ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Edited by: Ashley Riggs, Lucile Davier

Constructive news is an alternative to the negativity of if-it-bleeds-it-leads journalism but still unfamiliar to some audiences and still relatively under-researched, particularly by news translation scholars. And yet, it is “done” across cultures and, therefore, languages. This innovative book contributes to filling that research gap and raising awareness of the phenomenon by showcasing cross-cultural research on constructive news, including in the Global South – a region that has traditionally received less scholarly attention than the Global North.

 Constructive news is resolutely multimodal, and so a number of chapters analyse it from that perspective. The chapters also tackle such topics as audience attitudes, service to the local community, pedagogy, financial news, and religious news. This book will appeal to journalism studies and translation scholars, applied linguists, lecturers, journalists, editors, and members of the public who consume, study, or teach news but are looking for alternatives.

https://www.routledge.com/Constructive-News-Across-Languages-and-Cultures/Riggs-Davier/p/book/9781032849058?srsltid=AfmBOoonvJjJkgamIQsQsfWj-aAl21GLE8VANPlLbYNr_YUot9nGm_J2

Ayça Atabey, Kim R. Sylwander and Sonia Livingstone

Read full report here

Read the press release

This report advances the DFC’s and 5Rights’ research on A better Edtech future for children and builds on our earlier DFC research on EdTech and education data.

“Across all GenAI tools we studied, children’s perspectives were largely excluded from their design, governance and evaluation and all tools undermine children's rights to privacy and protection from commercial exploitation.” (Ayça Atabey)

Executive summary

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools are increasingly embedded in digital services and products that are used for and in education (EdTech), raising urgent questions about their impact on children’s learning and rights. We take a holistic child rights approach to children’s learning to evaluate five GenAI tools used in education – Character.AI, Grammarly, MagicSchool AI, Microsoft Copilot and Mind’s Eye.

Using mixed sociolegal methods, including product walkthroughs, policy analysis and consultations with children, educators and experts around the world, we evaluate how these digital tools operate, and we assess the claims they make. These assessments are conducted in the light of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General comment No. 25 regarding the digital environment.

Our primary focus is on how these tools uphold key rights under the UNCRC, including children’s rights to education (Article 28), privacy (Article 16), to be heard and have their views respected (Article 12), non-discrimination (Article 2), the principle of the best interests of the child (Article 3.1), the right to appropriate support for children with disabilities (Article 23), access to information (Article 17) and freedom of expression (Article 13).

While each GenAI tool offers the potential to facilitate learning through, for example, supporting creativity, communication and accessibility, each also presents notable risks. These risks arise because of opaque data practices, poor transparency, commercial exploitation through nudges, advertising and tracking, including from age-inappropriate adult website advertisers, all of which are incompatible with children’s best interests. Overall, many claimed benefits remain unverified, and the increasing presence of GenAI and its increasingly ‘by default’ integration reflects institutional or market priorities more than children’s needs and interests.

Across the five tools studied, children’s perspectives were largely excluded from their design, governance and evaluation. The case studies reveal that these tools undermine children’s rights to privacy and protection from commercial exploitation. The tools may support rights such as education, play, expression and access to information, potentially enhancing children’s learning. However, there is limited evidence for these benefits, especially a lack of evidence from diverse groups of children, younger children and those with disabilities.

Key findings from the case studies:

• Although marketed as an educational and supportive tool, Character.AI poses risks to children’s rights and wellbeing due to insufficient safety safeguards (as evidenced by ongoing litigation), misleading or harmful content, and design features that foster unhealthy emotional dependency. While it can offer some creative and motivational benefits (e.g., Article 13), especially in informal learning contexts, the risks it poses, particularly for vulnerable children (such as young children, children suffering from mental health issues and children with disabilities), may amount to violations of children’s rights to information (Article 17), education (Articles 28, 29), health (Article 24), privacy (Article 16), and non-discrimination (Article 2).
  
• While Grammarly can support children’s learning and expression, particularly for language learners and children with additional needs (Article 23), the audit found that Grammarly tracks and processes children’s data in ways that contradict its own privacy commitments. Further, it promotes inaccurate and potentially harmful AI detection tools that risk undermining student–teacher trust and lack child-friendly safeguards or remedies. These practices risk violating children’s rights to privacy (Article 16), protection from commercial exploitation (Article 32), and being treated in their best interests (Article 3).
  
