ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Jason Loviglio

The first book-length treatment of This American Life, Empathy Machines contextualizes the influential show within the history of radio, looking back to radio's golden era and the para-social connections that it encouraged, as well as the formation of NPR in the 1960s and the “Great Society Liberalism” that guided its programming and approach to the audience. 

Empathy Machines identifies This American Life as a central cultural institution in the evolution of empathy as a “liberal feeling” central to podcast storytelling and the neoliberal era in which it developed. This American Life revitalized the public radio traditions of investigative journalism and sonically inventive audio production. An early adopter of podcasting as a time-shifted delivery mechanism for its broadcast content, the program also ushered in appointment listening, a key innovation and disruption in the emerging chaotic attention economy of the 21st century. Empathy Machines centers This American Life as a model for prioritizing empathy as an affective and ideological strategy for feeling liberal as liberal democracy's precarious balance of opposites began to fracture into hypercapitalism, atavistic ethnonationalism, and new identity politics.

Read more HERE.

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University o Amsterdam

Apply HERE.

Are you passionate about political communication, election campaigns, and quantitative empirical research? The Amsterdam School of Communication Research is seeking a highly motivated Postdoc for the research project ‘That’s (not) appropriate’– Role of Social Norms and Norm Transgression in Voters’ Acceptance of Negative Campaigning, led by Dr. Corinna Oschatz.

Postdoc Position in Political Communication  

Project goals

While considerable research exists on the causes and consequences of negative campaigning, the perceptual dynamics remain largely under-investigated. How is negative campaigning perceived by those who are exposed to it? How can differences in accepting such behaviour as legitimate action – a vital component for the success of a political candidate – be explained? Against the background of an increasingly polarized society with strong ideological camps, this project tests the idea that group belongings shape political judgements. We assume that political attitudes towards negative campaigning are not solely individually developed but socially constructed. If so, what are the consequences of normative violations of group standards on an electoral and systematic level? If working on these fundamental questions seems attractive to you, this Postdoc vacancy might be just for you.

What are you going to do

The project builds on multiple rich panel survey datasets (with rolling cross-section components) conducted during previous elections in the Netherlands, USA, Germany and Japan.

Specifically, you will

Conduct automated content analysis of the media and elite campaign communication and link it to panel data to test for the dynamic evolution of norms as a function of campaign negativity over time (feedback loop).

Compare panel data to explore whether culture and the political system “sets the stage” for the effects of social norms about negativity and their consequences.  

Conduct experimental studies on the impact of norm violations on the acceptance of negative campaigning and voting behavior.

Write up findings for publications and present them at (inter)national conferences.

What do you have to offer

You are:

• Curious, creative, and interested in learning from different disciplines
  
• Familiar with quantitative data analysis in social sciences with a demonstrated ability to learn new techniques
  
• Resilient in the face of challenges that come
  
• Able to balance the demands of several tasks (e.g., combining research and teaching) successfully
  
• Organized, flexible, and demonstrate attention to detail
  
• Able to work both independently and collaboratively. You are a team player but also have a proactive attitude
  

You have:

• A PhD in communication science, political science, computation social science (or related disciplines) - or are expected to obtain it soon
  
• Strong interest in topics associated with negative campaigning or social norms
  
• Demonstrated experience in quantitative methods, including automated content analyses and/or handling panel data
  
• Advanced analytical skills preferably using in R, Stata, or Python
  
• Excellent proficiency in English
  

What do we have to offer

The planned starting date for this project is 1 April 2026 (to be negotiated). The position concerns temporary employment of 38 hours for a maximum term of 2 years including a probation period of two months. You will have the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events. You will also be able to build up demonstratable teaching skills as part of the 20% teaching component of the contract.

The UFO profile Onderzoeker 4 or Onderzoeker 3 applies.Your salary will range from €4,412 to €5.057 (10.5 - 11.2)  based on your experience, full-time employment and in keeping with the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities. We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.

What else do we offer you

• A position in which initiative and input are highly valued, with ample opportunities for scholarly and professional development,
  
• An enthusiastic and warm team and department that is open to new colleagues
  
• The possibility to join a project on a “hot” topic at the cutting edge of the literature
  
• An inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam

Your place at the UvA

You will work here

This project is embedded within the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam. ASCoR is the research institute for Communication Science, structured around four program groups: Persuasive Communication, Corporate Communication, Political Communication & Journalism, and Youth & Media Entertainment. For more information, see the https://ascor.uva.nl/.

The Postdoc project is led by Dr. Corinna Oschatz in close cooperation with Dr. Alessandro Nai and Dr. Andreas Schuck. It will be embedded within the Political Communication & Journalism programme group. In our group, we explore the contributions of media and communication to citizens' perception, knowledge, and understanding of political issues and political and social groups, as well as citizens' participation in the political arena and their electoral behaviour. 

Within the PolCom & Journalism group and ASCoR at large, you’ll join a welcoming and dynamic research community where collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches are highly valued. Set in the vibrant city of Amsterdam, you’ll engage with impactful research addressing key challenges across the field of Communication Science.

