Abstract
Hello. This is my last issue as editor-in-chief of Asia Pacific Media Educator. I retired as an academic 12 months ago and believe it is now time to pass the baton to another person who will continue to drive the development of APME as a journal for and by Journalism educators. The new editor-in-chief is Dr Sundeep Muppidi, Professor of Communication at the University of Hartford in the US.
Professor Muppidi is a passionate Journalism educator. As a teacher he has taught a range of subjects that form the core of journalism programs. His commitment to Journalism education was highlighted recently when he won the prestigious American Council of Education (ACE) Fellowship for 2017–18. During his career he has won a number of other fellowships, also serving as Secretary General of Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC).
Professor Muppidi is a researcher of note, having three edited books, 50 book chapters and refereed articles, 10 book reviews and more than 75 refereed conference presentations to his credit. I am sure that under his stewardship, APME is in safe hands.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank Dr Eric Loo, the Founding Editor of APME for the opportunity to take the helm of this wonderful journal. I would also like to thank the academics and journalists who have contributed to APME during my tenure, as well as to the reviewers who have generously given of their time. Their contributions have helped make APME a readable and relevant resource, both in an academic and practical sense. So, thank you all.
Finally, to the staff at Sage. Thank you for managing the production process and for translating our contributions into a product of which we can all be proud.
This issue continues the tradition we began two years ago when we started to showcase commentaries at the front-end of each issue. At the time, I indicated that I wanted to open the pages of APME to practitioners as well as academics. I did this in part to help break down the walls that often exist between the academy and industry. It has, I believe, been a useful practice, despite the fact that each of the contributions are written by academics. In previous issues, the commentaries have tended to be themed. In this issue, however, we’ve opened the journal to a number of different topics, ranging from the benefits of teaching mindfulness to journalism students (Mark Pearson, Analise O’Donovan and Cait McMahon), to the future of feature-writing, a topic which has attracted two contributions (the first by Matthew Ricketson and Caroline Graham, the second by Nick Richardson). The journal opens with a series of country-specific discussions about the future of journalism and Journalism education. The contributions are by Chris Frost (UK), Jian Xu (China) and Nirosha Neranjala Dissanayake (Sri Lanka). The commentary section is rounded out with a discussion on the reporting of education by Kathryn Shine. The second part of the issue is devoted to two research papers. The first is by Bruce Woolley and considers the development of a signature pedagogy in journalism. The second, by Damian Mellifont, considers the progressive reporting of mental health, a topic which is a challenge for young reporters and established writers alike.
I trust you enjoy the current offering.
Kind regards, Stephen.