• MagicSchool AI makes strong claims about reducing teacher workload and supporting student learning. However, we identified a number of ways that its design and data practices risk undermining children’s rights. For instance, despite the company’s stated privacy commitments, children are, by default, exposed to commercial tracking (including from adult site advertisers), and chatbots have been found to provide misleading assurances and inappropriate or unsafe responses. This lack of safeguards, reliable emergency support, and rights-based information means that children’s rights to privacy (Article 16), protection from commercial exploitation (Article 32), information (Article 17), and health and safety (Articles 6, 24, and 19) are potentially at risk.
  
• Microsoft Copilot, embedded in Microsoft 365 tools widely used in UK educational settings, is increasingly accessed by children despite originally being intended for adults. While it can support accessibility, expression, and reduce teacher workload, particular risks arise from its design and deployment. A Dutch data protection impact assessment (DPIA) identified significant privacy concerns, including fabricated personal data, opaque filtering, and extensive tracking. Our research revealed that when a child user accessed the service, commercial trackers were activated, including advertising trackers such as Google Ads. Copilot lacks a child rights impact assessment, clear opt-out options, and transparency about hidden filters. These practices can undermine children’s rights to privacy, agency, and protection from exploitation (Articles 16, 32–36), while overreliance risks weakening core skills and trust in education.
  
• Mind’s Eye is a GenAI art expression tool developed to support children and adults with disabilities, using features such as eye tracking technology and predictive text to enable participation in creative tasks. It offers significant potential to enhance children’s freedom of expression (Article 13) and the rights of children with disabilities (Article 23), particularly for those excluded from mainstream GenAI tools. However, biased or inappropriate suggestions risk undermining expression and engagement, while privacy practices raise concerns about opaque data-sharing practices and lack of child-friendly rights mechanisms (Articles 16, 17 and 32). Without child-specific research, transparency and accessible safeguards, the tool risks reinforcing inequalities rather than removing them.
  

We conclude that GenAI can only enhance education if children’s rights are placed at the centre of its design, deployment and governance. A holistic, child rights-based approach should guide decisions about GenAI use in education, ensuring that children’s best interests, participation and full range of rights are prioritised, with particular emphasis on their right to education. The potential benefits of GenAI in EdTech can only be fully achieved when learning is recognised not as an isolated outcome, but as a process supported by interconnected rights. This means mandatory child rights and data protection impact assessments, accessible safeguards, and meaningful participation of children in decision-making. Without these, children’s right to education can be undermined, and GenAI risks deepening inequalities and exploiting children, rather than supporting their learning.

“The pandemic saw a rapid digitalisation of education, but in the five years since no one has stopped to think if this is benefiting children. This is having serious consequences: children are being tracked by erotic websites and chatbots are providing wrong emergency helplines risking lives and creating dependencies that can damage mental health. As the Government presses ahead with spreading AI far and wide, we must have rules in place to protect children and their education. In the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, parliament has a chance to ensure this happens.” (Colette Collins-Walsh, Head of UK Affairs at 5Rights Foundation)

October 29, 2025

Södertörn University (Stockholm, Sweden)

As part of the upcoming ECREA ARS 2025 mid-term conference, the pre-conference workshop "ChatGPT and Beyond: AI Literacy for Early-Career Scholars" will take place at Södertörn University (Stockholm, Sweden) on the 29th October 2025 from 14:00-17.00 (CET).

This in-person workshop is free and open to all interested participants. Designed for a small group of 15-20 PhD students and early-career scholars from diverse backgrounds, it will offer a space to explore and discuss ethical, professional, and societal dimensions of AI in academia, including concerns and opportunities arising from generative AI technologies.

To register for the workshop follow this link: https://forms.gle/919RHmvypjX3wS1d6 

For further information, contact Nivedita Chatterjee (n.chatterjee@surrey.ac.uk) Paulo Couraceiro (paulo.couraceiro@obercom.pt) or Jan Weis (jan.weis@sh.se) via email.

