Jessica Birthisel | July 31, 2009
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| Courtesy photo |
| Freshman Thomas Miller’s paper will be presented at the upcoming AEJMC convention. |
AEJMC is the country’s oldest and largest group of collegiate journalism and mass communication educators and administrators with 3,600 members around the world. The group’s 92nd-annual convention is in Boston Aug. 5-8 and features a variety of sessions for scholars to present original research on topics such as advertising, communication theory, media ethics, public relations and visual communication.
Miller, who worked under the guidance of assistant professor Emily Metzgar, will present his paper, “The Legacy of Yellow Journalism: An Issue of Class, Education, and Ambition,” in the convention’s History Division. Miller’s project is an analysis of the March 1897 issues of The New York Times and The New York Journal. Specifically, he analyzes the Times’ coverage of the Journal.
“My paper makes the argument that The New York Times really gained a lot by framing The New York Journal in a negative light,” Miller explained in a phone interview. “The New York Journal wasn’t as bad as history has remembered it, and at the same time, The New York Times used a lot of negative tactics for framing the New York Journal.”
Miller met with Metzgar through Indiana University’s Jesse H. & Beulah Chanley Cox Research Scholars program, which connects high achieving undergraduates with faculty mentors for the purpose of research and other scholarly activities. As a Cox scholar, Miller receives four years of funding, including tuition, fees, books, and room and board, and also receives a research stipend.
In an e-mail, Metzgar said she was happy to be part of the Cox program.
“In the program, a faculty member agrees to essentially take on a bright, new freshman student with an interest in her field,” she said. “The idea is to allow these new students an opportunity to participate in academic research in their field of interest from their first day on campus. Ideally, this mentor-mentee relationship will last over the student’s four-year college career.”
Miller says that Metzgar encouraged him to pursue his own project, and eventually submit it to a national paper competition, something almost unheard of for a freshman.
“Emily was the one who said go ahead, submit it to AEJMC and see,” said Miller, describing both himself and Metzgar as ambitious. “I think that every professor that I told I was submitting to AEJMC thought I was crazy. They didn’t want me to have high hopes.”
Metzgar, who describes her role in this process as “the main cheerleader for Thomas’ project,” said she knew early in the relationship that Thomas had great potential.
“Once I met Thomas and had a chance to get to know him, I knew he could pull off something like this,” she said. “When I first suggested he try writing something to submit to AEJMC, he looked at me like I was crazy — and I suppose it was a bit far-fetched, but why not? I figured: Smart guy. Passion for the subject. Good writer. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn’t nearly as insane as it sounded.”
Miller says he was ecstatic upon learning that his paper had been accepted.
“This AEJMC thing is really cool, because that’s a really good step toward getting the work published,” said Miller, who says he has already dreamed up an entire book project on the topic. “And it’s more than just cool, because the more time I spend with Emily and other professors, the more I think I would like to be a professor day.”
Miller says he was equal parts excited and anxious to find out that his AEJMC session discussant is W. Joseph Campbell, a scholar who wrote several books influential to Miller’s research. Both Miller and Metzgar also acknowledged the important contributions made by media historian and IU journalism assistant professor Mike Conway, who served as a sounding board on the project.
The first year of the Cox partnership has proved fruitful for Miller, and both mentor and mentee say they look forward to more work in the years to come.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Thomas and to participate as a faculty mentor in the Cox scholars program,” said Metzgar. “I’m pleased I agreed to take part and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with Thomas as he continues his studies. Thomas definitely off to a great start and I’m really proud of him.”
