ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

April 7-10, 2026

University of Innsbruck, Austria

Deadline: December 3, 2025

at the ECPR Joint Sessions

The Workshop will examine how emerging digital platforms, practices, and policies help entrench authoritarianism, or exacerbate democratic backsliding, across the Global South and East — including Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America. It aims to map the transforming terrain of digital authoritarianism, from internet shutdowns and online censorship to surveillance, disinformation, and participatory propaganda.

Read more: https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/WorkshopDetails/16786

The Media Change & Innovation Division at the Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ) of the University of Zurich published 4 new representative survey reports from the World Internet Project – Switzerland 2025 (WIP-CH) last Thursday. 

The main take away: generative AI deepens the digital divide in Switzerland and is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. In addition to the short summary below, you can explore the executive summary of the findings (English/German), the full reports (German), and various infographics (English/German) at mediachange.ch/news/187.

Short summary:

AI deepens the digital divide between generations

Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. Most people in Switzerland are concerned about AI and the next generation of technology, but those who use AI regularly are more optimistic. While younger people spend more time online than they would like, older people and those with low digital literacy are falling behind. These are the latest findings from a representative long-term study by the University of Zurich.

In 2025, people in Switzerland spend an average of 5.7 hours online each day – three times more than in 2011 (1.8 hours) and two hours more than before the Covid pandemic in 2019 (3.6 hours). Among 20- to 29-year-olds, daily internet usage time reaches 8.4 hours. "For this age group, the internet has for the first time become more important than personal contacts – both for information and entertainment", says study leader Michael Latzer, Professor of Media Change & Innovation at the University of Zurich.

Social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram play a central role in the daily lives of young people (used by 95% of 20- to 29-year-olds), and their use is also increasing among older generations (58% among those aged 70+). The digitalization of everyday life is progressing rapidly: two out of three transactions are cashless, 39% of products are purchased online, and a third of work that can be done remotely is carried out from home.

Almost half of Switzerland uses generative AI regularly

Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, the share of the population that has used generative AI has risen sharply – from 37% in 2023 to 54% in 2024 and 73% in 2025. What began as one-time experimentation has turned into regular use: almost half of the people in Switzerland now use generative AI at least once a month (weekly: 21%, daily: 17%), and among 14- to 19-year-olds, the figure is as high as 84%. "Actual AI use is considerably higher, as AI is increasingly integrated into everyday services such as search engines and chatbots," says Latzer. 

Generative AI is most commonly used in education and work (53%), with two-thirds of 20- to 29-year-olds doing so. Three in ten 14- to 19-year-olds say they use AI to create content they were actually supposed to produce themselves. For regular users, AI has also become an important advisor in everyday decisions, for example, regarding finances and career choices (21% each). However, compared to traditional sources, the overall importance of generative AI and influencers remains low: when it comes to political decisions, only 7% consider AI-generated information important, compared to 27% who rely on classic internet sources.

Surveillance, loss of control, and job fears – a call for AI regulation

Despite widespread use, skepticism and concern about potential risks remain high: while a clear majority (71%) of regular users believe AI helps them complete tasks more efficiently, only one in three thinks it will improve life overall. Six in ten people in Switzerland fear increased surveillance, and one in three worries that generative AI could spiral out of control or lead to mass unemployment. Accordingly, the demand for regulation is strong: one in two calls for stricter rules on generative AI – significantly more than for the internet in general (36%).

Artificial General Intelligence" is coming – with negative consequences 

Almost half of Swiss internet users believe that generative AI will soon evolve into "Artificial General Intelligence" – a general-purpose application that surpasses humans in nearly all areas of life. More than half of them expect this to happen already within the next five years. Those who use AI regularly are more likely to believe in the emergence of such "Artificial General Intelligence". However, this belief is accompanied by growing concerns about consequences: 60% of the population and 49% of AI users expect "Artificial General Intelligence" to have mostly negative effects on humanity. In contrast, attitudes toward the internet remain far more positive: 60% believe it is good for society.

Skepticism toward cyborg technologies prevails

The next generation of technology combines internet-, bio-, and nanotechnologies with the aim of enhancing human abilities and overcoming biological limits – for example, through so-called cyborg products. While Silicon Valley has high hopes for such future technologies, the Swiss population remains skeptical: only one-fifth believes in their potential, rising to 30% among AI users. The majority, however, see mainly risks, such as new forms of cybercrime (78%), privacy violations (67%), and social inequality (64%).

AI fuels divides between young and old

Social divides in digitalization follow age and internet skills, reinforced by the use of AI. While 91% of 20- to 29-year-olds in Switzerland rate their internet skills as good to excellent, this applies to only 59% of those aged 70 and above. The difference is even more pronounced when it comes to generative AI: almost half of 14- to 19-year-olds feel comfortable using it, but only 20% of those aged 70 or older do. These differences are reflected in the sense of belonging to the information society. Only 34% of the population feel part of it, 25 percentage points less than in 2015. The sense of inclusion is particularly low among older people (19% among those 70+) and those with lower internet skills (14%), while 20- to 29-year-olds and people with high internet skills feel significantly more integrated (54% each).

