Look who's talking: A pilot study of the use of discussion lists by journalism educators and students

Mark Pearson, Bond University

Article comments

Published Version.

Pearson, M. (1996). Look who's talking: A pilot study of the use of discussion lists by journalism educators and students. Paper presented at the 1996 convention of the association for education in journalism and mass communication, Anaheim, California.

© Copyright Mark Pearson, 1996

Abstract

This paper analyses postings over a week-long period to two electronic discussion lists to position them as communication forms and to assess their potential value to journalism educators, students and researchers. The lists — Journet and Stumedia — feature advantages including networking and scholarly co-operation, knowledge acquisition, a sense of communion, and an opportunity to keep pace with innovation. Disadvantages are the sheer bulk of correspondence, low participation rates, maleness, US-centricity and the preponderance of "junk mail".