This workshop is supported by the EDI Grant awarded to the ECREA ARS Section. Please note that participation in the workshop does not require registration for the main conference.

October 30 – 31, 2025

Faculty of journalism and mass communication, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

Deadline (extended): September 30, 2025

THE FACULTY OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION organizes a 6th International Scientific Conference that will be held on the 30th and 31st of October 2025 within the framework of the St. Kliment Ohridski Days on the video conference platform Teams.

The theme is:  The Changing Media: Professional. Regulatory and Ethical Challenges Facing Media and Communications in a Digital Environment

 We most politely invite the specialists in media and communications, as well as those who are involved with the problems of the media and communication environment and culture in their various dimensions and manifestations. We welcome the interdisciplinary approach to the contemporary challenges in the education and practice of journalism and to the communication activities as a whole.

See details following the link https://commed21.com/

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg 

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU), Germany, has the following open positions:

11 Doctoral Researchers in the Research Training Group: “The Experience of Stories in the Digital Age (TESDA)” (100% TV-L salary)

The positions will begin on April 1, 2026, and end on September 30, 2029. Each position is full-time. Remuneration will be based on the collective agreement for the public service of the German federal states (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst der Länder, TV-L).

Disciplines Involved: Communication Science, Psychology, Computer Science

The Research Training Group (RTG)

Humans spend a large part of life engaging with stories. Research from recent decades shows that stories have a strong influence on recipients, and scholars have identified experiential states that are characteristic of story engagement (e.g., narrative transportation, presence). Digital technologies and new media landscapes (e.g., artificial intelligence, virtual reality, social media, social robots) have introduced new challenges and opportunities to the field.

The aim of the RTG is to provide an interdisciplinary, collaborative research environment that enables doctoral researchers to conduct both disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies on stories in the digital realm. The challenges and opportunities of experiencing stories in the digital age will be explored across three main project areas:

1. Immersive virtual reality

2. New (para-)social encounters

3. Epistemic challenges

These three areas comprise a total of seven research projects. Two of the research projects focus on children.

Detailed information on the project areas and individual projects is available at https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/grk3087/.

Your responsibilities

• Complete a doctoral thesis in your discipline within 3.5 years

• Actively participate in the joint activities of the RTG

• Contribute to the self-administration and self-organization of the RTG

Your qualifications

• Strong interest in pursuing an academic career

• An above-average master’s degree or equivalent in one of the relevant disciplines (exceptional candidates with a bachelor’s degree may be considered)

• Excellent command of English (all RTG activities will be conducted in English)

• Experience in empirical social science research; specific technical computer science/HCI skills for some positions

Application procedure

Your application should include:

a) A cover letter outlining your motivation to apply

b) A CV

c) A brief statement (maximum 2 pages) specifying which of the seven projects you are applying for and explaining your choice

d) Your BSc/MSc thesis and/or other scientific work

You may apply for one or more projects. Applicants with severe disabilities will be given preferential consideration when equally qualified. Please send your application and supporting documents, preferably by email, to jmu-grk.tesda@uni-wuerzburg.de. Review of applications begins on October 20, 2025, and will continue until the positions are filled.

Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences

We are seeking two post-doctoral researchers to conduct ethnographic studies of game production for the ERC grant GAMEINDEX: Politics and aesthetics of indexical representation in digital games and VR. The project is headed by Dr. Jaroslav Švelch and located at Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, within the Prague Game Production Studies research group. The starting date is in 2026 and the duration of the position is 2 years, with the possibility of extension to 3 years.

The deadline for applications is 30 September 2025.

Project focus:

GAMEINDEX focuses on indexical representation in games – both as traces of real-life objects or people in the simulated worlds of digital games and VR, and as references to physical locations. Besides games themselves, we are interested in analyzing indexical techniques such as motion capture, 3D scanning, voiceover recording, and others. The post-doctoral researchers will primarily contribute to the work package that analyzes the use of indexical techniques within the production practices of video games and/or VR, and explores the transformation of real-life objects and people into in-game assets. The GAMEINDEX project presupposes that material will be collected in game/VR production studios using ethnographic methods (studio ethnographies, participants observation, interviews). Within the scope of the GAMEINDEX project, described here, the applicant is free to come up with their own research project with more specific research questions.