About the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) is the largest educational and research institution in the field of social and behavioural sciences in Europe. Here, we explore societal and human-centered issues, driven by scientific curiosity but also with an eye for current themes. For example, the impact of media and communication on individuals and society, healthcare challenges, global urbanization, human development, the role of political institutions, understanding the human mind, growing inequality, diversity issues, and changing social relationships.

In Europe and beyond, the FMG holds a leading position, thanks in part to its more than 1,300 staff members who contribute to education and research. Will you be one of them?

Read more about the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Important to know

Your application & contact

If you recognize yourself in this profile and are interested in the role, we look forward to receiving your motivation letter and CV by 18. January 2026.

Please submit your application as a single .pdf file, including:

• Curriculum vitae, with grade transcripts from your (research) master’s studies; and potentially your PhD diploma
  
• Letter of motivation: Outline your fit to this topic, your readiness for the Postdoc project, and how you meet the selection criteria. If any criteria are not yet fully met, explain how you plan to develop the necessary skills. Optionally, include contact details of two academic referees familiar with your work;
  
• Writing sample in English, such as a recent article.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

As an employer, the UvA maintains an equal opportunities policy. We value diversity and are fully committed to being a place where everyone feels at home. We nurture inquisitive minds and perseverance and allow room for persistent questioning. With us, curiosity and creativity are the prevailing culture.

Read more

Studies show that women and members of underrepresented groups only apply for jobs if they meet 100% of the qualifications. Do you meet the educational requirements but not yet all of the requested experience? The UvA encourages you to apply anyway.

Interviews will take place during the 2nd week of February. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be given preference over external candidates.

For questions about the vacancy, you can contact: Dr. Corinna Oschatz (c.m.oschatz@uva.nl). 

No agencies please.

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), in Barcelona, invites interested candidates to participate in this call for applications for twelve (12) predoctoral contracts as part of the Interdisciplinary International Training on ICT for Developing Societal Impact (IN2TIC) project. Funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie predoctoral grant agreement no. 101217250, this project aims to support the completion of doctoral theses by predoctoral trainee research staff, in accordance with the applicable regulations (see the legal terms for COFUND IN2TIC grants).

The purpose of this call is to promote the training of researchers in the research groups at the UOC, through the completion of doctoral theses in 6 following doctoral programmes. The ones linked to communication studies are: 

• Society, Technology and Culture
  
• Humanities and Communication
  

Prospective candidates must complete the IN2TIC (COFUND) admission application form, together with the documentation required for the IN2TIC doctoral programme, please see: https://www.uoc.edu/portal/en/escola-doctorat/beques/beques-uoc-escola-doctorat/in2tic/index.html

Benefits:

Contract: There will be a full-time, 3-year predoctoral contract.

Salary: €29,934.12 gross per year.

Additional allowances (subject to eligibility under MSCA rules), that include:

• Family allowance: €116 per month (if applicable).
  
• Relocation allowance: €1,563 (one-off payment, if applicable).
  
• Disability support allowance: €893 per year (if applicable).
  
• Coverage: The UOC will cover the costs of enrolment on the doctoral programme, as well as the fee for the degree certificate (only if the thesis is defended before the end of the predoctoral contract and provided the contract is still in force at that time).
  
• Equipment: You'll be provided with the computer equipment and ergonomic material you need to work both from home and on the UOC Campus.
  
• Development: Access to training opportunities to support your professional growth.
  
• Wellness benefits: Wellness activities, medical service, physiotherapy service, and workplace assessment and adaptation where needed, among other benefits.
  
• Open working model: You'll be joining an organization with an open working model that combines remote and in-office work, depending on organizational needs and the nature of your tasks.
  

The UOC is a pioneering and leading university in e-learning. A digital native with a global reach and a public service mandate. We have been providing accredited, high-quality online education for the last 30 years, and our mission is to develop people's talents throughout their lives. We take a transformative approach to our research in order to generate social impact.

Location: UOC Campus, Rambla del Poblenou 154-156, Barcelona (Catalonia). Spain.

Deadline: January 15, 2026

Guest Editors: Abdelfettah Benchenna and Olivier Koch

Since the 2010s, the notion of digital sovereignty has gained prominence in public discourse and has been established as a new priority on political and institutional agendas. In France, in 2019, the Senate Committee of Inquiry on Digital Sovereignty published a dedicated report that has since become a key reference. A year later, in its report Shaping Europe’s Digital Future, the European Commission articulated its sovereignty-oriented ambitions for a renewed coordination among Member States. The Covid-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst in Europe (Thumfart, 2021), but discussions on the establishment or restoration of state authority in the digital sphere had already begun earlier, as an extension of debates on internet governance. Outside Europe, this notion was taken up by the Chinese government in the 1990s as part of a policy aimed at countering US hegemony, with particular emphasis on the technological dominance of countries of the Global North over those of the Global South. This political concern is not new. It follows on from earlier debates: those on technological sovereignty in the 1960s in Canada and in the 1980s in Australia, which denounced dependence on the United States; and those on information sovereignty in the 1970s in the context of the Nomic World Information and Communication Order, centered on the computerisation of so-called Third World countries and the technological dependence of Southern countries on Northern countries, debates that continued into the early 2000s in the framework of the two World Summits on the Information Society (Benchenna, 2006).

