, the Kobre Award, recognizes individuals with an exemplary record of sustained achievement in journalism history through teaching, research, professional activities, or other contributions to the field of journalism history. This year's honoree is Patrick Cox. Cox is retired from the University of Texas at Austin where he was associate director of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History and taught at the UT Austin College of Journalism. He is the author and editor of 10 books, including The First Texas News Barons, Picturing Texas History and Ralph W. Yarborough - the People’s Senator. H Read more about his accomplishments here. He will be recognized during the Awards Lunch at the AJHA conference. The National Award for Excellence in Teaching Presented at the annual Awards Luncheon, the National Award for Excellence in Teaching honors a college or university teacher who excels at teaching in the areas of journalism and mass communication history, makes a positive impact on student learning, and offers an outstanding example for other educators. An honorarium of $500 accompanies the prize. This year's winner is Keith Greenwood, an associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. Greenwood will be recognized during the Awards Lunch at the AJHA conference. Read about his accomplishments as a teacher here. AJHA's Book Award recognizes the best book in journalism history or mass media history published during the previous calendar year. This year's winner is Gwyneth Mellinger, for "Racializing Objectivity: How the White Southern Press Used Journalism Standards to Defend Jim Crow." Mellinger is the Ruth D. Bridgeforth Professor of Telecommunications at James Madison University. Mellinger’s work, published by University of Massachusetts Press, uses archival materials from editors, reporters, and leaders of wire services to expose how the white Southern press used journalism standards to rationalize white supremacy and resist desegregation.
Five authors earned honorable mention for their books:
The award will be presented during the book award panel. Read the news release. Margaret A. Blanchard Dissertation Prize 
Since 1997, AJHA has presented the Blanchard Prize for the best doctoral dissertation dealing with mass communication history completed during the prior calendar year. This year's winner is Robin Sundaramoorthy, for her dissertation, "Black Radio Ownership and the FCC's Failed Attempt to Diversify the Airwaves," completed under the direction of Linda Steiner at the University of Maryland. The committee named three honorable mentions:
Honorees will discuss their work in a special conference session. Read the news release. |
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American Journalism Rising Scholar Award
Editors of AJHA's quarterly academic journal American Journalism present the Rising Scholar Award at the annual General Business Meeting to recognize the achievements and potential of an untenured scholar who shows promise in extending her or his research agenda.
This year's winner is Natascha Toft Roelsgaard, an assistant professor of journalism at Muskingum University. The award will support archival travel for her book project that examines the work of nineteenth and twentieth-century women reporters.
Read more about her research in the press release.
Best American Journalism Article
The Best Article Award honors research published in American Journalism within the last year that is original, rigorous, and makes an outstanding contribution to developing scholarship in the field of journalism and mass communication history.
This year's winner is Suzannah Evans Comfort of Indiana University for her article: “Before the Environment Was News: Outdoor Writers and the Boundaries of Journalism,” published in the journal’s third issue in 2024.
Read more about her work here.
The editors of American Journalism will present the award during the annual General Business Meeting.
Inaugural Hazel Dicken-Garcia Research Grant
The Hazel Dicken-Garcia Research Grant provides $1,000 grants for researchers who share the scholarly interests of Dicken-Garcia.
There were no entries for this year.
Joseph McKerns Research Grants
Joseph McKerns Research Grants provide funding of up to $1,250 per person for media history research projects while recognizing and rewarding the winners.
The 2025 winners are:
- Michael Fuhlhage, of Wayne State University
- Brian Gabrial, of Concordia University Montreal
- Christie Kleinmann, of Belmont University
- Madeleine Liseblad, of Cal State University, Long Beach
During the general business meeting, the AJHA will give out the following research awards for top papers at the Long Beach convention.
- Rich Shumate, of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, won the Wm. David Sloan Award for Outstanding Faculty Paper for “Taking It to the Screen: How JFK’s Live TV Press Conferences Created A New Paradigm for the Bully Pulpit." Honorable mention: Jason Peterson (University of South Carolina-Beaufort).
- Kaelyn L. Hanna, graduate student at the Elliott School of Communication, won The Maurine Beasley Award for Outstanding Paper on Women’s History for “Too Loud for a Lady: Anna E. Dickinson and the Politics of Madness." Honorable mention: Thérèse L. Lueck (The University of Akron).
- Felecia Jones Ross, of The Ohio State University, received the J. William Snorgrass Award for Outstanding Paper on Minority Journalism History for “The Attempted Rescue of Ensign Jesse L. Brown: A Model of Interracial Cooperation During the Korean War.” Honorable mention: Pamela E. Walck (Duquesne University)
- Anna E. Lindner, of Nazareth University, won the The Jean Palmegiano Award for Outstanding International/Transnational Journalism Research for “A Microtextual Approach: Theories and Methods for Studying Enslavement and Colonialism in Communication, Media, and Journalism History." Honorable mention: Erin K. Coyle, (Arizona State University).
- Mark Bernhardt, or Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, won the Wally Eberhard Award for Outstanding Paper on Media and War for “Friend and Foe: The Racialized Portrayal of Cubans and Spaniards in the New York Press Coverage of the Spanish-American War." Honorable mention: Mary M. Cronin, (New Mexico State University)
There was no candidate this year for the Robert Lance Memorial Award for Outstanding Student Paper.