The hashtag for this semester is #Tindall16. (Thanks to the always great Karen Freberg for that idea.) I am asking all of my students in Foundations of Media Research, Communication Consulting, and PR Writing to use the hashtag for various assignments.

I am compiling the results via TagBoard. Check out my #Tindall16 board if you have time. Contribute to the board if you want. I am hoping that my students engage with social media and sharing resources this semester. (For some reason, this has been like pulling teeth.)

Hot diggity dang! This is a neat snapshot that WordPress sent me via email, and I just had to share.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,300 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 55 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Journal of Communication Inquiry – Call for Papers

Special issue on Digital Feminist Media Studies

As seen on the National Communication Association E-mail list

From Heidi Zimmerman (zimme313 at umn dot edu)

Call for Lesson Plans for Teaching Media Quarterly: Teaching #BlackLivesMatter: Media, Race, and Social Movements (Vol. 4, No. 1)

Submission deadline: January 11, 2016

Black historical experiences are never past, but always permeating the present. The mediated Black Lives Matter movement can be seen as a fissure in the narrative of American exceptionalism demanding recognition of the current and historical dehumanization of Black bodies. In the seventeenth century, slaves transported to the American colonies endured torture, rape, and daily terror. Slave labor produced the wealth of the colonies and the United States, in both the South and the North. The Black Codes of the Reconstruction era, including the newly written vagrancy laws, imprisoned the unemployed into chain gangs, which in turn were sold to the highest bidder to work in agriculture and mining, and to rebuild the South (Blackmon 2008). In the era of Jim Crow, Black Americans endured the separate but equal doctrine, which provided them with substandard schools, healthcare, and housing, and required rigorous abiding by segregation laws (Massey & Denton 1993); failure to do so wa!
s met by state-sanctioned and Ku Klux Klan violence, rape, murder, and economic terrorism (Wells-Barnett 1892, 1895). The second half of the twentieth century saw urban renewal programs and white flight to the suburbs depleting the tax base of largely urban communities, the disappearance of industrial jobs, redlining in housing, gerrymandering of voting districts, broken windows policing, the militarization of the police, and the mass incarceration of Black, Latino, and Native American populations (Hirsch 1998; Freund 2007; Slater 2010; Sugrue 2014; Alexander 2010; Thompson 2010).

Media have been crucial in these historical developments. Whites have traditionally employed print, radio, and television media to justify state and extrajudicial violence against Blacks, to promote segregation and disenfranchisement, and recently to popularise narratives of personal responsibility removed from a historical understanding of structural white supremacy. Some scholars have examined narratives about the state of race relations and representations of Blacks and whites (Stabile 2006; Hill Collins 2000; Smith-Shomade 2002; hooks 2006). Others have researched how Blacks have taken control of the means of media production, and have employed the media to form counterpublics to communicate internally and to counter dominant white supremacist rhetoric (Heitner 2013; Savage 1999; Smith-Shomade 2007; Squires 2000, 2002, 2012; Morris 2015).

In this historical context of state, economic, and cultural violence, as well as the current epidemic of police brutality and the mass killings of Black and brown people in the United States, it is of utmost importance to cultivate teaching strategies that help undergraduate students develop critical tools for understanding the ways in which the media operate vis-à-vis social movements. Black Lives Matter is currently one of the most important social movements in the U.S. It links police brutality, mass incarceration, the dehumanization of Black and brown bodies to political and economic policies rooted in white supremacist thought. Participants in Black Lives Matter organizing, protests, and marches have repeatedly employed social media-Twitter in particular-to organize and coordinate. They have also used media to present Black experiences of state violence commonly dismissed by mainstream media. Participants in the Ferguson and the Baltimore Uprisings called out mainstream!
media for misrepresenting the protests, presenting socio-economic conditions in simplistic “thug” narratives, and for titillating audiences at home with footage of burning buildings and violence, whilst ignoring the actual grievances and daily experiences of Black Americans.

