Special Issue of the Media Studies Journal (Medijske studije) 

Deadline: October 5, 2020

Guest editors:

• Domagoj Bebić, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Political Sciences, Croatia
• Dina Vozab, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Political Sciences, Croatia
• Oscar Luengo, University of Granada, Spain

Timeline:

• Submission Full Papers: 5th October 2020
• Peer Review and Revisions: 15th October – 10th December 2020
• Publication: December 2020 / January 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic crisis deeply influenced the relationship between media and politics. Slowing down of economic activity amid lockdowns and physical distancing influenced revenue and sustainability of media organizations and patterns of media consumption. Some preliminary research found that the crisis prompted higher trust in government and inclination to vote for the ruling party or president (Blais et al., 2020). Most of the parliamentary and presidential elections have been postponed in 2020. However, some have been held amid the 2020 pandemic (parliamentary elections in Croatia and Serbia, presidential election in Poland).This special issue invites authors to contribute to understanding elections that are taking place in an increasingly unstable political environment, characterized by hybrid media systems (Chadwick, 2017) and data driven communication (Kreiss and McGregor, 2018).

We invite papers that address mediatization of elections, relationship between journalism and politics, characteristics of media messages, frames and discourses, agenda-setting, characteristics of political campaign and communication strategies, the rise of new platforms (TikTok, Snapchat etc.), algorithmic selection and automatization, media effects, audiences and voters’ behavior. We encourage papers that derive from media sociology, critical paradigm and political economy of media and communication.

Call is also open to papers that are not necessarily related to elections but tackle some of the following topics:

• The rise of data driven communication
• “Social editors” and (dis)information on social media
• Artificially generated content and how it affects democracy
• Microtargeting and personalization of content in journalism and political communication
• AI and how it changes media industry.

There are no fees or any other payment for authors required in the publication process. All papers should be submitted through OJS https://hrcak.srce.hr/…ons.

For all other information please contact Dina Vozab (dina.vozab@fpzg.hr), Stela Lechpammer (stela.lechpammer@fpzg.hr) or Marijana Grbeša Zenzerović (ms@fpzg.hr).

For more information about journal and author guidelines please visit https://www.mediastudies.fpzg.hr/