While older people and those who do not use AI are falling behind, younger people and AI users are struggling with digital overconsumption. More and more people are spending more time online than they would like (38% vs. 2019: 24%). 82% of 14- to 19-year-olds and 58% of AI users want to reduce their usage time.

Authors: Michael Latzer, Noemi Festic, Céline Odermatt & Alena Birrer

October 20-23, 2026

Taipei, Taiwan

Deadline: February 28, 2026

https://iapmr.media/category/ripe/

The 13th biennial RIPE conference is sponsored by the Taiwan Public Television Service Foundation (PTS) and hosted by the School of Communication at National Chengchi University in Taipei. Our theme focuses on the politics and politicization of public service media (PSM). The organizers welcome proposals for papers analyzing how political forces, trends, processes, and influences affect PSM structures, operations, and performance. There is particular interest in challenges for maintaining independence and ensuring sustainability in a shifting policy and technological environment. RIPE@2026 will convene experts and scholars from around the world, especially including the Global South, in a collaboration to advance understandings that matter for theorization and practice.

Elaboration of the Theme

Many have observed that politics are an inevitable aspect of public service media policy with significant implications for practice. PSB was established partly on a political foundation in the early decades of 20th century, mainly in Europe, with a mission to serve people as citizens rather than consumers, to preserve and promote cultural diversity, to care about the interests of disadvantaged and minority groups, and above all to maintain an independent stance vis a vis both the state and market. Today, PSB has become PSM and is challenged by digitalization, platformization, international media companies, escalating costs for content rights, especially in sports, public value testing requirements, and uneven competitive performance. Promoting cultural diversity and encouraging tolerance across sociocultural aspects are under attack by far-right political movements. 

In the Asia-Pacific region, public broadcasting is navigating development challenges in a context of shifting geopolitical dynamics. Lacking European traditions, Taiwan PTS confronts unprecedented challenge to its budget, its international news role, the intended purposes of the Taiwanese Language Channel, and neo-colonialism dispute over some historical related programs. The Conservative party has been especially active in holding PSM accountable. The rise of commercialization and digitalization has been complicated and complex.

For the first time, the RIPE@2026 conference will focus attention on the politics of PSB/PSM, a critical area of contemporary discourse in a globally inclusive dialogue. The conference welcomes paper proposals relevant to six aspects of crucial importance that although distinct are interconnected. 

Topics of specified interest

1. Political Dynamics, Media Capture, and PSM Autonomy

The conference welcomes empirical and theoretical exploration of the complex and often fraught relationship between PSM and the political sphere. Topics of interest include but aren’t limited to:

• Critical examination of the diversity of political actors—including governments, political parties, and civil society organizations—and their interactions that affect PSM. 
  
• Research about negotiations, challenges, and the defense of PSM autonomy that clarify broader power dynamics related to threats of political interference and state capture. This matters greatly for safeguarding journalistic integrity and maintaining independence.
  
• Political challenges to funding and how PSM organisations are coping. 
  
• Governance and relations: legislative frameworks, appointments to governing and bodies and managerial roles, best practices in governance, and the nature of state interventions.
  
• Understanding how regional bodies like ASEA (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) contribute to or influence national media policy discussions.
  
• The role and practices of civil society organizations and public advocacy in both defending and challenging PSM independence.
  

2: Geopolitics, Global Power Shifts, and the Evolution of PSM

The conference welcomes papers that analyze overarching global trends, pressures, and influences that are shaping the establishment, funding, and developmental trajectories of PSM in countries around the world. Topics of interest include but aren’t limited to:

• Examination of the complex interplay of power and politics over time, especially illustrating how global forces transcend national borders to influence the domestic media landscape’s fundamental architecture.
  
• Legacies of colonial broadcasting and how they have been adapted or repurposed. This may relate to the geopolitical experience of decolonization and the Cold War that have influenced the establishment and subsequent evolution of PSB / PSM in newly independent states. 
  
• The role of international regulations, standards, and control over digital infrastructure (e.g., internet cables, satellite frequencies) for enabling and constraining PSM's ability to operate across borders.
  
• Case studies of the impacts of foreign aid, technical assistance, and ideological alignment from major powers that have shaped PSM infrastructure, training, and content priorities.
  

3. Policy-Making and Regulatory Regimes in a Shifting Media Environment

The conference welcomes papers investigating how media policies are formulated and implemented across varying political systems in time and space. Topics of interest include but aren’t limited to:

• Examination of media-government relations to understand how media institutions are conceptualized as partners in national development and operate under varying degrees of state control.
  
• Comparative analysis of public media policy frameworks across different countries and regions, especially in Asia and countries of the Global South.
  
• The role of various stakeholders in policy-making: governments, regulators, industry, civil society, and political parties.
  
• Challenges and trends in media regulation: content standards, market competition, and accountability in the digital environment.
  
• Technological convergence and its implications for traditional regulatory boundaries and PSM operational models.
  