However, this historical overview is not sufficient to grasp the challenges posed today by this sovereignty imperative in the three main domains of digital technology: hardware and software infrastructures, data, and informational and cultural content. It must also be related to the consequences of the state’s “withdrawal” in the second half of the twentieth century (Strange, 1995), to the mobilisation of sovereign powers in the implementation of neoliberal policies since the 1970s and 1980s (Dardot, Laval, 2020), and to shifts in the technological balance of power between countries of the North and South. The complex (inter)dependencies inherited from these historical sequences, together with the deregulation of telecommunications and the globalisation of digital networks and services (Smyrnaios, 2017), call into question the conditions under which sovereignty might be established or restored over.

This question arises because the sovereignty claimed by states remains fragile and characterized by numerous contradictions. Despite investments in national infrastructure, dependence on foreign suppliers (particularly American ones) for internet backbone and cloud services continues to restrict states ability to exercise effective control over digital technologies (Bômont, 2021; Coelho, 2023). Public administrations largely rely on foreign proprietary software (Jeannot, Cottin-Marx, 2022), which complicates any transition towards so-called sovereign solutions. Critical infrastructures frequently depend on foreign digital giants that are difficult to regulate, insofar as they often operate beyond the effective reach of national legislation. In matters of content regulation, states struggle to impose their own norms given the predominance of American platforms, which apply their own regulatory frameworks. The cross-border nature of the internet further facilitates the circumvention of control mechanisms, thereby rendering the exercise of digital sovereignty, in many respects, largely illusory.

Finally, data sovereignty is undermined by the centralization and monetization of data by foreign actors. Despite the GDPR, states remain vulnerable to extraterritorial access by US authorities, as exemplified by the Cloud Act. Digital sovereignty thus appears as a fragile equilibrium between aspirations to autonomy, technological dependencies, and geopolitical constraints. In many respects, the “return” of the sovereign state in this domain remains more a political project than a fait accompli. It entails a repoliticization of relations of dependence and autonomy, within which the redefinition of antagonistic identities and the coordination of strategic actors are at stake. 

Given that “digital sovereignty” entails complex trade-offs between professed independence and industrial, economic, and diplomatic realities, and that it remains largely conditioned by the technological and legal choices of foreign actors, thereby compromising the very objectives of independence (Fisher, 2022), this special issue aims to examine how these contradictions are addressed and negotiated within public policy, international alliances, and sovereignty-oriented rhetoric.

1. Public Policies, Actors, and Indicators

Drawing on specific case studies, this axis invites analyses of the public policies, programs and industrial partnerships implemented in the name of digital sovereignty, as well as of the controversies they generate or, conversely, leave unaddressed, particularly with regard to data protection, the control of infrastructures and content, and the certification of technologies. Particular attention may be devoted to the procedures used to evaluate these public policies, to the construction and mobilization of indicators of progress or regression in terms of sovereignty (Kaloudis, 2021), and to the functions of labelling (for example, the “cloud confiance” or “Je choisis la French Tech” labels) in the coordination and steering of industrial dynamics.

2. International Alliances, Standards, and Interoperability

This axis welcomes contributions that examine international alliances formed or dissolved in the name of digital sovereignty, the forms of consensus and dissensus that emerge within them, and their implications for international governance (Budnistky, Jia, 2018; Perarnaud et al., 2024). These alliances prompt a critical examination of the concrete conditions under which sovereignty is exercised at national and regional scales, while taking into consideration the specific configurations of national networks, the interdependencies among infrastructures, and the forms of techno-feudalism associated with digital oligopolies.

Within the framework of these alliances, particular attention may be given to the processes through which norms and standards are selected, adopted, and exported, as well as to the legal and technical mechanisms of interoperability that are implemented, with specific consideration of the configurations of public–private partnership chains. In addition to existing work on Russia, China, the United States and Europe, contributions grounded in empirical research, and in particular those focusing on French-speaking African countries, are especially welcome.

3. Rhetoric and Imaginaries of Digital Sovereignty

This axis seeks to analyse the ways in which digital sovereignty is mobilized, narrated, and endowed with meaning by public, private and civil-society actors across diverse geopolitical and cultural contexts (Pohl, Thorsten, 2020; Couture, Toupin, 2019).

It aims to foster critical reflection on the ways in which digital sovereignty is conceptualized, articulated, and projected, as well as on the performative effects of these rhetorics. Contributions may focus on the technological imaginaries that underpin national or regional policies, and on the tensions between aspirations to digital autonomy and the structural logics of global interdependence. 

Contributors are invited to send abstracts (approximately 5 000 characters including spaces) to : etudes.digitales.soumissions@gmx.fr

Key Dates

• Abstract submission deadline: January 15, feedback to authors on January 30, 2025
  
• Submission of full articles: April 15, 2026 
  

Bibliography

Benchenna, A., 2006, « Réduire la fracture numérique Nord-Sud : une croyance récurrente des organisations internationales », Terminal, n°95-96, pp. 33-46.

