Radio, Audio Media, and Podcasting Scholarly Interest Group (Founded 2012)

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I. Mission

The primary mission of the Radio, Audio Media, and Podcasting Scholarly Interest Group (RAMP) is to increase the profile of radio and audio media studies within the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) and to help make the SCMS conference and Journal of Cinema and Media Studies (JCMS) more welcoming venues for scholarly work on radio, podcasting, and other forms of audio media. We envision bringing together an interdisciplinary and international community of scholars with interests in radio, audio media, and podcasting to reflect the full range of technologies and platforms that constitute audio media histories and futures today. In 2022, members voted to change our name from “Radio Studies” to “Radio, Audio Media, and Podcasting” in order to more explicitly reflect the range of audio media scholarship within the SCMS research community. The use of radio, radio studies, podcasting, and podcast studies below reflects our broad understanding of audio media; which includes (but is not limited to) radio, podcasts, and their institutions, techniques, and practices.

The specific purposes of the Radio Studies Scholarly Interest Group are:

to promote radio and podcast studies, both historical and contemporary, within the discipline of media studies generally
to promote scholarship specifically concerning radio and podcasting within SCMS, including conversations among scholars doing audio media studies work in other areas to increase the visibility of SCMS within the international community of radio and podcast scholars
to increase the participation of that community in SCMS, including those who do not currently think of SCMS and Journal of Cinema and Media Studies as good venues for their scholarship
to support scholarship on historical and contemporary audio media
to support the teaching of audio media in media and media-history classes, including the curation of resources for radio and podcast studies curricula through the SCMS website
to establish alliances with other networks of radio and podcast scholars where appropriate

II. Bylaws

The members of the Radio, Audio Media, and Podcasting Scholarly Interest Group (SIG, hereafter) shall be members in good standing of SCMS.
Two members from the Group shall serve as Co-Chairs for terms of three years each. If the terms become synced up due to extenuating circumstances, the co-chairs must then adjust their term lengths to re-stagger them, with the majority approval of the executive committee. All subsequent terms will be for three years.
The Co-Chairs shall submit a request every year to the Program Committee of the SCMS conference for a time and space to meet, as well as funding to support relevant programming (in response to the annual call made by the Committee to SIGs). Additional tasks carried out by the Co-Chairs include: organizing the annual SIG meeting, maintaining names and emails of members, maintaining and growing the SIG’s membership through outreach activities, convening regular meetings of the executive committee, organizing social and/or special events at the annual conference (as necessary), and/or organizing travel and/or conference support for members (as necessary). The Co-Chairs will also be responsible for informing the Secretary and Graduate Representative executive members about the roles and activities of the Co-Chairs so that they will be well-positioned to become a Co-Chair if they wish to do so and are elected to do so.
One member in the position of Secretary will be elected for a three year term to work alongside the Co-Chairs. The Secretary will have a reduced role in the executive but will specifically take on the tasks of notetaking during annual meetings and working with the Co-Chairs to help record and maintain membership lists and contact information. After the three year term, the Secretary member will be well-positioned to become a Co-Chair when a position opens up and if they wish to do so and are elected to do so.
The SIG executive committee also includes a Graduate Representative position. This member will be elected for a two year term to work alongside the Co-Chairs and Secretary but will focus primarily on issues and events related to graduate student members. After the two year term, the Graduate Representative member will be well-positioned to become a Co-Chair when a position opens up and if they wish to do so and are elected to do so.
At all meetings of the Group, ten members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The vote of the majority of members present at a meeting at which a quorum is present constitutes the action of the Group.
When issues are submitted to the members of the Group for vote via email, the members shall have seven business days to respond. The subject line of the e-mail shall contain the word "vote” to alert the members to act.
Action on behalf of the Group may be taken without a meeting if a majority of the members of the Group provide consent by writing or by e-mail. The written consents shall be filed with the minutes of the next meeting.

These bylaws were ratified by member vote in January 2024.

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