4. PSM in the Digital Age: Navigating Disinformation and Platform Power

The conference welcomes papers focused on advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) that are fundamentally reshaping the public sphere, creating an “algorithmic era” where information flows, content curation, and public discourse are increasingly influenced by automated systems. Topics of interest include but aren’t limited to:

• Research on PSM’s proactive and reactive strategies for combating AI-empowered information manipulation.
  
• The political implications of algorithmic bias, transparency deficits, and content moderation practices (often driven by proprietary AI) for PSM impartiality, pluralism, and ability to foster informed public debate.
  
• Ethical frameworks, internal governance models, and professional standards for AI use within PSM organizations.
  
• Research on beneficial developments for PSM in harnessing AI. 
  
• Political implications of algorithmic curation and content moderation for PSM’s visibility and impartiality.
  
• Understanding how various nations, particularly those in the diverse and technologically advanced Global South and Indo-Pacific regions, grapple with these challenges and opportunities.
  

5. Trust, Neutrality, and Public Legitimacy: The Political Battleground

The conference welcomes papers on public trust, the perceived neutrality, and PSM legitimacy and effectiveness that are increasingly contested in politically polarized societies. Topics of interest include but aren’t limited to:

• Work on conceptualizing and achieving political neutrality and impartiality in diverse political contexts.
  
• Factors contributing to the erosion of public trust in PSM, including perceived political bias or capture.
  
• Factors accounting for higher trust in PSM news and information than media in the commercial sector where trust has remained strong or increased.
  
• The role of PSM in fostering media pluralism and providing diverse perspectives in fragmented information environments.
  
• Accountability mechanisms for PSM: transparency, public complaints, and independent oversight.
  
• Case studies of PSM navigating political attacks and efforts to delegitimize its public service mission.
  

6. Emerging Agendas: Sustainability, DEI, and the Future Mandate of PSM

The conference welcomes papers focused on how developments in sustainability goals (environmental, social, and economic) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies are increasingly integral to PSM contemporary mandates and challenged on ideological grounds. Topic of interest include but aren’t limited to:

• Integrating environmental and social sustainability goals into PSM operational practices and content strategies.
  
• DEI policies and practices in PSM: representation in content, workforce diversity, and inclusive governance.
  
• Political challenges to sustainability and DEI mandates.
  
• PSM’s role in fostering civic engagement and public discourse on climate change, social justice, and other issues of critical importance, especially for countries in the Global South.
  
• Future proofing PSM: adapting mandates to address emerging and evolving societal needs to maintain both political and popular support. 

Submission Requirements

Abstracts for RIPE conferences are submitted through the RIPE Ex Ordo Platform. Each submission should include two parts: 

A title page listing the working title, author name(s), job title(s), organizational affiliation(s) with location, and the corresponding author’s email address; and

A main document containing the working title, an abstract of no more than 600 words, two relevant conference themes, and up to six keywords.

To ensure an impartial review process, please do not include any identifying information (such as names or affiliations) in the main document. All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review conducted by the conference’s scientific committee.

The deadline for abstract submissions is 28 February 2026. Review decisions will be finalized in March, and notifications of acceptance will be sent on 1 April 2026. Accepted authors are expected to submit their full papers by 1 August 2026.

The conference website will be launched in the beginning of December 2025, and the link to RIPE Ex Ordo Platform for submitting the abstracts will announce same here in January 2026. 

Selection Criteria

Submissions will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Relevance: The abstract’s alignment with the overall conference theme and its fit within one or more of the six designated themes.
  
• Scholarly Quality: For empirical studies, the soundness of the theoretical framework and methodological rigor; for conceptual papers, the originality and significance of the concepts and arguments presented.
  
• Practical Contribution: The extent to which the paper offers implications or insights for public service media (PSM) practice.
  
• Presentation Quality: The overall clarity, coherence, and quality of the abstract.
  
• Diversity of Perspective: Special consideration will be given to papers addressing PSM issues in the Global South.
  

Approximately 60 papers will be selected for presentation at the conference. The conference language is English.

Registration and Fees

Conference registration website will open in April 2026, including the information of participation fees. Please note that RIPE does not provide financial support for personal travel expenses, except for invited keynote speakers. The conference registration fee will include two dinners (welcome reception and gala dinner), 3-day lunches, coffee breaks, and all conference sessions and materials.

Conference Schedule

The RIPE 2026 Conference will span two and a half days, from October 21 to 23, 2026. A welcome reception will be held on the evening of October 20, prior to the start of the conference.

Day 1 (October 21) will take place at Public Television Service (PTS), Taiwan, while Days 2 and 3 (October 22–23) will be hosted by National Chengchi University (NCCU). A gala dinner will be held on October 22. The afternoon of the final day will feature a guided city tour for all participants. Depending on interest, an optional social program will be offered on October 24, the day following the conference, at an additional cost for those who wish to participate.