Budnistky S., Jia L., 2018, « Branding Internet sovereignty: Digital media and the Chinese–Russian cyberalliance », European Journal of Cultural Studies,  21(2), pp. 1-20

Coelho O., 2023, Géopolitique du numérique. Les éditions de l’atelier.

Couture S., Toupin S., 2019, « What does the notion of “sovereignty” mean when referring to the digital », New media and society, 21(10), pp. 1-18.

Dardot P., Laval C., 2020, Dominer. Enquête sur la souveraineté de l’État en Occident. La Découverte.

Fischer D., 2022, « The digital sovereignty trick: why the sovereignty discourse fails to address the structural dependencies of digital capitalism in the global south ».  ZPolitikwiss 32, pp. 383–402. 

Jeannot, Cottin-Marx, 2022, La privatisation numérique. Déstabilisation et réinvention du service public. Raisons d’agir Éditions.

Kaloudis M., 2021,  « Sovereignty in the Digital Age – How Can We Measure Digital Sovereignty and Support the EU’s Action Plan? », New Global Studies ,16(3). 

Perarnaud C., Rossi J., Musiani F., Castex L., 2024, L’avenir d’internet. Unité ou fragmentation ?, Le bord de l’eau.

Pohle, J., Thorsten T.,  2020,  « Digital Sovereignty », Internet Policy Review, 9(4), pp. 1-19.

Smyrnaios N., 2017. Les GAFAM contre l’internet. Une économie politique du numérique. INA. 

Thumfart, J., 2021. « The norm development of digital sovereignty between China, Russia, the EU and the US: From the late 1990s to the Covid-crisis 2020/21 as catalytic event ». SSRN Electronic journal. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3793530

January 5-8, 2026

Online

Dear Colleagues, 

I want to alert you to an upcoming short-term training opportunity in health communications. The Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is offering a virtual health communications course during the Johns Hopkins Winter Institute. 

Through Introduction to Persuasive Communications: Theories and Practice, students will learn how messaging can be used to advocate for health policy adoption, address health misinformation, and influence health behavior.     

The course will examine and interrogate theories of persuasion so that these theories can be applied to health behavior change interventions. Students can take the course for credit towards a degree program or for non-credit, at a reduced cost.  

• Course instructor: Meghan Moran, PhD, MA, Associate Professor 
  
• Dates: January 5–8, 2026 
  
• Time: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. 
  
• Format: online. Content will be offered synchronously with lecture content offered asynchronously for those unable to attend synchronous sessions. 
  
• Program cost: $5,716 to take it for academic credit and receive a transcript, $2,858 to take it for non-credit. 
  

For information on how to register, please visit the institute website. 

If you think this course may be of interest to individuals in your organization, please pass this information along. Your Health Communication community includes scholars and practitioners studying message framing, media effects, and public-interest communication. This applied, skills-based course offers immediate practice value and can also provide adaptable teaching material for courses and labs. The course is ideal for early- to mid-career public health professionals who want to improve job performance and expand their skillsets in health communication. 

https://iksz.fsv.cuni.cz/en/admissions/phd-programme-media-and-communication-studies/call-candidates-2026-phd-positions 

The Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Charles University in Prague calls for candidates for the following PhD projects (each supported by a scholarship), for its English-language PhD programme in Media and Communication Studies: 

1. Post-structuralist Communication Studies 

Post-structuralism has slowly entered the field of Communication and Media Studies, offering a series of relevant theoretical frameworks for the theoretical and empirical study of communication. This PhD position is for PhD students who focus on one of the many post-structuralist frameworks, e.g., Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory or Foucauldian discourse theory, to support the research into a particular communication assemblage or into particular representational practices. While in this PhD position the theoretical framework needs to be post-structuralism, the object of study can be freely chosen. 

Proposed supervisor: Nico Carpentier, nico.carpentier@fsv.cuni.cz 

2. Analyzing the Impact of Strategic Communication on Public Health in the Czech Republic: A Mixed-Methods Approach 

This PhD position aims to investigate the effectiveness of strategic communication in influencing public health behavior in the Czech Republic. Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods, the research will examine contemporary communication strategies used in public health campaigns. The project will include a comprehensive survey to quantify public awareness and behavioral changes in response to these campaigns. In-depth interviews and focus groups will qualitatively explore individual perceptions and attitudes towards these communications. Special attention will be given to the role of digital media in disseminating health information. This project, requiring prior consultation with the proposed PhD supervisor, seeks to provide valuable insights into how strategic communication can be optimized for public health promotion in the Czech context. 

Proposed supervisor: Denisa Hejlová, denisa.hejlova@fsv.cuni.cz 

3. Marketing communication and tobacco control 

This PhD position focuses on primary research in tobacco control from the standpoint of marketing and strategic communication (e.g. research of new strategies and tactics employed by tobacco companies, targeting customers, online and social media marketing, stealth marketing, lobbying, public affairs, influencer marketing, etc.). This project’s goal is to analyze and present marketing and communication strategies and tactics by the tobacco industry which prevent consumers from tobacco or nicotine cessation and undermine public health. The project will especially focus on campaigns or tools aimed at adolescents and youth, incl. new forms of tobacco or nicotine products (HTP, pouches, vapes, etc.). Close cooperation with the Addictology Dept. of 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, is needed. 

