INSIDE THISISSUE
NavigatIngincreasingscrutiny andFOIAintimidationtactics
Internationalscholarsface discrimination&uncertainty
InclusiveMentorship: Acalltotransformthe graduateexperience
VolunteerOpportunities: AEJMCdoesTheBigEasyin2026
WearelookingaheadtotheAEJMC 2026gatheringinNewOrleans The commissionispreparingitsprogram andwelcomesvolunteersforavariety ofserviceroles
Masullo: ‘We’rehere;we’requeer, getusedtoit’ Masullo’snewbookonthelived experiencesofwomenandnonbinary peoplestandsasa subversive statementagainstthethreatson LGBTQIA+rightsintheUnitedStates
TheLGBTQ+InterestGrouphasbeenelevatedtoCommission statuswithinAEJMC,givingitgreatervisibility,influence,anda votingseatontheBoardofDirectors.Withthisnewadvocacyfocusedrole,membersarebeingcalledtohelpshapethe Commission’smissionbyidentifyingpriorityqueermediaissues, potentialpartnerships,andinitiativesthatadvanceequityand amplifysilencedvoicesacrossacademia.
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A MORE IMPORTANT TIME TO ADVOCATE FOR LGBTQIA+ REPRESENTATION
WhenPatrickJohnson(Marquette)toldme abouttheBoardofDirectors’plantoadvance theLGBTQ+InterestGroupintheorganizational peckingorder,Iwasthrilled.
IknewCommissionstatusmeantmorevisibility. Morepower.More“chips”forscheduling conferencesessions
Butbeyondthebasics,Ididn’tknowexactly whatanAEJMCCommissiondid.
AsalongtimememberoftheCommissionon theStatusofWomen(CSW),Iwasfamiliarwith theLillianLodgeKopenhaverAwardandother CSWprogramsthatpromotefeministmedia issues.
Overtheyears,Ialsopartneredwiththe CommissionontheStatusofMinorities(CSM) onpaneldevelopment.IknewtheirM.O.wasto advancerace-andethnicity-focusedequity initiativesinresearch,reportage,andhiring practices.
ThentherewasPatrick'sCommissionon GraduateEducation,whichin2022was upgradedfromitsoriginaltitleofGraduate StudentInterestGroup Itsmissionwasnascent: Tocreateamoreinclusiveandsupportive communityforallstudentmembers.Fairenough andsorelyneeded.
Butwhatdidthesethreecommissions,withtheir variousstakeholders,haveincommon?
WhenIattendedtheFall2025AEJMCBoardof Directors(BOD)MeetinginSanFrancisco,I wantedthedifferencesbetweencommissions andinterestgroupspelledout
AEJMCPresidentBey-LingSha(TexasTech) madeitclear:Commissionsareallabout advocacy.
Importantly,theyalsogetavotingseatonthe BOD,aprivilegewedidnotenjoyasaninterest group
AsIre-jointhisgroup’sleadershipasthe Commission'sFoundingHead Iservedas HeadoftheInterestGroupduringtheCovid years Ilooktoyoutohelpussharpenour advocacymission.
Inthecomingmonths,considerthefollowing: Whatqueermediaissuesshouldwe advocateforwithourincreasedvisibility? Whatinitiativesshouldwepushinourfirst yearasCommission,andwhatotherDIGs shouldwepartnerwith? HowcanourCommissionserveasavoice forqueerfolkswhohavebeensilenced acrossacademia? Whocanweinviteintothefoldascoconspirators?Withwhichalliescanwe createallegiances?
ThesearequestionsIwanteachofyoutoweigh inonasweenterourfirstyearwithcommission status
Againstthebackdropofgrowinganti-LGBTQIA+ sentimentandattacksonqueerspeech,our workasanewcommissionismoreimportant thanever.
Iurgeyoutoemailmewithnewideasand initiatives Myvirtualdoorsareopenat chelsea.j.reynolds@asu.edu.
StaytunedforupdatesontheWinter2025BOD meetinginourSpring2026newsletter Iflyto NewOrleansonDecember3toprepareforthe August2026conferenceinTheBigEasy acity richwithqueerhistoryandnightlife
Ilookforwardtoleadingyouinourfirstyear breakingnewgroundtogether.
Onward!
