June, 22-23, 2023

Bucharest, Romania (Virtual and in-person sessions)

Deadline: April 23, 2023

Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies, University of Bucharest

The Institute for International Journalism of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University Yuriy Fed'kovych Chernivtsi National University of Ukraine

The International Conference

Communication in times of (poly)crisis and digital disruptive transformations

The current context in Europe and around the world seems to be marked by a sense of perpetual, although uneven and differently experienced, crisis and uncertainty. On the background of (post)Covid pandemic situation, issues that have been put on hold - climate change, food insecurity, population aging and migration, to name just a few - are reappearing, with a greater force, powered by the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and growing inequalities. These difficult challenges have triggered populist discourses, favor nationalism and extremism, mainly because the digital informational ecosystem favors the simplicity and emotionality of those responses.

In these boisterous times, trustworthy communication is essential; the high capacity of conspiracy theories to go viral, the threat of exposure to contradictory information and fake-news/disinformation might contribute to making people more vulnerable and confused and also might persuade them to accept and to disseminate ideologically-driven content and polarized information.

The purpose of this conference is to consider the state of digital informational ecosystem and communications research in the times of (poly)crisis and uncertainty. The conference theme focuses on the intersection between the role of quality press, traditional journalism, political/public communication and digital technologies, all understood as potential enhancers of democracy, yet vulnerable when under attack.

We invite participants to submit theoretical and empirical proposals that might contribute to a critical discussion on the reconfiguration of journalistic and political/public communication practices in a hybridized and polarized networked media environment.

·         How can the emerging disruptive forms of communication and information be meaningfully delineated?

·         How do strategies and tactics change in relation to the construction of (alternative) agendas, claims and politics?

·         How do journalists engage in (re)enforcing public confidence and accountability?

·         How has the proliferation of digital populism, misinformation and disinformation/fake news transformed political communication? 

We are interested in papers on the following topics:

@ Disinformation and misinformation in media and political/public communication;

@the vulnerability of audiences in major crisis situations – the impact of gender, social class, age and other identity categories;

@ Ethical and moral dilemmas of using Artificial Intelligence in public communication;

@hate speech in digital informational ecosystem;

@ digital communications and the re-actualization of populism and nationalism;

@ Conceptual and methodological challenges of studying journalists’ roles in a digital environment;

@ communication role in citizen sciences and participatory transformation of research;

@ Marcom and creative industries strategies;

@data-driven propaganda strategies and conspiracy theories;

@ work, gender and new technologies;

@organizational communication (in time of crisis), communication campaigns, types of activism and political movements in digital informational ecosystem;

@ communication of climate change and adaptation; politics of climate;

@ (higher) education in digital informational ecosystem.

Special Panel: Exploring (dis)continuities in work, gender and technology

The session seeks research that employs work-centered perspectives alongside a gender or intersectional lens to examine the current context, marked by (poly)crisis and technological disruptions. Traditionally, the media field has privileged the symbolic as an object of inquiry, but as digital technologies have become ubiquitous, it has manifested a growing, trans-disciplinary concern with understanding how the means of communication shape material life, not only how they represent it. With the rise of the platform economy, and the increasing proportion of knowledge workers who depend on communication to carry out their tasks, the media field is turning its gaze towards work-related matters. We want to contribute to this turn by exploring the (dis)continuities that digital technologies create between work, home and leisure time, while keeping in mind that the impact will differ across identities. Gender remains a core organizing principle in our society, but we acknowledge that it is influenced and often becomes less prominent in relation to other identity categories, namely, social class, age, race/ ethnicity, educational background, occupational status, job type, bodily and cognitive abilities, non-normative sexualities, and nationality. We welcome with equal interest submissions that belong to the media field and to other disciplines, both empirical and theoretical approaches connected to the following areas:

·      Work in communication industries

·      Knowledge workers and communication practices

·      Technology and paid/unpaid labor in the platform economy

·      Work and intersectional (digital) inequalities 

·      Designing technology and policy for digital wellbeing

Practical information

The abstract (300 words) will contain author’s/authors’ details, the study’s purpose, research questions, employed methodology or approach, (potential) results, including references (please, use the template attached below).

The submission languages are Romanian and English. The time allocated to each presentation will be 15-20 minutes, and it can be delivered online/virtual and face to face (the corresponding author is expected to express this choice when submitting the abstract). The deadline for abstract submission is April, 23, 2022, at the address: conference@fjsc.ro

 NO participation fees.

If you have further questions, please contact the organizers at the address: conference@fjsc.ro

Scientific Committee

Jatin Srivastava, PhD, Full Professor, Ohio University, USA

Natalia Nechaieva Yuriichuk, PhD, Associate Professor, Yuriy Fed'kovych Chernivtsi National University

Marian Petcu, PhD, Full Professor, University of Bucharest, Romania

Antonio Momoc, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Bucharest, Romania

Camelia Beciu, PhD, Full Professor, University of Bucharest, Romania

Camelia Cmeciu, PhD, Full Professor, University of Bucharest, Romania

Georgeta Drulă, PhD, Full Professor, University of Bucharest, Romania

Adriana Ștefănel, PhD, Lecturer, University of Bucharest, Romania

Pierre Morelli, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Lorraine, France

Dana Popescu-Jourdy, PhD, Associate Professor, Université Lyon 2 Louis Lumière, France

Delia Cristina Balaban, PhD, Full Professor, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Nataša Simeunović Bajić, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Niš, Serbia

Gheorghe-Ilie Fârte, PhD, Associate Professor, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi, Romania

Elena Prus, PhD, Full Professor, Universitatea Liberă Internațională din Moldova, Chișinău, Republica Moldova

Florin Ardelean, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Oradea, Romania

Irina Diana Mădroane, PhD, Associate Professor, West University of Timișoara, Romania

Organising Committee

Antonio Momoc, Dean - FJSC, PhD, Associate professor, University of Bucharest

Romina Surugiu, Vice Dean - FJSC, PhD, Associate professor, University of Bucharest

Jatin Srivastava, PhD, Full Professor, Ohio University, Institute for International Journalism (IIJ)

Nicoleta Apostol, PhD, Lecturer, University of Bucharest

Alexandra Bardan, PhD, Lecturer, University of Bucharest

Доц. др Наташа Симеуновић Бајић

Филозофски факултет Универзитета у Нишу

Doc. dr Nataša Simeunović Bajić, Filozofski fakultet Univerziteta u Nišu