Required qualifications:

• A completed Ph.D. degree or a document from home university confirming that Ph.D. will be awarded by the starting date of contract
  
• Documented experience in social scientific or humanistic research of digital games or other media
  

Recommended qualifications:

• Experience with studio ethnographies or other ethnographic methods of researching game or media production
  
• A Ph.D. from fields such as media studies, film studies, anthropology, or sociology
  
• A solid record of publishing academic research in the English language
  
• Knowledge of contemporary game production and familiarity with indexical techniques (technical experience with them is welcome but not required)
  

Required materials:

• An academic CV and a list of published works
  
• Two references from within academia (include name, title, institution, email address, and phone number); an additional reference from the game industry may be provided if applicable. No letters needed.
  
• A copy of a Ph.D. certificate or an official record of planned/completed defence
  
• Research project – a 2,000 word description of your intended project, which should fit the aims and scope of GAMEINDEX but may reflect the applicant’s personal research interests and previous experience. The project should include: a theoretical background and positioning, research questions, methodology, a list potential case studies, risk analysis, and a rough work plan for the 2 years (Gantt chart not needed).
  
• Two samples of academic writing – ideally from published articles, dissertation, or conference papers
  

Practical arrangements:

The incoming applications will be screened by the GAMEINDEX team and suitable candidates will be invited for an online or in-person interview. Successful applicants are expected to relocate to Prague and are eligible for a relocation fee from the project budget.

Successful applicants will become full-time employees of Charles University, with benefits and a competitive salary commensurable with experience (details provided upon request).

Once employed, the researcher can be granted funding from GAMEINDEX to cover costs of fieldwork and conference travel.

Submissions:

Applicants may submit their applications by September 30, 2025, via e-mail to:

kariera@fsv.cuni.cz, with the subject: “Postdoc ERC GAMEINDEX”. Applicants may approach the PI Jaroslav Švelch at jaroslav.svelch@fsv.cuni.cz to ask questions about GAMEINDEX and the postdoc positions.

By responding to this advertisement, you consent to the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, located at Smetanovo nábřeží 6, Prague 1, Postal Code 110 01, processing your personal data for the purposes of the selection procedure. The processing of personal data is carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and Act No. 110/2019 Coll., on the Processing of Personal Data.

IAMCR

Lead a global network advancing media and communication research. IAMCR, with 3,500+ members in 85 countries, seeks a full-time, remote Executive Director to run a small virtual secretariat, support specialised thematic groups, drive membership growth and funding, and help shape our flagship annual conference. The role suits a highly organised, self-directed leader experienced with professional/academic associations; fundraising skills are an asset. Limited travel (2 trips/year). English required; French/Spanish/Mandarin an asset. Start as early as January 2026. Salary commensurate with experience.

Apply by 17 October 2025 with: CV, cover letter, references (with contact details), and a brief vision statement. Interviews in November.

Full announcement & how to apply: https://iamcr.org/vacancy-ed

November 22, 2025

Online

Deadline: September 30, 2025

Dear colleagues,

From algorithmic cultures to participatory trends, from narrative futures to inclusive innovation – RE: TREND – Culture in Motion is calling for your contribution. 

We want to invite you to submit a communication proposal to the III Trends and Culture Management Colloquium, hosted by ICNOVA/iNOVA Media Lab in collaboration with CEAUL/Trends and Culture Management Lab.

This edition focuses on digital transformations and cultural practices in motion, encouraging critical and creative reflection on the signals of change shaping today’s culture. We particularly welcome submissions from students and early-career researchers. Participation is free of charge.

We invite abstracts (250–300 words) for 10-minute online presentations in Portuguese or English, addressing one or more of the following themes (but not limited to):

• Living Intelligence & Algorithmic Cultures

• Culture in Beta: Labs, Prototypes and Experiments

• Trendspotting, Semiotics and Brand Strategies

• Narrative Futures and Sociocultural Anticipation

• Datafied Culture and Inclusive Innovation

• Fandoms, Microcultures and Participatory Trends

• AI and Trend Research

• Communication, New Media and Trends

Date: Saturday, 22 November 2025

Format: Online

Keynote speaker to be announced soon

Submit your abstract: https://bit.ly/trendscolloquium

Deadline for submissions: 30 September 2025

We look forward to your contribution.