Contacts:

For answers to questions related to logistics or other practical matters not addressed here, you can send an email to either of the following addresses:

The Conference organizer’s email address: ripe2026nccu@gmail.com

For information about the International Association of Public Media Researchers (IAPMR), please email: contact@iapmr.media

Founded on 25 November 2005 in Amsterdam, ECREA has grown into a lively community of communication scholars across Europe and beyond. Throughout November, we are celebrating this anniversary by sharing memories and reflections from our community in each weekly issue of the ECREA Digest.

You can check the memories HERE.

We are still collecting contributions — if you have a memorable moment to share, please write to info@ecrea.eu.

Join us in celebrating!

Deadline: November 15, 2025

The Young Scholars Network (YECREA) of the ECREA seeks early-career researchers to serve as section representatives. We have 3 vacant positions, offering opportunities for emerging scholars to help shape their field while gaining international leadership experience.

Available Positions

We are seeking representatives for the following Sections, Temporary Working Groups (TWG), and Networks:

• Central and East-European Network
  
• Science and Environment Communication
  
• Organizational and Strategic Communication
  

We recommend applying to the section where you typically present your research and whose scholarly conversations you wish to join more actively. 

Position Overview

The role of a YECREA representative involves working closely with the section leadership to advance research and support early-career scholars in their respective fields. Key responsibilities include:

• Collaborating with section management teams on academic events
  
• Organizing pre-conference workshops and meetings
  
• Facilitating networking opportunities for young scholars
  
• Disseminating information about field-specific opportunities
  
• Contributing to YECREA’s strategic initiatives
  

The position of YECREA representative requires approximately 5-8 hours per month on average, depending on the activity of the section and your own initiative.

While this is currently an unpaid volunteer position, it provides valuable opportunities for professional development. Representatives gain hands-on experience organizing academic events while building an international network in their field. Through active

involvement in section activities, the role offers a platform to develop leadership capabilities and increase visibility within the research community.

Eligibility and Requirements

• PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers in non-tenure positions
  
• ECREA membership (required upon acceptance)
  
• Minimum one-year commitment (ideally two)
  
• Fluent English communication skills
  

Application Process

Submit a single PDF document (max. 500 words) containing:

• A heading with your name and the specific position you are applying for
  
• Details on your current university, position, and career progression (1 paragraph)
  
• A brief description of your research + a brief statement on your work’s connection to the specific section, TWG, or network (1 paragraph)
  
• A brief statement on your aspirations for improving early-career research/experiences (1 paragraph). For this point, please acquaint yourself with the YECREA website and our strategic initiatives.
  
• A short CV (max. 2 pages, not included in the word count).
  
• Team applications (two people) are welcome. We encourage applications from researchers of all backgrounds and institutions across Europe.

Submit applications and/or questions to: yecreanetwork@gmail.com 

Timeline

Deadline: 15 November 2025, 23:59 CET

Results notification: 15 December 2025

On-boarding: late January 2026

The YECREA managing committee will evaluate applications based on research alignment, motivation, and commitment to supporting emerging scholars. 

For section details: https://www.ecrea.eu/Sections

April 22-23, 2026

Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm & Uppsala University

Deadline: December 1, 2025

steering committee:

Jan Baetens, Jaqueline Berndt, Jan von Bonsdorff, Gareth Brookes, Benoît Crucifix, Björn-Olav Dozo, Anna Foka, Isabelle Gribomont, Andre Holzapfel, Per Israelson, Gaëtan Le Coarer, Ilan Manouach, Pedro Moura, Everardo Reyes, Keith Tillford, Ray Whitcher

Today, the field of comics is undergoing a profound transformation marked by a growing heterogeneity of forms, formats, and production processes. From synthetic comics, operational images, data-driven visualization to embodied, non-visual comics, comics are expanding beyond the conceptual and historical frameworks that have traditionally defined it. Existing models in research— grounded in the artisanal craft traditions, narratology, text-image correlation, and human-centered authorship— are struggling to account for this rapidly diversifying landscape. Craft-based approaches might appear resistant or inadequate in the face of new technological practices that recombine production, circulation, and reception through computational logics.The current moment compels a broader redefinition of comics as fundamentally technical objects. The boundaries that once separated comics from technical and operational systems are dissolving. To grasp the full scope of these developments, we must account for comics as sites where technological processes are not external influences but internal engines — where creation is entangled with computation, standardization, and new modes of mediation. As computational processes— from machine learning to synthetic image generation and communication systems powered by computer vision— increasingly shape the creation, distribution, and experience of comics, it is no longer sufficient to understand the medium solely through the lenses of narrative, visual storytelling, or artisanal craft. Recognizing comics as engineered configurations of information, relational diagrams, and experimental knowledge structures is not a speculative gesture; it is a necessary step for understanding the profound transformation underway in the medium’s ontology, practice, and future potential.

Within this expanded computational landscape, comics increasingly function as sites of artistic research— experimental configurations that generate knowledge through making rather than merely representing it. As comics engage with computational systems, they become laboratories for investigating the material conditions of contemporary media production. These research-oriented practices extend beyond traditional academic boundaries. Rather than simply illustrating research findings, comics-as-research deploys their unique capacity for relational thinking— the medium’s inherent ability to orchestrate temporal, spatial, and conceptual relationships — to investigate how technical systems reshape creative labor, audience relations, and the very possibility of narrative meaning. This artistic research dimension positions comics not as objects of study but as active investigative tools, capable of generating insights about computational culture that emerge specifically through the medium’s hybrid technical-aesthetic operations.