Proposed supervisor: Denisa Hejlová, denisa.hejlova@fsv.cuni.cz 

4. Politainment as a part of strategic communication 

This PhD position welcomes Czech or international scholars focusing on primary research in politainment from the standpoint of marketing and strategic communication (e.g., personalization of political messages, image building through entertainment formats, hybrid media strategies, (emotional) branding in politics, viral political content, influencer involvement in political campaigns, etc.). The goal is to analyze and present how political actors and institutions use entertainment-based communication strategies to attract attention, shape public opinion, and influence political behavior. The project will especially focus on the implications of politainment for democratic discourse, political engagement, and the polarization of society, including its impact on young audiences and first-time voters. Close cooperation with media studies or political science departments is encouraged, as is the use of interdisciplinary methods combining communication and media analysis, and political marketing analytical approaches. 

Proposed supervisor: Marcela Konrádová, marcela.konradova@fsv.cuni.cz 

5. Concepts of National Identity in Europe and the World 

Interest in national issues has increased noticeably in recent years. It seems that the numerous crises in Europe and the world are causing many people to focus more on their own nation, national culture and collective identity. This call is aimed at doctoral students who want to analyze and describe concepts of national identity in a specific country or region of their choice – also from a cultural-historical or comparative perspective. The theoretical framework of the thesis should be based on the paradigm of new realism. With regard to the topic of national identity as a culture-specific concept it should draw on comparative cultural theory. The research should be based on text material from the media, literature,education, etc. Possible methods of text analysis: content analysis, linguistic discourse analysis, semiotic text analysis. Students are welcome to write their dissertation in English or German. 

Proposed supervisor: Ulrike Notarp, ulrike.notarp@fsv.cuni.cz 

6. Sustainability in Intercultural Communication 

Today's working environment is international and globalized. So-called soft skills, such as intercultural competence, are therefore increasingly important. Especially for young professionals, intercultural communication skills are taken for granted. The call is aimed at doctoral students who would like to deal with the content, mediation, practical implementation, and measurement of intercultural communication skills. The topic covers the following key areas: (1) Review of the international state of research on sustainability in intercultural communication, in relation to (a) the central concepts and theories of sustainable communication, interculturality and communication, and (b) the practice of teaching intercultural communication skills; (2) Development and implementation of a training program to acquire intercultural communication skills; (3) Development, application and evaluation of methods for measuring intercultural competencies. Students can write their dissertation in English or German. 

Proposed supervisor: Ulrike Notarp, ulrike.notarp@fsv.cuni.cz 

7. Experience of a Marginalised Group with a Contemporary Media Phenomenon 

The proposed project should focus on the lived and holistic media experience of a selected marginalised group (e.g. children, ethnic minorities, people with obesity, parents or other socially disadvantaged groups) in a particular domain of contemporary media culture. For example, it may investigate questions such as; “How do children or adolescents perceive and experience artificial-intelligence technologies?” or “How do they perceive and experience so-called ‘brain-rot’ / online ‘junk’ content?”. The aim is to gain a deep understanding of the role that the chosen media phenomenon plays in the everyday life of someone facing marginalisation; how they perceive it; how they experience and live through it; and how they interpret and evaluate it in relation to their identity, social relationships, and position in society. 

Potential supervisor: Markéta Supa, marketa.supa@fsv.cuni.cz 

8. AI Experience of University Students 

The proposed project aims to explore the lived and holistic media experience of university students in relation to contemporary AI technologies. The project questions how university students experience and make sense of AI tools, systems, and environments in their everyday and academic lives. The goal is to gain a deep understanding of how and why students engage with, perceive, and evaluate AI; how AI becomes entangled with their identity as students, their study and research practices, social relations, sense of autonomy or dependence, and existential questions in a rapidly changing educational and digital environment. 

Potential supervisor: Markéta Supa, marketa.supa@fsv.cuni.cz 

9. The Para-Social Relationships and Experiences of Youth with the Online Engagement in these: Post-Humanist Perspective 

Traditional human relationships in the experiences of children and young people during their childhoods, such as youth-adult relationships, have been complemented by Para-Social Relationships with media figures. Traditionally, public figures from the media environment (TV, film, newspapers, …) or imaginary figures from books, cartoons and films fulfilled developmental functions for children and young people, such as role-modelling. Recently, the rise of new technologies (AI, with, e.g., ChatGPT) and social media that allow for the active participation of media users, created a space for a new form of relationships, namely digital relationships in the online environment, mediated, e.g., via 'digital empathy' (Unay-Gerhard et al., 2022). Participation in digital interactions, dynamics and functions of digital relationships and types of these being formed with humans as well as with machines (e.g., AI-driven chatbots) with a focus on current young people (11-18 years) will be the subject of this PhD study, contributing to the emergent line of media research deploying a post-humanist perspective. 

