The organizers call for proposals in all sub-fields of political communication research, but particularly invite conceptual, empirical, and methodological proposals on new challenges and trends in media, politics and society that we are witnessing at the moment. We not only see the emergence of new forms and modes of political communication but also a crisis of political institutions in and across countries. Public debate has become more polarized, populist parties are on the rise, as are media skepticism and uncivil comments on social media, and new trends such as fake news have become a widespread matter of public concern in no time. What are the answers that political communication research can provide to make sense of these new trends and challenges? Do we need new methods and new approaches to answer new questions, and which are these – or how much (dis)continuity is there really in the developments we are witnessing at the moment? In which respects does the current situation differ from former crises, and which similarities can be found with former crises that might help to identify solution possibilities? Submissions should be sent to conference.zurich@gmail.com no later than 10 March 2017.

Contact: Frank Esser (local organizer, frank.esser@uzh.ch), Andreas Schuck (section chair, a.r.t.schuck@uva.nl)

Call for papers / Website: https://ecreapoliticalcommunication.wordpress.com/