For more details, please visit: https://trendsandculture.fcsh.unl.pt

Best regards,

Ana Marta M. Flores & Organising Committee

The International Journal of Communication (SPECIAL SECTION)

Deadline: December 1, 2025

Few technological developments spark more debate today than artificial intelligence. From promises of human advancement to fears of existential risk, AI generates a multitude of visions, conflicts, and societal debates. This “imaginative landscape of AI” goes beyond technical issues, encompassing political struggles, social movements, and ideas about the future of communication and society.

The International Journal of Communication is launching a Special Section on The Imaginative Landscape of AI: Visions, Positions, Conflicts. The editors of this Special Section, Andreas Hepp and Nathan Schneider, invite submissions that empirically explore emerging imaginaries, ideological positions, and conflicts surrounding AI.

Key deadlines:

• Abstracts (500 words) due December 1, 2025
  
• Notification of acceptance by January 1, 2026
  
• Full manuscripts due May 1, 2026
  
• Publication in spring 2027

More information and the submission form can be found here:

View the Call for Papers (PDF):https://comai.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CfP-Imaginative-Landscape-of-AI.pdf

Link to the submission form: https://nc.uni-bremen.de/index.php/apps/forms/s/ctFFdYg5X3XKpeBBjoEQSMGm

Special issue/edited volume

Deadline: November 17, 2025

When does the experience of watching a film truly begin? Could it start long before the movie theatre or the living room, but on a backstreet, a remote field, or a historical site where a local film shoot is taking place? These questions invite us to rethink spectatorship not as something that only happens in front of a screen, but as a lived, spatial, and participatory experience embedded in the making of the movies.

Set-going is a novel concept referring to the practice of visiting filming locations during the principal photography of a movie. This practice opens a rich and overlooked field of interaction between audiences and production cultures. Set-going is not merely a variant of fan studies or media tourism; it is a socially embedded experience transforming how spectatorship, spatial belonging, and film culture are understood. Unlike film tourism or film-induced tourism, which typically involves visits to sound stage studios or iconic shooting locations after a film gains popularity, set-going centres on the live presence of non-professionals during the filmmaking process itself, making it an immediate, participatory, and temporally bound engagement with cinema (Şavk et al., 2025). 

Rooted in the New Cinema History (NCH) paradigm—which emphasises the social and cultural dimensions of cinema through research on audiences, exhibition practices, and the lived experience of film consumption—set-going extends this approach upstream into the production phase. NCH has redirected attention from film texts to the contexts in which films are distributed and viewed, as seen in studies of cinema-going habits, neighbourhood theatres, and audience memories (see Maltby, Biltereyst & Meers, 2011). Rather than focusing solely on how films are consumed, set-going shows that spectatorship begins before exhibition and is co-produced through on-site encounters among publics, places, and industry labour. Set-going thus offers a fresh perspective on how cinematic meaning and participation are shaped not only in the theatre but also on the set.

This perspective resonates with and seeks to extend several key strands of media and cinema scholarship. Studies of production cultures have shown how the backstage dynamics of filmmaking reveal broader industrial reflexivities and critical practices (Caldwell, 2008), while research in spatial media theory has foregrounded the significance of place in the experience and negotiation of media (Jansson & Falkheimer, 2006; Reijnders, 2011). The concept of set-going also builds on work in audience memory and cultural geography that emphasises spectatorship as an embodied, affective, and place-bound activity (Kuhn, 2002). At the same time, it offers a necessary counterpoint to discussions of fan cultures and participatory media (Jenkins, Ford & Green, 2013; Hills, 2002) by focusing on forms of engagement that may be informal, improvised, or locally rooted rather than networked and transnational. By bridging these bodies of work, set-going enables a rethinking of how film cultures are lived, co-produced, and remembered across time and space.

