INTRODUCTION TO THE IMAGE OF THE JOURNALIST IN POPULAR CULTURE (IJPC) DATABASE©

2008 EDITION
More than 67,190 entries

The Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture (IJPC)
a Project of the Norman Lear Center
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California

Updated: 7-2008

CLICK HERE FOR INTRODUCTION TO THE 2008 IJPC DATABASE

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OF THE 2008 IJPC DATABASE ON THE WEB

The Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture (IJPC) Database© 2008 Edition includes more than 67,190 items on journalists, public relations practitioners and media in:

•Films (18,800 movies, movies made for TV and miniseries)
•Television (25,100 items)
•Fiction (9,150 novels, 1,400 short stories, 470 plays and 200 poems)
•Radio (2,800 items)
•Cartoons, Comic Books & Comic Strips (5,400 items)
•Commercials (250 items)
•Non-Fiction (Documentaries, News, Sports - 3,050 items)
•Humor (690 items)
•Games (125 items)
•Art (30 items)
•Music (Songs-Compositions) (90 items)
•Early References (120 items)

The Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture (IJPC) Database© is an ever-growing source of information. New additions, acquisitions and revisions by Joe Saltzman, Director of the Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture, keep it constantly expanding. IJPC Associates receive the database via e-mail as a Filemaker attachment and CD. The IJPC Database is available only to IJPC Associates.

The IJPC Database includes print journalists (from large urban newspapers to small country weeklies, from magazines to the Internet, including editors, reporters, photojournalists, correspondents, columnists, publishers, newsboys), broadcast journalists (from networks to local stations including reporters, anchors, correspondents, producers, writers, technical personnel, news directors, station owners, network executives and management), public relations practitioners (from press agents to publicists), and the news media (anonymous reporters who show up in countless films and television movies ranging from press conferences to packs of reporters shouting questions or chasing after the main character to individual reporters asking questions).

The IJPC Database is Filemaker Database – all the files needed to operate the database are included on the CD for both PC and Macs. To use, simply download all the files for your computer, then click on the 2008 IJPC Database and you’re ready to go.

IMPORTANT TECHNICAL INFORMATION AND TIPS

IMPORTANT TIP: The IJPC Database 2008th edition will work much faster and more efficiently if you download it to your hard-drive and save the disc for other installations.
Loading the IJPC Database from the disc is a cumbersome and lengthy process. On some computers, it can take up to 10 minutes. If you download the database to your hard drive, the loading time should be less than 30 seconds.

The way to do it: Create a new folder (IJPC) on your hard-drive. Then drag the IJPC Database and all the other files (for PC or for Mac) on the disc to the new IJPC folder. You can then run the IJPC Database from your hard drive.

FileMaker Pro is the #1-selling easy-to-use database software for Windows and Mac OS that makes the data easily available to anyone.

You can sort each column of the database – by year, by title, by type, by author, by country (reference column), by occupation (comment column). You can search his column and the database will come up with a list for you that can either be transferred to another database or printed out.

The IJPC Database has the following structure:

CATEGORIES

YEAR – The year (sometimes approximate) the item was released. One source often differs with another so dates can vary widely. “1” indicates anything B.C. “9999” means no date has yet been established for that particular item. The database goes from 1 to 2008.

TITLE – The name of the item.

TYPE – Sub-groupings of all the items for easy access. The following legend is used:

A -- Art
C -- Cartoon (Animation)
CB -- Comic Books
CC -- Commercials
CS -- Comic Strips
D -- Non-Fiction Print and Internet, Miscellaneous (Documentary-News-Sports)
DF -- Non-Fiction - Non-English Speaking (Documentary-News-Sports)
DM -- Non-Fiction Films (Documentary-News-Sports)
DR -- Non-Fiction Radio (Documentary-News-Sports)
DT -- Non-Fiction Radio (Documentary-News-Sports)
ER -- Early References
G -- Games (Video, Board and Card Games)
H -- Humor (Jokes, Cartoons, Humor)
M -- Movies (the largest grouping)
MF -- Movies - Non-English Speaking
MS -- Movie Scripts
MT -- Movies Made for Television and Miniseries
MTF -- Movies Made for Television and Miniseries - Non-English Speaking
MUS -- Music (Songs - Compositions)
N -- Novels
NJ -- Novels – Juvenile
NM -- Novels – Mystery
NR -- Novels – Romance
NS -- Novels – Sports
NSF -- Novels – Science Fiction
NW -- Novels – Western
P -- Plays – Dramas
PO -- Poetry
R -- Radio
RS -- Radio Soap Operas
SM -- Short Stories – Mystery
SS -- Short Stories – General
SSF -- Short Stories – Science Fiction
SW -- Short Stories – Western
T -- Television (the second largest grouping)
TF -- Television - Non-English Speaking
TS -- Television Soap Operas
W -- Internet-Web Sites

FORMAT – For movies, radio and TV, it is the format on which the item is recorded (the tape format or the disc format with IJPC reference numbers). These tapes and discs are available from the IJPC at a nominal fee. With Novels and Short Stories, the format is listed as OWN (in collection) or COPY from various library sources (copies of the original were made for the IJPC Collection). If the format space is blank, it means the item is not yet in the IJPC Collection.

AUTHOR – Listing of writers.

REFERENCES – Primary references or miscellaneous information about the item, often a good source for information about the item or an important date. Country of origin is also included for international items.

COMMENTS – Used for listing occupation and major information about the entry. Each of the more than 67,100 entries began with the occupation or principal subject. Includes actors, characters and other information about the entry. A number of reference books can be used to supplement The IJPC Database comments. Richard R. Ness’ From Headline Hunter to Superman: A Journalism Filmography, neatly summarizes 2,100 films featuring media or journalists. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) is a comprehensive source for any film or TV program, although it is subject to the inevitable errors of such a large enterprise. Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh’s The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, 1946-Present offers excellent television program summaries. Frank Buxton and Owen Bill’s The Big Broadcast, 1920-1950 is a helpful guide for radio program summaries.

FEATURES

You can search the database by a name or a word – i.e., Clark Gable or Gossip Columnist or Pulitzer Prize or Journalist. The database will create a complete list for you from any specific word or phrase.

You can sort by ascending or descending order for any of the columns. You can reorganize the database by any of its seven columns. For example, by YEAR. Or by TITLE (A to Z). Or by TYPE (i.e., Movies or TV programs). Or by AUTHOR. Or by COUNTRY (Reference). Or by OCCUPATION (Comments). Or by FORMAT (to determine what is available and what isn’t available).

No matter how careful we are or how many times we go over the IJPC Database, any project of this size and scope will have errors in omission and commission. Please inform us of any errors you find and we will make the changes in The IJPC Database 2007 Edition. We appreciate your help.

Please e-mail saltzman@usc.edu or call 213-740-3918 if you have any questions or comments, or if you find any errors in the database (there are many typographical and content errors – please help us correct these errors or inconsistencies whenever you find one).