Proposed supervisor: Tereza Javornícky Brumovská, tereza.javornicky.brumovska@fsv.cuni.cz 

10. Communication, democracy and struggle 

This PhD position involves research that explores how democracy is socially constructed, through its representations, contestations and reconfigurations, and how the struggles pertaining to democracy may intersect with claims to freedom, equality and social justice, but also with conflict, violence and war. Projects in this thematic area are expected to be grounded in social constructionist/poststructuralist paradigmatic approaches; embedded in the broad fields of discourse studies, cultural studies or related fields; and, supported by feminist, intersectional, postcolonial, or other relevant, theories. The research can be located in a variety of societal fields, such as media, culture and politics, but the proposals should clearly demarcate the area of research. 

Proposed supervisor: Vaia Doudaki, vaia.doudaki@fsv.cuni.cz 

++++ 

Application 

Interested candidates should submit their applications using the online application system, which will be open from 1st January to 30th April 2026. Interest in a particular PhD project should be mentioned in the motivation letter, together with a more developed proposal on the PhD project. 

All relevant information, including the link to the online application system, can be found at: 

https://fsv.cuni.cz/en/admissions/phd-programmes/media-and-communication-studies 

& 

https://is.cuni.cz/studium/eng/prijimacky/index.php 

Please download the form to fill out your dissertation project proposal from this webpage: https://iksz.fsv.cuni.cz/en/admissions/phd-programme-media-and-communication-studies/how-apply 

For general questions, please contact the Centre of PhD Studies at cds.iksz@fsv.cuni.cz. For questions about particular projects, please contact the proposed supervisors. 

The Open Doors Day for the PhD in Media and Communication Studies will take place on February 18, 2026 at 12:30 CET. It will be organised online. If you wish to participate, please email the Centre of PhD Studies at cds.iksz@fsv.cuni.cz without delay.

Deadline: January 12, 2026

Submit abstract HERE.

Supervising editors: Astrid Carolus (Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg), Julian Ernst (Justus-Liebig-University Giessen) and the Merzwissenschaft editorial team (jff)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long been a ubiquitous topic, which is clearly present and the subject of intensive debate in the context of science, education, economics and everyday culture. AI plays a central role in the daily lives of young people in particular. In the latest SINUS study with data from 2024, only two percent of 14 to 17-year-olds indicated that they had never before heard the term AI, while 71 percent said they knew AI and were able to describe it. Almost one third of the youths indicated that they used AI on a daily or regular basis. The JIM study for 2025 shows that ChatGPT is also by far the most popular application among those surveyed in the twelve to 19-year-old age segment (mpfs, 2025, p. 62 sqq.). AI is primarily used for learning purposes and for homework, to search for information as well as to figure out how a given thing works. Around one half of those surveyed indicated that they use AI in class. A total of approximately three quar- ters of the 14 to 17-year-olds use AI applications for school purposes on a weekly basis. Around 60 percent use AI in pri- vate tasks – for example composing personal texts or for fun (ifo Education Survey, 2025). On the whole, youths considered AI to be for the most part positive, to be remarkably helpful, useful, convenient and fun (Wendt et al., 2024). One half of 16 to 29-year-olds could imagine giving precedence to an AI chatbot over friends or family when seeking advice; one fifth of this group can even imagine establishing a friendship with an AI chatbot (BITKOM, 2025). In the USA, one third of the youth population use AI companions for social interaction and relationships, for example for emotional support, role play- ing or for friendship-based or romantic interactions (Common Sense Media, 2025). A common feature shared by all of these fragmentary empirical examinations of the use and relevance of AI chatbots (and of other AI applications) in the everyday lives of youths is the conceptualization of the relationship between AI and the (youth) users as an “in order to“ relation- ship: A relationship which is to result in either the technical automation and removal of certain tasks or to return a specific output. This instrumental analysis overlooks a central aspect of the user‘s experience with AI chatbots, which was already described in connection with the early precursors of these technologies: the interaction with and experience of AI as a companion. Joseph Weizenbaum‘s program ELIZA is regarded as one of the first chatbots. Based on Carl Roger‘s client- centric psychotherapy, ELIZA was developed explicitly without formulated therapeutic objectives. Instead, for pragmatic reasons Weizenbaum chose the setting as “one of the few examples of categorized dyadic natural language communication“ (Weizenbaum, 1966, p. 42), which in technical terms was comparatively easy to realize. However, experiments showed that users quickly began to confide in the program and to recognize in ELIZA a counterpart to which they attributed understan- ding, empathy and intentions (Weizenbaum, 1976).

The ELIZA example illustrates how the possible uses of AI chatbots and other technologies do not follow only the inten- tions of their developers. The affordances of these technologies manifest in the relationships between people and machines (Davis, 2020). Similar to other “spectacular machines“ (Strassberg, 2022), AI chatbots are characterized by a “multistability“ (Verbeek, 2005; Ihde, 1990) that entails the potential for quasi-social interaction with them and – over the course of time – establishing quasi-social relationships with them. The continuous use facilitated by permanently available mobile terminal devices exhibits parallels to Hinde‘s definition of relationship, which he describes as “a series of interactions between two individuals known to each other“ and which include “behavioural, cognitive, and affective (or emotional) aspects“ (Hinde, 1979, quoted in Vangelisti & Perlman, 2018, p. 3). For example, empirical research has shown that people develop some pro- perties of social relationships with their smartphones, such as presence and trust (Carolus et al., 2019).

