News

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Fausto Colombo, a key figure in European media studies, for a long time actively involved in ECREA, both as a board member and as a lecturer and organizer of the ECREA Doctoral Summer School. 

The news of Fausto Colombo's passing after an intense battle with illness leaves in shock the many students and mentees who had the privilege of having him as a mentor during their formative years and beyond, as well as the numerous friends and colleagues across so many countries with whom he maintained a profound intellectual exchange. 

Fausto Colombo graduated in Philosophy in 1978 from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, where he pursued his entire academic career and became a full professor in 2003, in the Faculty of Political Science, where he served as the Coordinator of the degree program Communication and Society. He was also Director of the Department of Communication from 2013 to 2024, and until 2012 Director of OssCom - Research Centre on Media and Communication, that he founded in 1994. In 2015, he held the UNESCO Chair in International Communication at Université Stendhal in Grenoble, and was elected member of the Academia Europaea in 2016, where he served in the section committee for Film, Media and Visual Studies in its early days, and helped to establish media and communication research as a natural part of European sciences. 

With his intellectual contribution and organizational generosity, Fausto Colombo played a pivotal role in the development of media studies, first in Italy and later across Europe. In the Italian context, he was a key figure in the transition from the semiotic-philosophical approaches typical of the Italian school up until the 1990s to approaches increasingly informed by political and sociological sensitivities. At the same time, he actively contributed to breaking the insularity of Italian academia, fostering its engagement with international scholarly debates. This commitment is also reflected in his many years of involvement with ECREA, both at an organizational level and as a lecturer and later local organizer of the ECREA Doctoral Summer School. 

His main research interests included the study of cultural industries, popular culture, and the relationship between media and generations. His intellectual curiosity, clarity in perceiving emerging trends, and sharp analytical skills in interpreting them as part of broader processes made his contribution essential to the entire field of media studies. Fausto Colombo never viewed intellectual work as an end in itself, but as part of a broader civic and political commitment—never partisan, yet always keenly aware of both the opportunities and the risks posed by the transformations in media and communication phenomena for our democracies and communities. He taught his students and mentees to avoid both the temptation of abstract, self-referential theorization and the pitfalls of sterile empiricism.

Fausto Colombo's legacy also lies in his vision of intellectual work and academic production as profoundly human and inherently relational endeavours, resisting the fragmenting and individualizing pressures of neoliberal academia: his attentiveness to others as individuals and his dedication to building deep, close relationships with colleagues and collaborators were, for him, the very foundation of collective intellectual production. Active until the very end in dialogue and collaboration with colleagues and students, he leaves an unfillable void but also a precious example of a human and intellectual approach to media studies.

June 12-16, 2024

Denver, Colorado (USA)

Call for Abstracts – ECREA panel at ICA conference 2025

International Communication Association

ICA@75: Disrupting and Consolidating Communication Research

Addressing ICA’s 75th anniversary, the 2025 conference theme is an invitation to critically reflect on communication studies as a discipline and ICA as an agent and site of disciplinary development. Theme sessions will take stock of our past, critically review present developments, and chart out future avenues for communication research. We particularly welcome contributions speaking to three important aspects of the theme: communication scholarship as a transformative and stabilizing force in society, as a research practice that can be both revolutionary and consolidating, and communication studies as a disrupted and resilient discipline. In all these contexts, elements of disruption and consolidation are not necessarily antithetical but may productively be framed as a dialectical relationship. More information: ICA 2025 - Theme - International Communication Association.

ECREA will host one panel at ICA 2025 and invites high quality submissions of panel proposals that are focused on timely and innovative topics and are diverse in terms of methodologies, theoretical standpoints and/or nationalities of the presenters. As ECREA’s mission is advancing European scholarship, we especially encourage panel proposals which include a European perspective and a comparative research focus. This call for panel proposals is open to ECREA members of all ECREA sections and to all topics.