We are pleased to announce a two-day international conference on April 22-23, 2026 at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and at Uppsala University dedicated to examining the rapidly evolving landscape of comics. Rather than framing this transformation solely as a rupture, the conference seeks to situate it within a longer history of computational rationality— a lineage in which the medium has continuously negotiated the demands of efficiency, scalability, and technical constraint. Our aim is to critically rethink comics not as passive recipients of technological change, but as active computational configurations: media fundamentally entangled with systems of automation, standardization, and information processing.

We welcome submissions addressing the following areas (among others):

• Histories of automation and engineering in comics production and distribution
  
• Transformations in formats and workflows driven by technological change
  
• Comics as data: informatization, discretization, and database design
  
• Human-machine collaborations in past, present, and speculative comics practice
  
• Audience and user labor in automated platforms and circulation systems
  
• Data-mining and recirculation techniques in digital comics ecologies
  
• Machine subjectivities: authorship, intention, and expression in machinic agents
  
• Computational archiving practices: scraping, clustering, and vectorization
  
• Speculative and critical practices addressing automation and machinic mediation
  
• Industrial logics in comics: international and comparative perspectives
  
• Resistance to automation: sabotage, slow media, and disobedient design
  
• Operational aesthetics: the visual and affective languages of automation
  
• Speculative histories and alternative futures of comics as technical media
  
• Comics as simulations: diagrams, blueprints, and procedural environments
  
• Comics as artistic research methodologies: practice-based inquiry and knowledge production where comics are used to interrogate emerging technologies and social systems

We invite submissions for the following presentation formats:

• Research Papers (20 minutes + 10 minutes discussion): Traditional academic presentations suitable for theoretical, historical, or analytical work 
  
• Practice-Based Presentations (15 minutes + 15 minutes discussion): Presentations by creators, artists, and practitioners demonstrating work and reflecting on process 
  
• Interactive Demonstrations (30 minutes): Hands-on sessions showcasing new tools, platforms, or methodologies 
  
• Panel Discussions (90 minutes): Collaborative sessions bringing together multiple perspectives on specific themes 
  
• Lightning Talks (5 minutes): Brief presentations ideal for work-in-progress, provocations, or preliminary findings 
  
• Workshop Sessions (3 hours): Extended collaborative sessions for skill-sharing and collective exploration of tools and methods

Abstract length : 250 words

Short bio: 150 words

Deadline for abstracts: 1st December 2025

Notifications of acceptance: 30th December 2025

Send to: conference@echochamber.be

Aarhus University

Apply here: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPG525/postdoctoral-researcher-in-digital-methods-and-the-creator-economy   

The Department of Media and Journalism Studies within the School of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University invites applications for a postdoctoral position in digital methods and the creator economy. The postdoctoral position is part of the research project ‘PAY4PLAY: Entrepreneurial Organising in the Platform Society,’ led by Assistant Professor Blake Hallinan and funded by the European Research Council (ERC).

The postdoc is a full time, 2.5-year fixed-term position. It begins on 1 February 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The School of Communication and Culture is committed to diversity and encourages all qualified applicants to apply regardless of their personal background.

Project

The PAY4PLAY project is an interdisciplinary, large-scale investigation of organising in the creator economy concerned with how creators and their communities come together and create value. The project is premised on the idea that organising is essential to understand how creators—and people more broadly—both exploit and challenge the growing power of digital platforms. Internally, creators bring together co-producers, volunteers, and audience members into platform-based associations with (1) hierarchical structures, (2) monetised interactions, and (3) asymmetrical relationships. Externally, creators form alliances to shape the conditions of content production. The project approaches creator organising from three perspectives (culture, infrastructure, policy) and compares three industrial sectors (gamers, VTubers, adult content creators). In so doing, the project will map the industrial conditions of the creator economy, develop a new theory of organising and platform power, and provide policy recommendations for platforms and regulators.

The PAY4PLAY team includes the principal investigator Blake Hallinan, three PhD researchers who will each focus on one of the industrial sectors, and this postdoctoral research position, as well as an international network of advisors and collaborators. The project is situated with the Creator Economies Lab, and the working language of the project is English, although data collection will also include Japanese and Spanish. The postdoc will lead a sub-project titled ‘Sociotechnical infrastructures for managing and monetising communities’, using digital methods and social media data to research the influence of platforms and third-party tools. The sub-project is flexible, meaning that the postdoc will have the opportunity to design studies, in coordination with the PI, which align with the researcher’s interests and methodological skillset. The postdoc will also have the opportunity to collaborate with team members working on the sub-projects focused on culture and policy.

