Deadline: March 15, 2026

We invite abstracts for the forthcoming Handbook of Independent Journalism, deadline March 15th.

Independent journalism is considered an important pillar of democratic societies, enabling citizens to make informed decisions, creating trust in quality information, and the role of journalists as watchdogs of society. Independence is often considered a pre-requisite for good quality news and watchdog journalism and has been described as free from control or influence. Despite being an omni-present normative standard, independent journalism often appears in academic works as a buzzword, implicit assumption or underlying belief system. This handbook brings together work which examines the conditions, functions, perceptions, delimitations and challenges surrounding independent journalism as a concept, practice, standard, organizational form and discourse. Through this work we want to emphasize independent journalism as a field of study and highlight existing and emerging scholarship.

This handbook brings together scholarly work on independent journalism at a time when its survival is threatened globally and its future uncertain. Various international agencies and national advocacy groups, including the UN, EU, and OSCE and Journalistic Unions, have called for independent journalism to be supported. At this time, substantial and systematic scholarly work is needed to accompany these calls, with concrete insights into the value of and threats to independent journalism for societies around the world. We call for submissions of chapter proposals (250 -350 words) including, but not limited to the following areas:

• Independent journalism as field of study
  
• Theories and concepts in the study of independent journalism
  
• Practices and strategies of independent journalism
  
• Independent journalists, work conditions, typologies, training
  
• Challenges, delimitations, attacks
  
• Independent journalism and discourses
  
• Drivers and support systems of independent journalism
  
• Different approaches to studying independent journalism
  
• International perspectives on independent journalism
  

Deadline Abstracts: March 15th 2026 (250-350 words) Please submit abstracts to this form.

Deadline Chapter submission: November 2026 (5000 words)

Editors:

Sarah Anne Ganter (Simon Fraser University)

Musawenkosi Ndlovu (University of Cape Town)

Sisanda Nkoala (University of the Western Cape)

Beth Pearson (City St George’s University of London)