David Copeland, associate professor of communications, wrote an article that was published in the Fall 2002 edition of American Journalism. The article is titled “‘Securing the Affections of Those People at this Critical Juncture’: Newspapers, Native Americans and the French and Indian War, 1754-1763.”
The abstract of Copeland’s article reads: “In 1754, the American colonies faced a threat to their existence as French invaders and their Native American allies mounted a series of attacks on British American settlements. News of these attacks and the war that was known as the French and Indian War became vital to Americans, and newspapers covered these events in a depth never before required of printers, creating what one media historian has called ‘the great running story of the era.’ Central to news of the war was information about Native Americans. This study looks at eh extensive coverage of the role Native Americans played in the war as both allies of sovereign nations and as enemies of the colonies. It also explores the changing nature of newspapers in America.”
Copeland is also editing a 15-volume series titled “Media and War” for Greenwood Press. The volumes will cover all wars from the French and Indian War through the War on Terrorism. The books will all be released at the same time, in 2005. Brad Hamm, associate dean of communications, is writing a volume about World War II in the Asian Theatre, while Brooke Barnett, assistant professor of communications, is writing the volume about the War on Terrorism.