FACULTY TARGETED BY SURGE IN FOIA REQUESTS
Professors must navigate increasing scrutiny and intimidation tactics
BobbieFoster
UniversityofArkansas
hilemasscommunicationsandjournalism professorsareveryfamiliarwithwalking studentsthroughtheFreedomofInformationAct (FOIA)andhowtofileaFOIArequisition,itis anotherthingentirelytobethesubjectofa request.Recently,forexample,theOversight ProjectfiledFOIArequestsagainstfacultyatthe UniversityofNorthCarolina,ChapelHill(UNC) UNC isjustoneofmanytargetstoreceiverecords requestsrecently
Lawmakersatthestateandfederallevelsare engaginginrhetoricthatencouragespolitical groupstoFOIAforsyllabi,emails,andother classroommaterials Forexample,the aforementionedOversightProjecthasfiledmore than100,000requestssince2000 Unfortunately, FOIAhasbecomeameansofintimidationand harassmentagainstfacultyandadministrators.
Inthisenvironment,itiscrucialtohaveaplanin placeformanagingrecordrequests.Most universitiesrecommendcontactingtheircentral legalcounselifyoureceiveaFOIArequest.The UniversityofArkansashasadesignatedFOIAemail addresstoforwardrequests.Takethetimeto becomefamiliarwithyouruniversity’spolicies regardingrecordrequests. TheCenterforDefense ofAcademicFreedom(CDAF)haspublisheda handyPDFwithmoreinformationaboutFOIA requests
Theyrecommendthat,firstandforemost,all“nonwork-relatedsensitiveemails,records,data, documents,orotheritems”notbekepton universitydevicesorcloudservicesTheCDAFalso recommendsthatfacultyrequestmoreclarityon department,school,andcollegepoliciesfrom theirchairsanddeans
Thebestdefenseistomaintainopen communicationamongthetargetoftherequest, administrators,andlegalcounselItiscrucialto stayinformed,notjustaboutwhatishappeningin yourownstatelegislature,butalsoacrosstheU.S, tobuildastrongsupportsystemforacademic freedom.
Youcanfindmanyorganizationsthataretracking academicfreedomlegislationbelow:
PENAmericaHigherEdCensorshipTracker
TheChronicleofHigherEdDEILegislation Tracker(requiresanaccounttoview)
TheAmericanLibraryAssociationhasa collectionofAdverseLegislationTrackers.
TotracklegislationspecifictoLGBTQIA+issues, considerusingthefollowingservices:
ACLUMapofLGBTQRights
TransLegislationTracker
TheLGBTQBarAssociationExecutiveOrder Tracker
STUDENTJOURNALISTS FILLGAPSINCOMMUNITY &LOCALREPORTING
SentaScarborough EastTenesseeState
AccordingtotheUniversityof VermontCenterforCommunity News’2025NationalImpactStudy, studentsareincreasinglyinvolvedin partnershipsbetweennews organizationsandacademic institutions
In2024,morethanfivethousand studentsparticipatedin news/academicpartnershipsin124 programsin45statesaswellas Washington,DC,accordingthe center’sreportreleasedinAugust Thosenumbersnearlydoubledthe numbersofstudentsandprograms participatingin2023In2024,students created26,807worksofpublished journalismin3,258newsoutlets
Alongwiththatincreasedparticipation comesariseinstudentsfacinghostile ordangeroussituationsAccordingto theUSPressFreedomTracker,21 percentofthejournalistsarrestedor detainedin2024werestudentsThat riseisreflectedbythestudent journalistsplayinganimportantrole coveringtheIsrael-Gazawarprotests.
