Re-sending because the misplaced Panel#1 sub-title in the
original e-mail may cause some confusion...

Colleagues,

I was informed this morning that the chair for two of
MAC’s panels scheduled for the 2007 AEJMC national
convention, which will be held Aug. 9 - 12 in Washington,
D.C, is unable to coordinate the panels.  So once again, I
need your help.  Specifically, I need two volunteers, one to
chair each panel.  As panel chair, you will be expected to
schedule the moderator and three panelists, and communicate
with the co-sponsor to schedule the two remaining panelists.
 If you are interested in chairing either panel, please
e-mail me (not the listserv) ASAP.  Appointments will be
made on a first-response basis.  Many thanks.

Panel #1 (You may or may not opt to consider suggested
panelists & moderator)

Minority Media Ownership & Advocacy: A Status Report
Lead: MAC; Co-Sponsor: Law & Policy
Thursday, August 9, 11:45 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.

It has been several years since the U.S. Commerce Department
released a report on the number of minority media owners.
In the 1990s, such reports were issued every two years.
Ethnic minorities make up about one-third of America's
population but own fewer than 4% of America's broadcast
licenses.  Fewer minority media owners engender fewer
newspaper stories, television shows, and radio programs that
educate, entertain and challenge all Americans with the
concerns, culture and knowledge of people of color.  David
Honig of the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council
stated that 50% of minority-owned stations owe their origins
to the Tax Certificate Program, which was terminated in
1995.  Taking advantage of the platform provided by meeting
in the nation’s capital, this panel will bring together
some of the key figures in the effort to increase minority
ownership along with those from the appropriate federal
agencies to assess where the minority ownership stands in
2007.

Possible Panelists:

Representative from the U.S. Commerce Dept/National
Telecommunication & Information
  Administration (D.C. based)
Representative from National Black Media Coalition (D.C.
based)
David Honig or Minority Media Telecommunications Council
representative (D.C. based)
Howard University professor who teaches media management
Minority media owner

Possible Moderator:

Phil Napoli, Fordham University (diversity & telecomm policy
author)


Panel #2 (You may or may not opt to consider suggested
panelists & moderator)

Minority or Multicultural: Legal Landmines of High School
Workshops
Lead: MAC; Co-Sponsor: Scholastic Journalism
Saturday, August 11, 5:15 - 6:45 p.m.

Even though they’ve been around for a quarter-century and
have a track record of turning high school students on to
journalism, Dow Jones Newspaper Fund-sponsored high school
workshops are under a new level of attack.  In October 2006,
a class action complaint was filed against Virginia
Commonwealth University’s Urban Journalism Workshop after
a white student was allegedly disinvited because of her
race.  A follow-up to a panel on minority workshops
sponsored at the 2003 AEJMC convention in Kansas City, this
panel focuses on legal issues that connect the ongoing
affirmative action debate to diversity efforts at the high
school level.  Can universities solve the problem by simply
changing the name of their workshops?  What strategies does
Dow Jones Newspaper Fund suggest for universities to shield
themselves from legal actions such as those taken against
VCU?

Possible Panelists:

Linda Waller Shockley, Deputy Director
June Nicholson or Bonnie Davis, Virginia Commonwealth
University
Local affirmative action attorney (or member of the Law &
Policy division who is an
  expert in higher education cases)

Possible Moderator:

Barbara Hines, Howard University (sponsors own summer Dow
Jones workshop)


Camilla Gant, Ph.D.
MAC Vice Head & Programming Chair
University of West Georgia
Faculty Assistant to the President
Associate Professor of Mass Communications