Please note the following information:

Panel submissions. Panels provide a good forum for the discussion of new approaches, ongoing developments, innovative ideas, and debates in the field.  If you plan to submit a panel, please submit the following details: (a) Panel theme or title, (b) a 75-word description of the panel for the conference program, (c) a 400-word rationale, providing justification for the panel and the participating panelists, (d) 75-word abstract of each paper, (e) names of panel participants (usually 4-5 presenters, plus an optional designated respondent), and (f) name of panel chair/organizer. In terms of diversity, we expect a strong panel proposal to (a) include contributions of at least two different countries, (b) feature gender balance, and, ideally, (c) include not more than one contribution from a single faculty, department or school. Panel proposals need to be original and may not have been submitted to ICA before or at the same time. Panels consisting of personal on-site presentations are given priority. Please indicate in your submission if your panel consists of on-site presentations only or not. Accepted panel presentations do not count towards the max. allowed individual paper presentations at the ICA conference.

Registering panelists. All panelists must be ECREA members by the time the conference takes place and agree in advance of submission to participate as panel presenters and to register for the ICA conference. ICA provides a registration waiver only for the panel convener, not for the other panelists. Also ECREA does not cover any travel expenses.

How to submit?

Email to: info@ecrea.eu

Submission deadline (EXTENDED) is 17th of January 2025, 23:59 CET

In case of questions please contact: info@ecrea.eu

ECREA-ICA Conference Review Committee:

• Indrek Ibrus (Tallinn University)
  
• Dina Vozab (University of Zagreb)
  
• Malgorzata Winiarska-Brodowska (Jagiellonian University)
  

We are happy to inform you that the new management team of Mediatization section has been elected:

• Katalin FEHER - Co-Chair
  
• Tomasz GACKOWSKI - Co-Chair
  
• Bieke ZAMAN - Vice Chair
  
• Marlena SZTYBER-POPKO - Vice Chair
  
• Xiaoxian WANG - Vice Chair
  
• Priscilla Van EVEN - Vice Chair

• Ma ZHUORAN - Communication Officer
  

The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)

Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet

Singapore, 13-17 July 2025

The 2025 IAMCR Conference in Singapore centres on the theme "Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet", which explores the critical intersection of communication, environmental challenges, and social equity. Set against the backdrop of Singapore's unique position as a multicultural city-state vulnerable to climate change, the conference aims to amplify diverse perspectives on environmental communication. The theme underscores the urgent need for inclusive dialogue that addresses environmental crises, social inequalities, and the complex interactions between human communities and ecological systems. More information: https://iamcr.org/singapore2025

ECREA's panel seeks to extend and enrich this global conversation through a distinctly European lens. We encourage panels that bring innovative European scholarly perspectives to the global dialogue on environmental communication, emphasizing diverse voices and collaborative approaches to understanding our planetary challenges.

Panel Submission Guidelines:

We welcome panel proposals that:

• Explore European perspectives on environmental communication
  
• Critically engage with intersections of environmental justice, media, and communication 
• Offer comparative research approaches to understanding environmental challenges
  

However, not all submissions have to address the central theme. See the calls for proposals of individual sections and working groups for additional information about their themes.

Panel Composition Requirements - A strong panel proposal must:

• Include participants from at least two different countries
  
• Demonstrate EDI-Equity, diversity, inclusion
• Ideally feature no more than one contribution from a single faculty, department, or research institution
• Provide original research, not previously submitted to IAMCR
  

Submission Details - Please provide the following for your panel proposal: (a) Panel theme or title (b) Comprehensive panel description (max. 500 words) (c) For each participant:

• Full name

• Institutional affiliation

• Email address

• Proposed paper title

• Brief (up to 75 words) paper description

Practical Information

• Registering panelists. All panelists must be ECREA members by the time the conference takes place and agree in advance of submission to participate as panel presenters and to register for the IAMCR conference.
• Panelists must commit to on-site presentation in Singapore
• Panel presentations do not count towards individual paper presentation limits
• IAMCR provides a registration waiver only for the panel convener, not for the other panelists. Also ECREA does not cover any travel expenses. 