Although there are several online resources to teach about the Ferguson Uprising and Black Lives Matter designed for the High School curricula, we are looking for lesson plans for the undergraduate classroom that focus on the intersection of Black Lives Matter and the media, especially in relation but not limited to:

– Communication and organizing via social media platforms

– The political economy of Black Lives Matter

– Building social movements under neoliberalism

– #SayHerName and the visibility of Black women murdered by police

– Framing of Black Lives Matter in mainstream media and counter-framing by protesters

– Counterpublics and social movements

– Mediated racial discourses, discourses of colorblindness, and the politics of representation

– Historical perspectives on media representations of Black opposition to state violence

Teaching Media Quarterly Submission Guidelines

All submissions must include: 1) a title, 2) an overview (word limit: 500 words) 3) comprehensive rationale (using accessible language explain the purpose of the assignment(s), define key terms, and situate in relevant literature) (word limit: 500), 4) a general timeline, 5) a detailed lesson plan and assignment instructions, 6) teaching materials (handouts, rubrics, discussion prompts, viewing guides, etc.), 7) a full bibliography of readings, links, and/or media examples, and 8) a short biography (100-150 words).

Please email all submissions using the TMQ.Submission.Template (2) (.docx) in ONE Microsoft Word document to teachingmedia.contact@gmail.com.

Review Policy

Submissions will be reviewed by each member of the editorial board. Editors will make acceptance decisions based on their vision for the issue and an assessment of contributions. It is the goal of Teaching Media Quarterly to notify submitters of the editors’ decisions within two weeks of submission receipt.Teaching Media Quarterly is dedicated to circulating practical and timely approaches to media concepts and topics from a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives. Our goal is to promote collaborative exchange of undergraduate teaching resources between media educators at higher education institutions. As we hope for continuing discussions and exchange as well as contributions to Teaching Media Quarterly we encourage you to visit our website at http://www.teachingmedia.org/

FULTON COUNTY / JOB VACANCY 12/9/15

PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT (404-613-6700)

          141 PRYOR STREET, SUITE 3030, ATLANTA, GA 30303

       COMPETITIVE JOB ANNOUNCEMENT     15-1234

 

                      LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT    TITLE CODE: 101133

Hourly rate: $24.68

 

THIS IS AN UNCLASSIFIED, TEMPORARY AND SEASONAL POSITION IN THE EXTERNAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT.

(employment for this recruitment will be no more than 29 hours per week)

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

Bachelor’s degree in business or public administration, political science, or a related field; and two (2) years experience in governmental operations, including experience planning and organizing meetings, conducting community relations, or related experience; or a year for year interchange of indicated education and experience equal to the minimum qualifications.

LICENSING REQUIREMENTS:

Valid State of Georgia Driver’s License or proof of mobility equivalent may be requested.

 

EXAMINATION:

The examination process will include the following: application review and evaluation to establish a rating to reflect Qualified or Not Qualified. Application must document that the applicant possesses the minimum knowledge, skills, education and experience as listed. If selected, an official, accredited college transcript is required, at time of employment, for all degrees/course work used to qualify for this position.

TO APPLY:

Online application available at the county’s web page:  www.fultoncountyga.gov. and completed Fulton county application forms will be accepted at the Personnel Department. (address above) applications must be completed in full before they are submitted. please review all applications for accuracy and make all corrections before submittal because errors can result in not meeting the minimum qualifications.  additional information will not be accepted after applications have been received by the Personnel Department.

CLOSING DATE:

DECEMBER 12, 2015

 

IT IS THE POLICY OF FULTON COUNTY THAT THERE WILL BE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERY CITIZEN, EMPLOYEE AND APPLICANT, BASED UPON MERIT WITHOUT REGARD TO RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, AGE, GENETICS, DISABILITY OR SEXUAL ORIENTATION.

 

JOB SUMMARY/ DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS/ ESSENTIAL DUTIES (REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE)/ KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

Incumbent in this class performs duties related to providing research and legislative support and analysis for Fulton County delegations, elected officials, and citizens. 