Postdoctoral position

The postdoc is research-only and the successful applicant will be expected to:

• Design research, in coordination with PI, which investigates the influence of platforms and third-party tools on the creator economy using social media data and digital methods
  
• Collect social media data using platform APIs and/or web scraping
  
• Analyse large-scale data using appropriate digital methods (flexible, but please specify)
  
• Present research at national and/or international events
  
• Lead the publication of at least two articles for international journals or conference proceedings
  
• Participate in the Creator Economy Lab’s collaborative research environment through, for example, attending lab meetings, discussing relevant literature, and co-authoring papers.
  

September 23-25, 2026

Vienna, Austria

Deadline: February 27, 2025

The conference “Comparison as Method and Heuristic in Communication Research” takes place against the backdrop of rapid technological, media, and societal change. It focuses on innovations, trends, challenges, and solutions in comparative research within the field of media and communication studies.

Back in November 2006, the former Commission for Comparative Media and Communication Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Department of Communication at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, organized a workshop on this topic (Melischek et al., 2008). That workshop examined the state of comparative media and communication research in German- speaking countries, addressing core questions: What is comparative communication research? What are its objects of study? And what is the scientific value of comparison? At the heart of the discussion was comparison as a method and methodological principle.

The workshop was held at a time when comparative approaches in media and communication studies were not yet systematically established. However, they had been gaining increasing relevance since the 1990s (Livingstone, 2003; Pfetsch & Esser, 2004) and have since matured into a more consolidated area of inquiry (Esser & Hanitzsch, 2012; Esser, 2016; Chan & Lee, 2017; Holtz-Bacha, 2021; Volk, 2021).

Today, the Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies (CMC) brings together key perspectives on public discourse, media change, and transformations in mediated public communication through its Research Groups on Media Accountability & Media Change, Media, Politics & Democracy, and Science Communication & Science Journalism. These Research Groups focus on questions of ethics and responsibility, democracy and participation, as well as truth and factuality—unified by a common methodological foundation: the comparative approach (see also: Melischek & Seethaler, 2017).

This conference revisits the comparative paradigm with fresh urgency. It addresses the pressing need to reflect on methodological innovation, technological transformation, and shifting global contexts from an international perspective. By bringing together scholars working across global regions, the event aims to critically assess the role of comparison as both method and heuristic in contemporary communication research—and to chart pathways for its future development.

Call for Papers (Themes)

1. Innovations, New Developments, and Approaches in Comparative Communication Research

We welcome submissions that explore methodological developments, discuss the use of new digital and technological tools, examine the challenges and potentials of comparative approaches, or present innovative proposals for advancing comparative methodology.

Questions might include:

• How can emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, or natural language processing enhance comparative research designs in communication studies?
• In what ways do automated content analysis and large-scale digital datasets (e.g., news archives, digital platforms) reshape the scope and scale of comparative research?
• How can comparative methods be adapted to address new forms of digital and hybrid media, such as influencer communication, platform governance, or algorithmic curation?
• How can mixed-method approaches strengthen comparative communication research?
• How can we ensure that long-term panel designs evolve methodologically in response to technological developments without compromising their scientific rigor and comparability?
• What are best practices for ensuring transparency, replicability, and ethical integrity in technologically mediated comparative studies?

2. Methodological Reflection and Critique

Comparative methods offer many advantages: they are context-sensitive, contribute to theory-building, help identify causal relationships, and have high heuristic value. Nevertheless, this conference also invites critical perspectives. What are the blind spots, limitations, and epistemological or methodological challenges associated with comparative methods? How can we overcome these issues?

Questions might include:

• What are the methodological implications of using computational tools for comparability—do they introduce new biases or overcome traditional limitations?
• How can we make comparative research more participatory, inclusive, or decolonial—both in design and in interpretation?
• How can comparative research contribute to the de-Westernization of communication studies?
• How should comparative research reflect upon the concept of national states?
• How relevant is historic comparison to understand current developments? What are the obstacles and potentials we have to consider?
• How do comparative approaches manage the demand for replicability, the tension between internal and external validity, or generalizability?

3. After Comparison: Making Use of Comparative Results

Comparative methods help identify patterns, uncover similarities and differences, and advance theory. They contribute to a deeper understanding of complex social phenomena. This section asks how comparative findings can be used productively—both within academia and in broader societal contexts.

Questions might include:

• How can comparative results be theoretically integrated or related back to existing frameworks?
• What generalization strategies (e.g., typologies, model building) are especially fruitful in comparative research?
• How can comparative insights be made productive across interdisciplinary contexts?
• In what ways can comparative findings inform methodological innovation or open new research perspectives?
• What is the value of comparative results for policy-makers and other stakeholders—and how can we rethink discursive science-to-policy or science-to-public processes.

Submission Guidelines

We welcome regular and student-led submissions. The conference language is English. All submissions must contain a separate cover page and an extended abstract. The cover page should provide the title of the submission, author information, 3–5 keywords and, if applicable, a note identifying the submission as a student-led paper. Extended abstracts must be fully anonymized for peer review. They should be 800–1.000 words long (excluding references, tables, and figures).

Please send your submissions containing separate PDF files for cover page and anonymized extended abstract to cmc@oeaw.ac.at.