The arrival of Large Language Models (LLMs) fundamentally changed the technological basis of human interaction with technology. Earlier systems like Amazon Alexa or Google Home only offered restricted social context cues and made it practically impossible for the illusion of a human counterpart to arise. ChatGPT constituted a change: The user found it nearly impossible to tell GPT-4 from a human (Jones et al., 2025), a fact which actually satisfies, i. e. the process which tests whether a machine can imitate human communication so convincingly that it can no longer be distinguished from commu- nication with another human. More recent developments go even further, leading to increasingly autonomous AI systems. While past AI chatbots responded to instructions reactively, today‘s AI agents exhibit an increasing degree of proactive behavior, pursue their own objectives and makes decisions without direct input.

From media-educational and media-psychological perspectives, this increasing interactivity and autonomy is concomitant with a quantitative increase and higher level of differentiation of social context cues and thus means a growing potential for social affordances. Consequently, questions arise regarding the social imputations, short-term social interactions as well as long-term relationships which young users in particular enter into with these systems. In addition, AI chatbots are gai- ning in importance as a part of pedagogical practice: teaching staff, school social work and counselling services are making increasing use of generative AI in preparing lessons, structuring counselling processes and as support for organizational procedures (Hein et al., 2024; Linnemann et al., 2025, among others). This can result in the entanglement of the quasi-social relationships young people have to chatbots with institutional educational settings, in which educational specialists them- selves work with AI-assisted systems. This in turn raises new questions relating to professionalization, responsibility and the limits of using AI in educational process.

We look forward to receiving submissions which explore the various aspects of the quasi-social relationships of AI chat- bots and young people as well as the implications of these relationships in various pedagogical contexts. We welcome theoretical-conceptual contributions as well as empirical submissions from media education, media psychology, social work, media sociology, communications science and from the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). The submissions should focus on the following questions, among others:

• What forms of social interaction between young people and AI chatbots can be described?
• What forms of social relationships do young people enter into with AI chatbots? What role do emotions play in this process?

• What are the impacts on social relationships between people when more is entrusted to the chatbot than for example to a friend?

• How do young people understand interaction with chatbots, and to what extent does the interaction with chatbots change their understanding of human relationships and the expectations of quality they place on these human relationships?

• How can human-chatbot interactions and human-chatbot relationships be empirically captured, described and analyzed? What are the corresponding methodological points of access?

• How do inter-individual differences influence the formulation of encounters with AI chatbots?
• What new developmental tasks arise for young people in the context of quasi-social interactions and relationships with AI chatbots?

• What new (media) skill requirements can be formulated in the context of quasi-social interactions and relationships with chatbots? How can these requirements be addressed?

• What possible (media) educational approaches are there to addressing quasi-social relationships between young people and AI chatbots?

• To what extent do affect and emotion play a role in interactions between young people and AI chatbots?
•  To what extent should the social character of the use of chatbots be reflected when for example AI chatbots are used as learning aids in the context of schools?
• How does the interaction of young people with AI chatbots impact the design of AI chatbots?
• To what extent do pedagogical practice and profession change in the context of the use of AI chatbots in educational work?
• What new media skill requirements arise for educational specialists when AI chatbots in schools, youth welfare and counselling are integrated in educational work? How significant is the interface in interaction with AI chatbots (text-based input/output vs. spoken input/output)?
• To what extent is it relevant that conventional systems have been programmed as assistants and fundamentally structured in order to support users? To what extent do contradictions and criticism arise in interaction with AI chatbots?

The deadline for submission of abstracts with a maximum of 6.000 characters (including blank spaces) is 12 January 2026. Please upload your abstract at https://merz-zeitschrift.de/fuerautorinnen. The format of the submissions should follow the layout specifications of the merzWissenschaft style guide, available at https://merz-zeitschrift.de/manuskriptrichtlinien. The journal articles should not exceed a maximum character count of approximately 35.000 characters (including blank spaces and literature). Please feel free to direct any questions you may have to the merz editorial team, tel.: +49 89 68989 120, e-mail: merz@jff.de

SUMMARY OF DEADLINE

• 12 January 2026: Submission deadline for abstracts
• 2 February 2026: Decision on acceptance/rejection of abstracts
• 18 May 2026: Submission deadline for articles
• May/June 2026: Evaluation period (double-blind peer review)
• June/July 2026: Revision phase (when necessary, multi-phase)
• End of November 2026: Publication of merzWissenschaft 2026

Literature

Bitkom. (2025). Junge Menschen und Künstliche Intelligenz: Einstellungen, Nutzung und Erwartungen. Bitkom e. V. https://www.bitkom.org/ Presse/ Presseinformation/ Freundschaft-KI-Sprachassistent

Carolus, A., Muench, R., Schmidt, C. & Schneider, F. (2019). Impertinent mobiles-effects of politeness and impoliteness in human-smartphone interac- tion. Computers in Human Behavior, 93, 290–300.

Common Sense Media (2025). Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/de- fault/ files/research/report/talk-trust-and-trade-offs_2025_web.pdf

Davis, J. L. (2020). How Artifacts Afford. The Power and Politics of Everyday Things. MIT Press.

