Useful Websites
Action Coalition for Media Education
http://acmecoalition.org
A network of educators, students, health professionals, journalists, media-makers, parents, activists, and other citizens joined as a member-supported, independent, nonprofit continental educational coalition.
Center for Media Literacy
http://www.medialit.org
A pioneer in its field, the Center for Media Literacy is a nonprofit educational organization that provides leadership, public education, professional development and educational resources nationally.
Media Awareness Network
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/
The Media Awareness Network is home to one of the world's most comprehensive collections of media education and Internet literacy resources.
Media Education Foundation
http//www.mediaed.org
The Media Education Foundation produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical reflection on the social, political and cultural impact of American mass media.
Columbia Journalism Review
http//: www.cjr.com
Columbia Journalism Review's mission is to encourage and stimulate excellence in journalism in the service of a free society. It is both a watchdog and a friend of the press in all its forms, from newspapers to magazines to radio, television, and the Web.
Editor and Publisher
www.editorandpublisher.com/
Editor & Publisher is a 116-year-old magazine covering the newspaper industry in North America. This site provides detailed economic and demographic profiles of and links to newspaper markets in the U.S. and Canada.
www.iwantmedia.com/
This web site focuses on diversified media news and resources. It provides quick access to media news and industry data, and is updated throughout the day.
Veronis, Suhler & Associates
http://www.veronissuhler.com/
Veronis Suhler's Internet Research Library contains reliable data and valuable sources for the industry and financial information you need. Veronis Suhler's Internet Research Library delivers links to the websites that can answer your research questions.
University of Iowa's List of Internet Resources on Media Law
http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/journalism/mediaLaw/
This is a useful annotated collection of materials about law, for experts and non-experts, available around the web.
Court Decisions Regarding Freedom of Speech in the United States
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/decisions.html
From Boston College Law School, this series of links is arranged in historical and thematic order.
Journal of Mass Media Ethics
http://jmme.byu.edu/
According to its website, "the Journal of Mass Media Ethics is devoted to explorations of ethics problems and issues in the various fields of mass communication. Emphasis is placed on materials dealing with principles and reasoning in ethics, rather than anecdotes, orthodoxy, dogma and enforcement of codes."
The Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press
http://www.rcfp.org/
Based in Arlington, Virginia, RCFP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free legal help to journalists and news organizations since 1970.
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
www.aejmc.org/
The AEJMC exists to promote the highest possible standards for education in journalism and mass communication, to encourage the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of expression in day-to-day living.
Center for Research on the Influences of Television on Children
www.utexas.edu/research/critc/
CRITC, the Center for Research on the Influences of Television on Children studies the impact of various kinds of television viewing on children's behavior and development. It has conducted studies of how children decode the medium of television; how they understand its forms and formats, as well as its content.
Center for Media and Public Affairs
www.cmpa.com/
The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) is a nonpartisan and nonprofit research and educational organization which conducts scientific studies of news and entertainment media. CMPA has emerged as a unique institution that bridges the gap between academic research and the broader domains of media and public policy.
Critical Studies in Mass Communication
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/07393180.asp
Critical Studies in Media Communication provides a home for scholarship in media and mass communication from a cultural studies and critical perspective. It particularly welcomes cross-disciplinary works that enrich debates among various disciplines, critical traditions, methodological and analytical approaches, and theoretical standpoints.
Journal of Communication
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/jcom
The Journal of Communication is the flagship journal of the International Communication Association and an essential publication for all communication specialists and policy makers. The Journal of Communication concentrates on communication research, practice, policy, and theory, bringing to its readers the latest, broadest, and most important findings in the field of communication studies
Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/HBEMThe Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media is the scholarly journal published quarterly by the Broadcast Education Association. Considered one of the leading publications in the Communication field, the Journal contains timely articles about new developments, trends and research in electronic media written by academicians, researchers and other electronic media professionals.
Media Effects Research Lab at Pennsylvania State University
www.psu.edu/dept/medialab/
The Media Effects Research Laboratory at the College of Communications in the Pennsylvania State University is a facility dedicated to conducting empirical research on the psychological effects of media content, form, and technology. Several experimental studies involving hundreds of subjects have been conducted in the lab since its opening in 1997.