The deadline for submissions is February 27, 2026. Submissions will undergo peer review, and acceptance notifications will be sent out no later than March 30, 2026.

Date

The conference will open with a keynote and panel discussion on the evening of September 23, 2026. Authors of accepted extended abstracts will present their papers in person in Vienna on September 24 and 25, 2026. The conference will conclude around noon on September 25, 2026.

Organizers

Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies (CMC) Austrian Academy of Sciences | University of Klagenfurt Bäckerstraße 13

1010 Vienna, AUSTRIA

https://www.oeaw.ac.at/cmc

Contact: cmc@oeaw.ac.at

Conference Venue

The conference will be held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), located in the heart of Vienna at Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna, AUSTRIA.

Conference Registration

Registration will be open from March 30, 2026. Conference attendance is free.

Publication

The organizing team aims to publish selected contributions and results of the conference in an academic context.    

References

Chan, J. M., & Lee, F. L. F. (Eds.). (2017). Advancing comparative media and communication research. Routledge.

Esser, F. (2016). Komparative Kommunikationswissenschaft: Ein Feld formiert sich [Comparative communication science: A field takes shape]. Studies in Communication Sciences, 16(1), 54-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scoms.2016.03.005

Esser, F., & Hanitzsch, T. (Eds.). (2012). The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research. Routledge. Holtz-Bacha, C. (2021). Comparative media research. European Journal of Communication, 36(5), 446-449.

https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231211043179

Livingstone, S. (2003). On the challenges of cross-national comparative media research. European Journal of Communication, 18(4), 477-500. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323103184003

Melischek, G., Seethaler, J., & Wilke, J. (Eds.). (2008). Medien & Kommunikationsforschung im Vergleich: Grundlagen, Gegenstandsbereiche, Verfahrensweisen [Media and communication research in comparison: Foundations, areas of study, methods]. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

Melischek, G., & Seethaler, J. (2017). Die Institutionalisierung der Kommunikationswissenschaft an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften: Geschichte und Aufgabenbereiche des Instituts für vergleichende Medien- und Kommunikationsforschung [The institutionalization of communication science at the Austrian Academy of Sciences: History and areas of responsibility of the Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies]. Geistes-, sozial- und kulturwissenschaftlicher Anzeiger , 152(1), 65-98. https://doi.org/10.1553/anzeiger152-1s65

Pfetsch, B., & Esser, F. (Eds.). (2004). Comparing political communication: Theories, cases, and challenges. Cambridge University Press.

Volk, S. C. (2021). Comparative communication research: A study of the conceptual, methodological, and social challenges of international collaborative studies in communication science. Springer VS.

International Journal of Communication (Special Section)

Deadline: May 31, 2026 (full papers)

Information overload and political and news fatigue are part of everyday life. Few of us can or want to stay up to speed on every issue or engage equally across all issues and arenas. This special section asks how citizens share, delegate, or even outsource the work of democracy, and when does this distribution empower citizens, and when does it deepen inequality. We invite contributions that rethink how contemporary democratic engagement is practiced, organized, and mediated. Theoretical, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method work are all welcome, and especially from underrepresented contexts. 

To help authors connect and refine ideas, we are also hosting a workshop in Bergen (Norway) in early March 2026. It will be a chance to meet, discuss, and develop work-in-progress together. Not mandatory but encouraged. 

Key dates:

Abstracts (for workshop): 15 December 2025

Workshop: Early March 2026, Bergen 

Full paper submission: 31 May 2026 

Expected publication: Summer 2027 

Read the full call and submission details here: https://www4.uib.no/en/research/research-projects/distributed-and-prepared-a-new-theory-of-citizens-public-connection/call-for-papers-special-section-on-distributed-citizenship   

For inquiries, feel free to contact us (details in the link). 

Guest Editors: Emilija Gagrčin, Hallvard Moe, Özlem Demirkol-Tønnesen, and Mehri Agai / Media Use Group, University of Bergen: https://www4.uib.no/en/research/research-groups/bergen-media-use-research-group 

Funded by the European Union (ERC, PREPARE, 101044464). 

Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research 

Deadline: March 31, 2026

Special Issue co-edited by Cristina Ponte (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal), Philippe J. Maarek (UPEC, France), and Leen d’Haenens (KU Leuven, Belgium). 

Europe is experiencing a rapid AI-driven transformation of communication. Generative AI (e.g., large language and image models) and predictive AI (e.g., recommendation algorithms) are now embedded in media, culture, and everyday life. For example, recent reviews note that AI tools like ChatGPT support every stage of news production, reshaping editorial workflows, while also generating new ethical and human labour concerns. Journalists have reported AI-powered surveillance systems that collect unprecedented volumes of data on citizens. AI‑driven targeted messaging has enabled political actors to personalize communication at an unprecedented scale, while at the same time, AI has been extensively used for disinformation, deepfakes, and algorithmic amplification of misleading content. The latter use of AI has particularly contributed to a new kind of Cold War against Western democracies. In response, European policymakers and educators emphasize digital and AI literacy for all citizens. This Special Issue invites diverse scholarship examining how AI technologies affect communication processes, media practices, and social and political life across Europe. We especially seek people-centered and comparative perspectives on AI’s role in communication, drawing on interdisciplinary methods. 