Certain commonalities emerge across film industries and countries where set-going has developed as a component of cinema culture. Foremost among these is the practice of shooting on real locations rather than exclusively in sound stage studios. The partial or complete use of real settings is a key factor enabling local residents to become set-goers. Secondly, these cinema cultures tend to emphasise locality, making set-going a critical practice through which audiences engage with films at a community or regional level. When local identity holds significant cultural and economic value within a film culture, set-going gradually shifts from being tolerated to being a desired phenomenon. Thirdly, cinemas where set-going is prevalent often operate under lower-budget and more pragmatic production modes, rather than adhering strictly to high-end industrial standards. On-location shooting environments typically do not allow for, nor enforce, absolute control, thus making it difficult to prevent the presence of set-goers.  

We invite proposals that explore the concept of set-going across different cinematic traditions, historical periods, and geographic contexts. Submissions from scholars working in areas such as cinema history, fan studies, film tourism, production cultures, media studies, urban history, and cultural geography are especially encouraged.

We welcome abstracts on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

• Historical and contemporary case studies of set-going in various national and regional cinema contexts;
  
• Theoretical engagements with set-going as a form of audience-making, participatory spectatorship, or informal labour;
  
• Explorations of how set-going intersects with class, gender, place, memory, and the politics of access;
  
• Theoretical and cultural connections between set-going, fan studies and film tourism;
  
• Archival or oral history sources that offer insight into everyday interactions at film sets;
  
• Set-going practices in the context of TV productions and platform series;
  
• Set-going as an area of encounter and conflict between film professionals, the public and local authorities;
  
• Transnational comparisons of production visibility and on-location shooting within the context of set-going practices;
  
• Strategic use of set-going activities as part of marketing and publicity. 

Please send your abstracts of 300-500 words along with short bios (max. 100 words for each author) to serkan.savk@ieu.edu.tr  no later than November 17, 2025. These abstracts do not need to follow a rigid format, but are encouraged to include:

• A short and precise description of your proposed subject;
  
• Relevant methodological tools and resources are required for examining the subject;
  
• Current state of the proposed research: Have you already begun working on this topic, or is it something you relate to after reading the call but have not yet started? (This information will not prejudice the evaluation of your abstract);
  
• Tentative research plan (where necessary);
  
• 2-3 key references. 

Based on the number and content of proposals, this publication project will take the form of either a special issue of a reputable journal indexed by Scopus and/or Web of Science or an edited volume by a recognised academic or university publisher. Word count and citation format of the final manuscripts will be decided accordingly. Accepted papers will go through the peer-review process required by the journal/publisher. Please note that editorial acceptance does not guarantee publication. 

Timeline

• Abstract submission:  November 17, 2025
  
• Notification of acceptance:  December 22, 2025
  
• Full paper submission:   July 6, 2026 (peer-review process starts)
  

Scholars who are interested in rethinking where and how cinema is experienced and how such encounters might be written into the broader story of film culture are warmly encouraged to respond. No payment from the autors will be required for this publication. 

Editors

• Serkan Şavk
  

Gulf University for Science and Technology

Izmir University of Economics

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Serkan-Savk 

• Aydın Çam
  

Çukurova University

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aydin-Cam

Works cited

Caldwell, J. T. (2008). Production culture: Industrial reflexivity and critical practice in film and television. Duke University Press.

Hills, M. (2002). Fan cultures. Routledge.

Jansson, A., & Falkheimer, J. (Eds.). (2006). Geographies of communication: The spatial turn in media studies. Nordicom.

Jenkins, H., Ford, S., & Green, J. (2013). Spreadable media: Creating value and meaning in a networked culture. NYU Press.

Kuhn, A. (2002). An everyday magic: Cinema and cultural memory. I.B. Tauris.

Maltby, R., Biltereyst, D., & Meers, P. (Eds.). (2011). Explorations in new cinema history: Approaches and case studies. Wiley-Blackwell. 

Reijnders, S. (2011). Places of the imagination: Media, tourism, culture. Ashgate.

Şavk, S., Çam, A., & Şanlıer, İ. (2025). Set-going chronicles: Rethinking Turkish cinema through the lens of new cinema history. Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 64(2), 126–147.