Hein, L., Högemann, M., Illgen, K.-M., Stattkus, D., Kochon, E., Reibold, M.-G., Eckle, J., Seiwert, L., Beinke, J. H., Knopf, J. & Thomas, O. (2024). Chat-

GPT als Unterstützung von Lehrkräften – Einordnung, Analyse und Anwendungsbeispiele. HMD Praxis der Wirtschaftsinformatik, 61, 449–470. ifo Institut – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung an der Universität München e. V. (2025). ifo-Bildungsbarometer 2025. https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/sd-2025-09-wedel-etal-ifo-bildungsbarometer-2025.pdf

Ihde, D. (1990). Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden to Earth. Indiana University Press.

Jones, C. R., Rathi, I., Taylor, S. & Bergen, B. K. (2025). People cannot distinguish GPT-4 from a human in a Turing test. Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, 1615–1639.

Linnemann, G., Löhe, J. & Rottkemper, B. (Eds.) (2025). Künstliche Intelligenz in der Sozialen Arbeit: Grundlagen für Theorie und Praxis. Beltz. Medienpädagogischer Forschungsverbund Südwest (mpfs) (2025). JIM 2025. Jugend, Information, Medien. Basisuntersuchung zum Medienumgang 12- bis 19-Jähriger in Deutschland. https://mpfs.de/studie/jim-studie-2025

Strassberg, D. (2022). Spektakuläre Maschinen. Eine Affektgeschichte der Technik. Matthes & Seitz.

Vangelisti, A. L. & Perlman, D. (Eds.) (2018). The Cambridge handbook of personal relationships. Cambridge University Press.

Verbeek, P.-P. (2005). What Things Do. Philosophical Reflections on Technology, Agency, and Design. Pennsylvania State University Press. Weizenbaum, J. (1966). ELIZA - A Computer Program For the Study of Natural Language Communication Between Man and Machine. Communications of the ACM, 9(1).

Weizenbaum, J. (1976). Computer power and human reason: From judgment to calculation. W. H. Freeman & Co.

Wendt, R., Riesmeyer, C., Leonhard, L., Hagner, J. & Kühn, J. (2024). Algorithmen und Künstliche Intelligenz im Alltag von Jugendlichen: Forschungs-bericht für die Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien (BLM). Nomos.

June 1-2, 2026

Cardiff University in Cardiff, UK

Deadline: December 31, 2025

Host: Data Justice Lab

Although contested and multifaceted, the field of data justice continues to engage critical debates on the societal implications of datafication in all its iterations, from social media to platform capitalism to the current hype around Artificial Intelligence (AI). Much of this focus has been on the potential harm of such technologies on different communities and on the societal shifts associated with their uses by a diverse range of actors. Less focus, perhaps, has been on the way the advent of data-driven technologies has intermingled with and transformed the state. From high-stake uses, such as those revealed in the Snowden leaks, to crisis management as evidenced during the Covid-19 pandemic, to the mundane and everyday delivery of public services, platforms and AI systems are now deeply embedded within roles and functions associated with the state. At the same time, the state has been instrumental in the advancement of datafication and the role that technology, and its providers, now play in society. At a time when governments and technology companies are seen to be closer than ever, examining their relationship and its consequences seems pivotal for our understanding of data justice. 

This two-day conference will therefore explore the role and transformations of the state in an age of datafication and what this means for social justice and resistance. It will examine the interrelations between data-driven technologies and government, the changing role of corporations, emerging popular responses, and efforts to democratise datafication. Hosted by the Data Justice Lab at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC) in the UK, it will bring together international scholars, practitioners and community groups to discuss the nature and implications of the datafied state.

Keynote Speakers include:

• Oriana Bernasconi, UC Chile, Chile
  
• Sarah Myers West, AI Now, US
  
• Nick Srnicek, King’s College London, UK

Submission of abstracts of max 500 words to DataJusticeLab@cardiff.ac.uk

Deadline for submissions of abstracts: 31st of December, 2025

Conference registration fees:

• Regular: £175  (£150 early bird)
  
• Students: £125 (£100 early bird)
  

Conference registration deadlines:

• 6th of March 2026 – early bird
  
• 17th of April 2026 – final deadline

Conference attendance:

Data Justice 2026 will be an in-person conference. After previous Data Justice conferences were held in-person (2018), online (2021), and hybrid (2023), the next conference should allow participants to come together physically to discuss their work. We have tried to keep registration fees as low as possible in order to enable attendance for as many of you as possible. This will unfortunately not allow for meaningful hybrid participation, but we will try to provide online streams or recordings of keynotes and major events.

University of Copenhagen

The Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen is inviting applications for a tenure-track assistant professorship in empirical communication research starting on June 1, 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The Department is seeking a new colleague with strong qualifications in quantitative communication research as demonstrated through the application in research projects and teaching activities. In addition, competencies in qualitative and mixed-methods studies of communication are an advantage. It is a further advantage, if the candidate has experience from collaborations with organizations outside the university in research and/or teaching.

The deadline for applications is 23:59 [CET] on 26 January 2026.Read more

Read more

September 23-25, 2026

Vienna, Austria

Deadline: February 27, 2026

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 Germanspeaking 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.