The Broadcast Education Association (BEA) is an international

academic organization Academic institution is an educational institution dedicated to education and research, which grants academic degrees. See also academy and university. Types * Primary schools – (from French ''école primaire'') institutions where children ...

originating and operating mainly out of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The BEA is devoted to

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

research and teaching, and retains the historical purpose to prepare college students interested in

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

and electronic

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...

for careers in radio and television. According to its website, the BEA slogan is “Educating for Tomorrow’s Media.”

Members

The BEA consist of associate, institutional, individual, and student members. Associate members include;

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

stations,

academic research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

organizations, telephone and cable companies,

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s, and PR organizations, media manufacturers, and

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

s. Institutional members include colleges and universities with

electronic media Electronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical means for the audience to access the content. This is in contrast to static media (mainly print media), which today are most often created digitally, but do not require el ...

programs. Individual members consist of professors and educators interested in multimedia pursuits. Student members consist of undergraduate and graduate students interested in multimedia.

Research

The BEA hosts an annual convention with a research conference containing eighteen interest divisions, ranging from cultural perspectives (history, gender and sexuality, and law and policy, religion, etc.) to media production, aesthetics, and curriculum. Additionally, the BEA produces two peer-reviewed print research journals, ''The Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media'' and ''Journal of Radio and Audio Media'', as well as one editor-reviewed online journal on the topic of media pedagogy, ''Journal of Media Education''. Both print research journals have acceptance rates below 20%, while the annual convention typically maintains acceptance rates of 40%-70%.

History

UAPRE

A broadcasting association in the United States, BEA underwent several name changes in the developmental years of the association. Initially organized in 1948, the small University Association for Professional Radio Education (UAPRE) almost ceased to exist because of a lack of organization leading to a lack of specific activities and goals.

APBE

The group reorganized in 1956 as the Association for Professional Broadcasting Education (APBE). At this point, the organization’s purpose was to combine broadcasters and educators through an affiliation with the

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a trade association and lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States. The NAB represents more than ...

(NAB). In doing so, the APBE was working towards the goal of good career and

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

education in

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

. APBE began publishing Journal of Broadcasting, the quarterly

scholarly journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

, in the winter of 1956, and the ''Journal of Radio Studies'' (). In 1974, APBE changed its name to the Broadcast Education Association (BEA).

References

External links

Broadcast Education Association records
at the University of Maryland Libraries. {{Authority control Telecommunications educators