Daily—and often moment-to-moment—journalism permeates our lives and shapes our view of both community and the world in ways most of us take for granted.  Whether one tunes to National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, NBC’s Today Show, follows news events on the Internet, or reads one or more daily newspapers or weekly news magazines, journalism weaves through—and can often define—our days.

This new six-volume encyclopedia—to be issued by Sage, one of the leading publishers in the media studies field—will be the first to broadly define this huge subject (including print,  broadcast, and the Internet), and will incorporate the original work of hundreds of journalism scholars and practitioners both in the U.S. and abroad.  It is designed to be the first “go-to” place for those seeking information on this dynamic business.

Scope

The encyclopedia will present a current and comprehensive analysis on all aspects of journalism—including the trends, issues, concepts, individuals, institutions, media outlets, and events that go into making journalism a pivotal part of contemporary media. While emphasizing American journalism, a significant amount of space will be devoted to discussing print, broadcast and additional modes of journalism in other countries as well, including their impact on America and vice versa.  Coverage will range from country essays surveying the development and current state of journalism, to entries focused on specific types of print publications and broadcast programs (offering specific examples), as well as specific media markets, to entries that survey important people and programs within historical and analytical treatments of such familiar journalistic types as the television anchor, or television news magazine programs. Especially important will be the encyclopedia’s attention to the changing technologies of journalism, legal and ethical issues, education and training for journalism, the processes and routines of journalism, ownership and industry economics, and the audiences for news.

The first four volumes will contain entries ranging in length from 800 to 3,500 words, arranged by topic from A to Z. Each entry will include both cross-references and sources of further information. All entries will be signed. Consult the headword list to see the breadth of material to be covered. You can see this list in alphabetical order or organized by subject by clicking on the appropriate link in the upper left corner of this page. While the encyclopedia is not historical in its emphasis, sufficient background will be presented to provide context for each entry.

The fifth volume will provide reprinted documents of importance to journalism past and present. Many of these will be referenced in main entries. The volume may also include a guide to major journalism archives.  And the sixth and final volume will contain an extensive annotated bibliography on all aspects of journalism, as well as multiple indexes.

Becoming an Author

The planning stage of the encyclopedia was completed in October 2006, and the editorial team is now actively commissioning articles. The writing and editorial phase of the project will extend through mid-2008, with publication expected in early 2009.

The editorial team will negotiate individual deadlines with authors based on entry length and number of entries assigned to each author. Editorial and submission guidelines as well as sample entries are available at links in the upper left-hand portion of this page.

We welcome the interest of qualified persons in this project. Please contact us by clicking “Email Project Manager” above left. Include details about your professional affiliation and publications, and indicate which entries you would like to be considered for. Compensation for authors will be provided by Sage in the form of credit toward Sage books. You may see their backlist as well as forthcoming titles by clicking on the Sage logo in the upper right-hand corner of this page, or logging onto www.sagepub.com. Once there, you will see an extensive list of titles in Communication and Media Studies, among many other subject fields. Sage’s generous scale of book credit is based on the number of words a writer contributes. Further details about payment are available from the project coordinator.

Editorial Team

The encyclopedia will be under the general editorship of Christopher H. Sterling, a long-time member of the George Washington University faculty.  A professor of media and public affairs and author or editor of many articles and nearly 20 books, Sterling edited the prize-winning Encyclopedia of Radio (Fitzroy Dearborn, 3 vols., 2004), and is completing work on the Encyclopedia of Military Communications History (ABC-CLIO, 1 vol., 2007). He also edited the Focal Encyclopedia of Electronic Media (Focal, CD-ROM, 1998). His research focuses on the history and policy of both electronic media and telecommunications— Shaping American Telecommunications: A History of Technology, Economics and Policy (with Bernt and Weiss, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006) is his latest book. 

D. Charles Whitney of the University of California, Riverside, serves as associate editor.  A professor of sociology and creative writing, Whitney has co-authored or co-edited several books on media for Sage, including Mediamaking: Mass Media in Popular Culture (2005), Audience Making: How the Media Create the Audience (1994), and two of the Mass Communication Review Yearbooks (1982-83). His research interests focus on the sociology of media organizations, individual and social effects of mass communication, and media studies more generally. 

Working closely with Sterling and Whitney will be MTM Publishing of New York City, a book packaging company that has developed and produced reference and encyclopedia works for Sage and other publishers including Routledge, Fitzroy Dearborn, Macmillan, Scribner, Oxford University Press, Greenwood, and CQ Press. Valerie Tomaselli and Paul Schellinger will provide the all-important project management and editorial functions that make such a wide-ranging project possible. Both have extensive experience with the publication of major reference works. Zach Gajewski will fill the crucial role of Project Coordinator. You may contact Zach by clicking on the “Contact Project Manager” link above.

Advisory Board

The focus and design of the encyclopedia has been shaped with the assistance of 15 prominent journalism scholars covering a wide range of expertise in the field. They are:

Maurine Beasley, University of Maryland

Diane Borden, San Diego State University

Donald Browne, University of Minnesota

Robert Entman, George Washington University

James Ettema, Northwestern University

Mark Feldstein, George Washington University

Stephen Hess, Brookings Institute and George Washington University

James Hoyt, University of Wisconsin

Philip Meyer, University of North Carolina

Christine Ogan, Indiana University

Tom Rosenstiel, Project for Excellence in Journalism

Janet Steele, George Washington University

Robert Trager, University of Colorado

Silvio Waisbord, Agency for International Development

Barbie Zelizer, University of Pennsylvania