 

This is the first level within a four-level legislative professional classification series.  Legislative Assistant is distinguished from Legislative Officer in that the former assists the State House or Senate delegation by coordinating various administrative responsibilities for the delegation chairperson, whereas the latter reviews and edits position papers for pending legislation in addition to performing legislative research and attending committee hearings and delegation meetings.

 

Assists the State House or Senate delegation in developing an annual legislative program. Establishes and maintains legislative clearinghouse services for citizens, governmental bodies, and delegation members. Collaborates with an assigned legislative team in the development of strategies. Coordinates legislative meetings for an assigned delegation. Attends various legislative and community meetings. Assists executives and assigned staff in promoting intergovernmental relations and Fulton County’s interests.

 

Office practices and procedures; Local governmental operations; Principles and practices of customer service; Methods and techniques used to conduct legislative research and analysis; Laws, rules, and regulations governing lawmaking, lobbying, and intergovernmental relations; State and local legislative processes; Personal computers and related software.

 

Planning, organizing, and implementing community projects; Providing effective customer service; Managing multiple projects simultaneously; Monitoring and tracking legislation; Conducting legislative research and analysis; Conducting effective lobbying efforts for various governmental legislation; Preparing and presenting oral and written communications/reports; Maintaining detailed reports and files; Operating personal computers, including spreadsheet, database, word processing, presentation, and other related software; Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with other County personnel, officials, and the general public; Communication and interpersonal techniques as applied to interaction with coworkers, supervisor, the general public, etc., sufficient to exchange or convey information and to receive work direction.

Race for the Cure Intern

Reports to: Julie Brock

Position Status: Intern (unpaid)

Time Commitment: 15-20 hours per week thru May 7th required; May 31, 2015 preferred.

About Susan G. Komen®

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer

forever. In 1982 that promise became Susan G. Komen® and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today,

Komen is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower

people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. The Greater Atlanta Affiliate, established in

1991, is one of 114 Affiliates in the U.S. and Europe. In 2015, Komen Atlanta invested over $1.5 million in grants to 16

local organizations funding lifesaving education, patient navigation, treatment support and treatment programs in our

fifteen county service area. Since 1991, Komen Atlanta has invested over $41 million in local programs, funding

potentially lifesaving services for underserved individuals.

Position Overview & Basic Function:

The Race for the Cure Intern will assist with various projects focused on our Race for the Cure event. The content will

revolve around the area of special events, with opportunities to assist with event logistics, database management,

mailings, social media marketing, sponsorship fulfillment, and gamification while responding to inquiries from the public

about the Affiliate’s Race for the Cure event.

Primary Responsibilities:

 Assist Race Manager with event logistics, details, and planning for the Komen Atlanta Race for the Cure on

5/7/16

 Track vendor information and event equipment.

 Respond to event correspondence.

 Assist with Race participant recruitment which may include assisting in marketing strategies as well as

contacting targeted Race participants via email/phone to cultivate relationships.

 Other duties as assigned.

Required Skills & Education:

 Must be able to attend the Komen Atlanta Race for the Cure on Saturday, May 7, 2015.

 Excellent communication, customer service and interpersonal skills.

 Strong time-management, organizational and research skills.

 Quick learner with the ability to self-motivate.

 Have strong computer skills, including strong experience in Microsoft Offices (i.e. Word, Excel)

 Must be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student or be a graduate of a college or university

Other:

 Ability to lift / carry 30 pounds; capable of standing for one hour or more.

 Position will need to use their personal computer.

 Candidate may be subject to a criminal background check.

Benefits:

 Opportunity to gain insight into the not-for-profit sector.

 “Hands-on” environment with individuals who respond to critical community issues.

 Develop above-entry-level skills.

To apply for the internship, email a resume and writing sample to Trista McGlamery at tmcglamery@komenatlanta.org.