I know it goes without saying, but I’m going to say it. If you are serious about the study of Mass Communication and I sincerely hope you are… You should try to stay abreast of happenings in our field. Yes, you should! Not only is it great fodder for class and paper ideas but it’s damn fascinating too. Here are a few resources to help you do just that:

AEJMC (Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication)

• AEJMC – Yes, the conferences are a bunch of professors drinking copious amounts of alcohol and yelling at each other about the merits (or lack thereof) of Agenda Setting but it also publishes JMCQ (Journalism & Mass Comm Quarterly).Which, for the $40 or so a year membership you get all the publications out of there. The last two journals are in line for my summer reading.
• Definitely worth your time to follow them on Twitter.
• Fan them on Facebook.

There is the very basic 101 course on keeping your ear to the ground. Feel free to share any other ideas or good pubs in the comments! -g.d.