Newsweek Media Research Index
www.vmr.com/research/index.html
The Newsweek Media Research Index is a directory of major studies and reports spanning four decades. This index is made available through the generosity of Newsweek. It represents an extraordinary bibliography of over 700 studies journal articles, conference papers and books, including many international contributions.
Center for Digital Democracy
http://www.democraticmedia.org/
According to its mission statement, the Center for Digital Democracy is "committed to preserving the openness and diversity of the Internet in the broadband era, and to realizing the full potential of digital communications through the development and encouragement of noncommercial, public interest programming."
FreePress.net
http://www.freepress.net/docs/talk_radio.pdf
Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications.
Media Access Project
http://www.mediaaccess.org
Founding in the early 1970s, the Media Access Project is a "public interest media and telecommunications law firm which promotes the public's First Amendment right to hear and be heard on the electronic media of today and tomorrow."
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica
Chronicling America, a project of the Library of Congress and National Endowment for the Humanities, represents, says the site, a "long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages." The site allows you to find out what libraries hold what newspapers and in what form-original or microfilm. You can also see digitized versions of front pages of newspapers-for example, The New York Sun-going back more than one hundred years.
Newspaper Association of America
http://www.naa.org
On its website, the NAA calls itself "NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $55 billion newspaper industry." "NAA members account for nearly 90 percent of the daily circulation in the United States and a wide range of nondaily U.S. newspapers." This site, then, is a good portal into the mainstream US newspaper business. Various areas cover advertising, circulation, electronic publishing, diversity, and other aspects of the newspaper business.
Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
http://aan.org
The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) calls itself "a diverse group of 130 alt-weekly news organizations that cover every major metropolitan area in North America." This website reflects the breadth of its membership through a directory of its member publications, an ability to receive email newsletters on various topics of the business, an archive of articles about alternative weeklies, and more.
International Newspaper Marketing Association
http://www.inma.org
This organization focuses on the marketing aspects of the newspaper business, with perspectives reflecting its diverse membership representing 70 countries. Its website contains useful papers and conference reports reflecting changes in the ways newspapers are trying to increase circulation and advertising.
Folio magazine
http://www.foliomag.com/
Folio is the major trade magazine of the magazine publishing industry. On the website you can read articles from the magazine and a newsletter, learn about industry events, and browse through a director of companies, from list brokers to publishing technology firms, that supply the industry with the wherewithal to carry out its tasks.
Magazine Publishers of America
http://www.magazine.org
Established in 1919, the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) calls itself the industry association for consumer magazines. It is a strong advocate for magazines to advertisers and the government. The website reflects these roles in addition to having sections about magazine careers, magazine retailing, and other aspects of the industry. The site also hosts the
he American Association of Magazine Editors.
International Regional Magazine Association
http://www.regionalmagazines.org
This is a group of companies that produce magazines aimed at particular geographic areas-for example, Vermont Life and Oklahoma Magazine. The site includes a reference area with links to useful sites that are relevant to all sorts of magazines.
Custom Publishing Council
http://www.custompublishingcouncil.com
The Council "is focused on promoting the growth and vitality of this dynamic marketing discipline." Its website includes an explanation of custom publishing, profiles of custom publishers, and research, case studies and how-to-articles that explain and promote this type of magazine publishing.
Recording Industry Association of America
http://www.riaa.org/
As its website says, "the RIAA works to protect intellectual property rights worldwide and the First Amendment rights of artists; conducts consumer, industry and technical research; and monitors and reviews state and federal laws, regulations and policies. The RIAA also certifies Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum, and Diamond sales awards, as well as Los Premios De Oro y Platino, an award celebrating Latin music sales." The website reflects these activities as well as presents statistics about record industry revenues.
SonyBMG Music
http://www.sonybmg.com
An interesting site of one of the big four recording firms. It has information about its labels, artists, executives, its approach to copy protection and royalties, as well as a "parental guide."
