Our election this year will be a little unusual. Pamela Walck, who has two years remaining on her board term, is the lone nominee for second vice president. If she is elected, we will have four open board seats.
Four members were nominated for the board of directors: Karlin Andersen Tuttle, George Daniels, Melissa Greene-Blye, and Susan Swanberg. Members will vote for three board members as usual; the one that receives the least votes will take over Walck's partial term if she is elected second vice president.
Additionally, the membership will vote on whether to confirm the appointment of Erin Coyle, whom the board of directors appointed to second vice president upon the passing of Pam Parry. Coyle has been serving in that role since February. Per the AJHA Constitution and Bylaws, the Board is tasked with appointing officers to vacated positions, subject to confirmation by the AJHA membership at the next election. If confirmed, Coyle will ascend to first vice president.
The 2nd VP, under normal circumstances, rises to the presidency in two years, then serves on the board as ex-officio for an additional two years. Board members serve for three years and are expected to attend board meetings at the annual convention.
The election will be conducted via online survey, distributed in early September. A write-in option will be available for each position.
Below are brief bios for each nominee.
Second Vice President
Pamela Walck, an associate professor at Duquesne University, has been nominated for the position of second vice president. Walck has been a member of AJHA since she was in grad school at Ohio University (2013) and has attended every year—including the online days of COVID.
Walck wrote that she joined AJHA because Mike Sweeney told her she should. “But in all seriousness, it only took one conference for me to see the immense benefit of being a part of AJHA,” she wrote. “From the beginning, I found a group of scholars who were incredibly passionate about media history AND building up new scholars. That forward focus is what keeps me coming back each year – and bringing grad students along from time to time.”
Thanks to her membership in AJHA, Walck has been able to become friends with scholars across the globe in research areas that run the gamut. They have challenged her to look at her own research in new ways and have inspired her with their work.
“I have also found a community that is passionate about preserving the past – in an era where many wish to rewrite history to reflect what they wished it to be, rather than the reality of what it was,” she wrote. “That unblinking gaze into the past is critical to understanding tomorrow – and the AJHA membership understands that and stands up for that.”
Walck started out as a member of the Oral History Committee and eventually became the chairperson of the group. In 2020, she became editor of American Journalism, AJHA’s flagship publication. She served in that position until 2024, when she joined the AJHA board of directors.
Walck wrote that she feels like she is a strong collaborator – probably a result of her time in the newsroom. “I am also a good communicator and enjoy working with others to accomplish common goals,” she wrote. “I am getting better at understanding that conflict is not a bad thing – and trying to tackle disagreement with clarity and precision. I am fairly organized and definitely understand the importance of a deadline. I am open-minded and willing to hear multiple sides of an argument in a way that feels increasingly rare these days. And I value the importance of bringing and engaging journalism students (undergrad and grad) into our community of scholars.”
Board of Directors
The nominees for the board of directors are Karlin Andersen Tuttle, George Daniels, Melissa Greene-Blye, and Susan Swanberg.
Karlin Andersen Tuttle, an adjunct instructor at Penn State University and journals production editor at the American Academy of Pediatrics, has been a member of AJHA since 2020.
She joined because she was excited to join a community of support, mentorship, and shared enthusiasm for journalism and media history. “My research is interdisciplinary, but AJHA members welcomed my interests and helped me create a growing network of religious media historians,” Andersen Tuttle wrote.
She stated that benefits of AJHA include meeting faculty and graduate students from around the country who are also passionate about journalism history and the vital role it plays in a well-rounded undergraduate education in mass communications. She also benefited from the travel support AJHA offered while she was a graduate student to attend the annual convention and the encouragement she received as she found her research focus.
Andersen Tuttle currently serves as editor of the Intelligencer and co-chair of the AJHA Auction supporting the Michael S. Sweeney Graduate Student Travel Fund. She was a member of the Auction Committee for the 2024 conference.
"Serving on the Auction Committee over the last year gives me insights into some of the Board’s functions and processes,” she wrote. “Additionally, editing the Intelligencer has increased and strengthened my connections to many AJHA members from graduate students to retired faculty. Those two existing roles will help me more easily take on this position and understand how to best serve fellow members.”
George L. Daniels, an associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media at The University of Alabama, has been a member of AJHA since the 2009 convention in Birmingham, Alabama.
Daniels said he joined AJHA because "I was amazed at how one could write and do study on a topic that is of great interest—the way media were produced in the past and how that understanding informs the present. I’m working on several research projects that involve media history. I need AJHA to help ensure I’m on the right track with the way I’m contextualizing, analyzing and interpreting lots of historical data.”
Daniels described the benefits AJHA membership as being associated with like-minded, supportive colleagues who can mentor and challenge you as you strengthen your skills as a researcher. He also enjoys receiving American Journalism several times a year.
Daniels’ service to AJHA has included reviewing AJHA research papers for the past three years. He has been actively involved in other journalism organizations, so he is familiar with how to liaison. He wrote that he gets things done when it involves collaborating with others.
Daniels stated, “I would like to learn more about the inner workings of the organization, especially as it relates to getting more journalism/media history into one’s general media course requirements.”
Melissa Greene-Blye, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, is an assistant professor in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas, where she is also affiliated faculty in the Indigenous Studies Program.
Greene-Blye has been a member of AJHA since 2016, encouraged to join by Amber Roessner, who assured the then-graduate student that she would find a supportive space to present research on Indigenous issues and representation in media as well as a welcoming community of like-minded scholars. Greene-Blye certainly has found AJHA to be exactly that—a very warm, welcoming space where she has been able to connect with other scholars for research and presentation collaborations as well as mentorship during those challenging pre-tenure years. She points to the networking and social connections and opportunities as some of the "gravy on top" benefits to being part of the association.
Greene-Blye has served on the graduate student and membership committees during her time with AJHA, stepping in to chair the membership committee when there was a need for an interim leader in that position.
Greene-Blye brings a unique perspective to the purpose and mission of the association. Her ability to build bridges and create collaboration opportunities with other organizations such as the Indigenous Journalists Association and IndiJ Public Media ensure she would continue to make a strong contribution to helping build a strong future for AJHA, supporting the work already being done and helping to raise up a new generation of scholars who are committed to continuing the important work of our discipline, connecting the past with the present to reinforce the critical role media and journalism have played and continue to play in the stories we tell.
Susan Elizabeth Swanberg, associate professor at the University of Arizona School of Journalism, has been a member of AJHA since 2016.
She was recruited by Ross Collins at an AEJMC meeting. “AEJMC seemed large and impersonal, and all the AJHA people I'd met seemed friendly and helpful,” Swanberg wrote. “Since I am a science journalism historian, joining AJHA seemed to be a good fit. I have enjoyed immensely my affiliation with AJHA.”
Swanberg is in her third year as research panels chair. She also has judged Blanchard award and book award entries.
Swanberg stated that she has been a member of AJHA long enough to have an appreciation of the organization, its goals and processes. She has a legal background, which helps her understand the workings of bylaws, policies, and guidelines. She also is a multidisciplinary researcher (science journalism history, law, and the natural sciences).
Swanberg wrote that she enjoys giving back to the organization that has provided her with a lot of support, including the 2018 Rising Scholar Award that helped fund a research trip to the Smithsonian Archives. She is interested in recruiting more AJHA members, including students.