Submission Process

• Email complete proposal to: info@ecrea.eu
• Submission deadline: 12 March 2025, 23:59 CET
• Subject line: IAMCR 2025 ECREA Panel Proposal
• In case of questions please contact: info@ecrea.eu

ECREA-IAMCR Conference Review Committee:

• Indrek Ibrus (Tallinn University)
  
• Dina Vozab (University of Zagreb)
  
• Malgorzata Winiarska-Brodowska (Jagiellonian University)
  

Want to see what has been written in the Digest in previous years? Browse the newly created ECREA Weekly Digest Archive. The Digest has been published since 2019 and is subscribed to by more than 1,100 ECREA non-members in addition to ECREA members.

Check the archive HERE.

ECREA stands in solidarity with Georgia’s academic community in the face of increasing state violence against citizens, journalists, students, researchers and professors. The Georgian government’s actions—including detaining students advocating for democracy, repressing peaceful protests, and undermining university autonomy—are an unacceptable assault on academic freedom. We urge the Georgian government to respect the rights of students and academics, and we affirm our commitment to supporting Georgian scholars in their fight for justice and freedom.

ECREA Public Statement Committee

We are happy to invite you to participate in the ECREA Summer School  4 – 10 August at Södertörn University, Sweden.

The application deadline is 14 February, 2025, 23.59 CET.

The ECREA European Media and Communication Doctoral Summer School is an opportunity for European doctoral students to present and develop their ongoing PhD projects and build valuable networks. It brings together members of the European research community to explore contemporary issues within media and communication studies within a supportive social setting. Our main aim is to provide you with support, insights, and guidance through a variety of activities, including individual feedback seminars with leading media and communication scholars.

Doctoral students with limited economic means can apply for an ECREA grant to cover the participation fee and travel expenses.

Full call can be found HERE.

ECREA decided to establish Task force for reviewing organisational structure of ECREA. The goal of this Task force will be to consult with the ECREA entities (their management teams) about the possible future structure of our association that would enable maintaining unity, continuity as well as innovation and flexiblity at the same time. 

If you are interested in joining the Task Force, please send your expression of interest to info@ecrea.eu by December 10, 2025.

We are happy to inform you that there is a team applying for the new Mediatization Section management team:

• Katalin FEHER - Co-Chair
• Tomasz GACKOWSKI - Co-Chair
• Bieke ZAMAN - Vice Chair
• Marlena SZTYBER-POPKO - Vice Chair
• Xiaoxian WANG - Vice Chair
• Priscilla Van EVEN - Vice Chair
• Ma ZHUORAN - Communication Officer

You can check their CVs and statements here: S/N/TWG additional election.

The election will take place online between January 6-10, 2025. Members of the Section will receive the link with all the instructions before the election.

As approved by General Assembly in June 2024, the membership fees will change from the beginning of the 2025. See the new structure of the fees here (and see the list of "Low income" and "Middle income" countries here).

ECREA Governing Body (Executive Board) decided to offer to current members and to the new members a possibility of pre-payment of the 2025 membership with the current fees:

• All members can pre-pay the 2025 membership fee with the current (old) fee amount until 15 December 2024 (via the website or by contacting info@ecrea.eu).
  
• Members can also choose to pre-pay the 2025 or both 2025 and 2026 with the new fees anytime, availing of the two-year renewal option (by contacting info@ecrea.eu). *Please note the two-year renewal option is only possible with the new fee amount.*
  
• After 15 December 2024 (from 16 December 2024 on) members will be allowed to pre-pay/renew with the new fees only. They can also wait until they will be reminded by ECREA to renew in January / February 2025, and pay the new fees then.
  

If you have any questions or comments, please, get in touch with ECREA Admin at info@ecrea.eu.