Thisyear,studentjournalistshave continuedtocoveranarrayof polarizingissuessuchasimmigration andLGBTQ+rightsForprofessors workingwiththesestudents,theJames WFoleyJournalismSafetyFoundation isagreatresource
ThisMay,theypublishedanewversion oftheJamesWFoleyJournalism SafetyModules,whichisanexcellent one-stopguideformanyissuesfacing studentjournalistsThe13modules providelearningobjectives,resources onawiderangeoftopicsand discussionquestions
Thetopicsincludesafetybest practices,dealingwithharassment, coveringelections,photojournalism safetyandensuringdiversityinthe newsroom
INTERNATIONALSTUDENTSANDSCHOLARS FACEDISCRIMINATIONANDUNCERTAINTY
YidongWang
LawrenceTechnologicalUniversity
TheUSimmigrationpolicyhas undergoneprofoundchangesin recentyearsImmigrants,regardlessof legalstatus,havebecomethescapegoat forvarioussocialissuesthatplague Americansociety
Thenumberofinternationalstudents arrivingtoattendtheFall2025semester droppedby20%comparedtotheprevious year,andtheStateDepartmentissued 19,000fewerstudentandvisitingscholar visasinthefirsthalfof2025thanthesame timeperiodofthepreviousyear
Amongtheinternationalstudentsand scholarswhosestudy,career,andlifeplans aredisrupted,manyidentifyasLGBTQIn fact,beingLGBTQ,orteachingand researchingLGBTQsubjects,cannow subjectpeopletodiscriminatorylaw enforcementandworkplaceharassment
ForLGBTQpeoplelivingincountrieswhere genderandsexualexpressionsare censoredandprosecuted,studyingor workingabroadusedtobeawayofcarving outaspacetocultivatepersonalgrowth aroundqueeridentities
ManyUSacademicfields,including journalismandmasscommunications, benefitfromtheexpertise,passion, resources,andperspectivesinternational studentsandscholarsbringtothetable
Lastyear,AEJMCreceivedan unprecedentrdlargenumberof submissionsfrominternationalstudents andscholarsforitsannualconferencein SanFrancisco Aconsiderableportionof theproposedpresentationstackled genderandsexualityinnon-Western contexts
Whilecelebratingthisachievementof outreach,theAEJMCcommunity witnessedhowmanyofthese internationalsubmitterswereunableto attendtheconferencebecauseof rejectedvisaapplications
DespitetheircontributiontotheAEJMC community internationalstudentsand scholarshavenotseentangiblesupport orprotectionfromacademiaorthe mediaprofession Inaself-destructive manner,manyuniversitiesputupminimal resistanceagainstxenophobic,queerphobicpoliticalagendas
AstheLGBTQInterestGrouptransforms intoacommission,weshouldbroaden thescopeofouradvocacytoinclude internationalissues
ANADVISOR ‘LIKEME’: ACATALYSTFOR ACADEMICFLOURISHING
JulioVelasquez UniversityofMiami
Asnewgraduatestudentsembarkon theirstudies,theyarriveoncampus carryingamixofexcitement,ambition,and naturally—afewfears.Regardlessof nationalityoridentity,everystudentmoves throughdistinctphasesintheiracademic journey.Yetit’simportanttoacknowledge thatnotallofusbeginfromthesame startingline.
AsÁngelGabilondo(Autonomous UniversityofMadrid)remindsus,even whenwesharethesamepath,someof usstartrightattheline,otherseightfeet behind,otherstwentyfeetbehind,and somewithafifty-footadvantage.
Ourbackgroundsdiffer,ouropportunities vary,andwhileadmissionsofficesstrive toidentifythemostpreparedcandidates, researchconsistentlyshowsthat standardizedmetricsalonedonot determineacademicsuccess.
Whatcanmakeaprofounddifference, especiallyintheearlystages,ishaving someonetotalkto—someonewhohas walkedthispathbefore,whounderstands itspressures,andwhocanguidewith empathyandlivedexperience.Thisis wherefindingtherightadvisorormentor canbecometransformational.
FormanystudentsintheLGBTQAI+ community,thiscanbeparticularly challenging.Itisoftendifficulttofind someonewhoshares,ortruly understands,ourexperiences,anditis evenmoredifficulttopursueresearchon LGBTQAI+topicswhenmentorsorsenior scholarshavelimitedfamiliarityor alignmentwithourgoals.Theabsenceof asharedidentity,orunderstanding,can makeanalreadydemandingacademic journeyfeelevenmoreisolating.
Thisservesasaninvitationtonewand juniorscholarsandtothesenior membersofouracademiccommunity. Forstudents,whileouridentitiesdonot whollydefineus,findinganadvisoror mentorwhounderstandsourperspective orsharesourscholarlycuriositycanoffer profoundreassuranceandclarity.Such connectionscaneasethejourney, strengthenourconfidence,andcatalyze thepathtowardmeaningfuland successfulresearch
Andformentorsandseniorscholars,itis areminderoftheimpactyoucanhave simplybybeingpresent,open,and willingtoseethewholestudent notjust theiracademicoutput,buttheirbroad perspectives,theirbackgrounds,andthe uniquestrengthsandideastheybringto oursharedintellectualcommunity
August5-8,2026
NewOrleansMarriot