Rounder Records
http://www.rounder.com/
Rounder is now one of the biggest independent record labels in the United States, with several specialized subsidiary labels. It founded in 1970 by three university students. The website is a showcase for its activities, which center on American roots music, such as bluegrass.
Bemuso
http://www.bemuso.com
This site is aimed a DIY (do it yourself) music artists and independent labels. It is a primer about the recording business, with ascerbic comments about the big record companies.
Motion Picture Association of America
http://mpaa.org/
According to its website, "and its international counterpart, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) serve as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries, domestically through the MPAA and internationally through the MPA." The site contains much interesting data about performance of the industry in the US and abroad. It also presents the association's positions on piracy, film ratings, and US movies internationally.
Internet Movie Database
http://imdb.com/
Owned (but seemingly not biased) by Time Warner, it is truly (in its own words) "the biggest, best, most award-winning movie and TV site on the planet."
The Greatest Films
http://www.filmsite.org/filmh.html
Tim Dirks has put together a fascinating and useful website that moves across film history by decade. The site also includes "quotes", "genre," and "reference" sections.
Writers Guild of America, West http://www.wga.org/, Directors Guild of America (http://www.dga.org), and Screen Actors Guild (http://www.dga.org) are the key labor unions for theatrical movies made in the United States. The websites present news about and for their members and insight into critical aspects of the movie business.
Variety
http://www.variety.com/
This legendary show business magazine provides deep coverage of the movie industry, including film reviews. Many aspects of the site are open to subscribers only, but visitors can get a flavor of the topics they cover.
Internet Movie Database
http://imdb.com
A useful catalog of television programs that have appeared over the decades.
Variety
http://www.variety.com/
This show business magazine specializes in coverage of television programming. The website requires subscription, but your college may have a password for students.
Broadcasting & Cable
http://www.variety.com/
It says it covers "the business of television," and that includes local and national broadcast and cable developments. The website also includes information about industry events and conferences.
Association of Internet Researchers
http://aoir.org/
The Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) is an international academic organization dedicated to interdisciplinary studies of the Internet. In addition to the annual AoIR conference, their mailing list provides a venue for its more than 2,000 subscribers to discuss the latest trends and issues in Internet research. The AoIR Guide to Ethical Online Research is available online at http://www.aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf.
Digital Games Research Association
www.digra.org
The website of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) publishes original research on games for academics and professionals. The organization hosts a bi-annual conference for the international digital games research community.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://www.eff.org/
Founded in 1990, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit advocacy group with the stated aim of championing "the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights."
The Entertainment Software Association
http://theesa.com/
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the trade association for the computer and video game industry in the United States, regularly posts press releases, research, statistics, and industry sales reports on its website.
Gamastura
http://www.gamasutra.com/
Gamasutra is a website aimed at game developers that posts regularly updated news, features, and job postings for the computer and video game industry. Owned by CMP Media, it is the companion website publication to the magazine Game Developer.
The Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/hartman/index.html
A Duke University site that displays thousands of old ads from the nineteenth and twentieth century.
Advertising Age
http://adage.com/index.php
A major trade magazine of the advertising industry with a site that includes news, blogs and industry data.
Mediapost.com
http://www.mediapost.com/
This website offers to email to you without charge several daily bulletins about various aspects of advertising and media as well as classified job ads.
Public Relations Society of America
http://www.prsa.org/
Based in New York City, the PRSA calls itself the world's largest organization for public relations professionals. This website presents an overview of the association's activities, with areas dedicated to jobs, networking, professional development, and publications.
The Museum of Public Relations
http://www.prmuseum.com/bernays/bernays_1929a.html
This is an online overview of important figures and events in the history of public relations. It includes a video of Edward Bernays reflecting on his career and on the public relations profession.
OmnicomGroup
http://www.omnicomgroup.com/
One of Big 5 agency holding companies, Omnicom has a website that illustrates the astonishing breadth of advertising, public relations, and other marketing communications firms that such conglomerates own. The site includes case studies and a map of the firm's offices around the world.