Thematic scope 

This issue welcomes contributions that explore the social, cultural, and political dimensions of AI in European communication contexts. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: AI and digital literacy; AI’s role in sustainability and green communication; AI-driven innovation in creative industries; AI’s part in internal political communication as well as between European countries. We invite studies of how generative AI tools (e.g., for text, audio or image creation) and predictive systems (e.g., recommender algorithms, automated content moderation) transform media and artistic practices. Critical analyses of AI-induced deskilling and reskilling of creative and communicative labor are encouraged. Contributions may examine systemic and personal risks: e.g., algorithmic bias, privacy violations, misinformation, surveillance, impacts on mental health as well as AI’s implications for work. In particular, we welcome research on AI’s effects on employment in the creative and media industries, the gig or platform economy, and emerging human-machine interfaces such as brain-computer interaction. European policy and regulatory contexts (e.g., the EU’s AI Act, media regulation) and the metaphors embedded in public discourses on AI are also highly relevant. We encourage 

theoretical and empirical submissions (quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods) and especially those offering European or comparative perspectives (acknowledging that much existing scholarship is concentrated in a few countries). 

This Special Issue is open to innovative approaches from communication, media studies, philosophy, sociology, political science, cultural studies, design research and related fields. In the spirit of recent Communications calls, we welcome both established and early-career researchers. 

Possible topics include, but are not limited to: 

- AI and literacy/education: Digital, media, and AI literacy among European youth and educators; curriculum development for AI; participatory media projects on AI. 

- AI and sustainability: AI in environmental communication; green technology literacy; AI for climate change awareness and action; “green” AI and media sustainability. 

- AI in creativity: Use of AI in artistic and cultural production (film, music, design, visual arts, literature); AI-assisted creativity; questions of authorship, aesthetics, and authenticity. 

- Automation and deskilling: How AI automates creative or communicative tasks; effects on professional roles in journalism, design, advertising, film, etc.; new skills and competencies required. 

- Risks and harms: Algorithmic bias and discrimination; data privacy and consent; manipulation; misinformation, deepfakes and their potential for abuse in the political communication process; surveillance capitalism; personal autonomy; mental health and social well-being’s troubles in AI-mediated communication. 

- Ethics: Principles of transparency, fairness, inclusivity, accountability, reliability, responsibility, and explainability; generative morality; integrative ethics. 

- Human labour and work: Impacts of AI on labour in creative/media industries, the platform economy, and knowledge work; precarity and exploitation on AI-driven platforms; unionizing and collective action in AI-era workplaces. 

- Human-machine interaction: Interfaces and devices that mediate communication (including brain–computer interfaces, virtual/augmented reality, chatbots and agents) and their implications for identity and social interaction, including uses of AI as new warfare tools. 

- Media and journalism: Deployment of generative and predictive AI in newsrooms, fact-checking, and content curation; effects on journalistic norms, audience engagement, and the public’s right to information. 

- Policy, regulation, and discourse: European AI governance, media regulation, and ethics frameworks; public debates and communication around AI; cross-national comparisons of AI policies. 

- Methodological and theoretical innovation: Interdisciplinary, critical or historical studies of AI; novel research methods (e.g., design research, human-centered AI studies, computational methods) applied to communication questions. 

Contributions are expected to foreground European experiences or comparative analyses that include Europe. We welcome submissions from diverse disciplinary and methodological backgrounds: for example, cultural analysis, political economy, design research, ethnography, surveys, experiments, computational approaches, as long as they address the human and communicative dimensions of AI. As with previous Communications Special Issues, we are interested in conceptual frameworks as well as empirical insights. 

Submission procedure and timeline 

Authors should submit a 600-700 word abstract outlining the central issue or research question, the theoretical or methodological approach, and anticipated conclusions or contributions. Abstracts (in English) should be emailed to the guest editors at comm.special.issue@gmail.com by March 31, 2026. We encourage clear and inclusive language that will appeal to a wide academic readership. Prospective authors may contact the editors in advance to discuss their proposals. Decisions on abstracts will be communicated by April 30, 2026. Invitations to submit full papers will be issued shortly thereafter. Invited manuscripts (full papers) will be due by August 31, 2026 and should be prepared according to the journal’s author guidelines. All submissions will undergo peer review under Communications’ standard double-blind process. The invitation to submit a full article does not guarantee acceptance. We anticipate that the Special Issue will be published in autumn 2027. There will be no publication fee. 

For inquiries or further information, please contact one of the guest editors: Prof. Cristina Ponte (cristina.ponte@fcsh.unl.pt), Prof. Philippe J. Maarek (p.j.maarek@gmail.com), or Prof. Leen d’Haenens (leen.dhaenens@kuleuven.be). We look forward to your submissions and to advancing the conversation on AI and communication in Europe. 

Timeline: Abstract deadline March 31, 2026; notification by April 30, 2026; full paper submission by August 31, 2026.