Communication Studies & Journalism

The ACA is a not-for-profit virtual professional association with actual presence in the world of communication scholars and practitioners.

ACA is committed to enabling the effective use of new and evolving technologies to facilitate communication instruction, research and criticism, and to offering a technologically supportive venue for all who study the ways in which humans communicate. While the Association is based in the United States, it is a virtual organization that welcomes participation from academics and professionals throughout the world.

We support local and community-based media through research, programs and products that foster healthy, responsive and resilient news organizations.

At ASMP we believe:
- Creators have the right to own their work, and we will fight for that right.
- We are stronger together.
- Images are a vital form of communication and visual literacy is invaluable to our entire culture.
- Successful creatives are successful entrepreneurs.
- The art and business of photography changes constantly, and we will evolve with it.
ASMP is guided by these values. Our core mission is to advocate, educate, and provide community for image makers — fostering thriving careers, a strong sense of professional ethics, and an unshakable belief in the power of images.
Creativity is your passion and your livelihood — and ASMP and its membership will stand beside you to help you live your best creative life.

The Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) is a 501c(6) organization representing nearly 100 news media organizations throughout North America. AAN member publications reach millions of educated and influential adults in print and digitally. AAN provides services and leadership that ensure its members’ success and strengthen narrative, investigative and community journalism through advocacy and education. AAN focuses on accelerating member success through various initiatives, always with an eye toward excellent journalism and community engagement. AAN is a big tent with a wide variety of publishers, but all share these attributes:
- An intense focus on local news, culture and the arts.
- An emphasis on point-of-view reporting and narrative journalism.
- A tolerance for individual freedoms and social differences.
- An eagerness to report on issues and communities that many mainstream media outlets ignore.
AAN members speak truth to power.

ACP advances journalism and media as a vital cultural force by connecting advisers, students and professionals through national events and competitions and by creating and curating content that:
- enhances professional development.
- defines global standards and ethical practices.
- inspires journalism and media students and the public.
- establishes criteria for journalism education that meet the needs of the profession.
- makes powerful tools and resources available and accessible.
- celebrates and enhances the value of journalism.

Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) is a national organization that strives to improve professional standards for sports departments of professional news organizations and to recognize professional excellence among its membership.

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit, educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students and media professionals. The Association’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to cultivate 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 communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice and a better informed public.

The Center for Investigative Reporting empowers the public through investigative journalism and groundbreaking storytelling in order to spark action, improve lives, and protect our democracy. Our mission is to tell stories that hold the powerful accountable and uncover information that would otherwise remain hidden from the public—revealing injustices, exposing threats to public safety, championing human rights, speaking out against environmental degradation, and shining light on fraud and waste of taxpayer funds.

ICA aims to advance the scholarly study of communication by encouraging and facilitating excellence in academic research worldwide. ICA began more than 50 years ago as a small association of U.S. researchers and is now a truly international association with more than 5,000 members in over 80 countries. Since 2003, ICA has been officially associated with the United Nations as a non-governmental association (NGO).

Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting. IRE was formed to create a forum in which journalists throughout the world could help each other by sharing story ideas, newsgathering techniques and news sources.

IRE provides members access to thousands of reporting tipsheets and other materials through its Resource Center and hosts conferences and specialized training across the country. Programs of IRE include the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR), a collaboration between IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism.

The National Communication Association advances Communication as the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media, and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic inquiry.

The National Press Photographers Association is dedicated to the advancement of visual journalism – its creation, practice, training, editing and distribution – in all news media and works to promote its role as a vital public service.

The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation’s most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry through the daily work of its roughly 6,000 members; works to inspire and educate current and future journalists through professional development; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press through its advocacy efforts.