ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Chapters proposals, Istanbul University Press

Deadline (chapter proposals): December 1, 2020

Chapter Drafts Due June 1, 2021

New Media / New Society? will focus effects of new media on social relations. This volume has a question: Can we describe our society as a new media society? It intends to open new discussions on new media and social relations. The volume interrogates the question of whether (or not), and to what extent, new media have spawned new varieties of social organization, new practices of social interaction and identity, and new structures of material or symbolic social relations. There have been so many claims regarding how postmodern/postindustrial media modalities are contributing to various iterations of utopian and anti-utopian futures, beyond those traditional views of Orwell, Huxley, Marx, and Weber, for example. In the past decades, we have heard academic claims about a variety of effects, for example, including (but not limited to) simulation, misinformation, balkanization, intersectionality, assemblages, affordances, liquification, disruption, fragmentization, saturation/distraction, propaganda, mediatization, culture wars,(de/post/neo)colonization, modes of signification, gamification, crowdsourcing, participatory media, hypertextualization, assimilation, chaos, spectacles, virtuality, augmented reality, digitization, disconnection, mass surveillance, and cyborgology. On the other hand, there have been so many descriptions of society, for example including (but not limited to) information society, post-emotional society, consumption society, network society, internet society, cyber society, new media society, post-modernism, post-humanism, the Anthropocene, and digital society.

The volume /New Media / New Society? /Interrogates these claims from the perspective of the long view, meaning it looks at such changes over the last half-century (since 1970), and for the same period moving forward (until 2070). Also, there are methodological questions within sociology regarding the examination of new media forms and their relation to the social construction of reality. How media studies/social theory can explain the nature and nuance of new social relations under new media forms, if such new social realities exist?

This volume will be an “agenda for new media and new society discussions,” in that it will clarify the effect of new media on social relations, including specific recommendations for action by researchers, policy makers, and the public. The volume will provide new topics for our projects and books.

This work is tentatively to be published in electronic format by Istanbul University Press, an academic publisher at the Istanbul University, Turkey (https://iupress.istanbul.edu.tr/en/). As a project in academic sociology, the volume will cover important national-level and international-level new media and society.

We ask you, individually or with colleagues, to consider submitting a brief proposal (500 words max.) identifying a significant idea/trend from media studies/social theory, to include the following items:

1.Clarify the emergence and development of one or more key concepts from media studies/social theory.

2.Clarify key media technologies and techniques which are interwoven in such dynamics.

3.Explore conceptual and/or empirical aspects of the concept and media practices over the last half century (since 1970).

4.Take stock of the development at the present moment (year 2020).

5.Offer insight into future directions foreseen for the next half century (until 2070).

6.Assess whether (or to what extent) these new media dynamics have resulted in new social forms. That is, clarify if new media leads to new society or vice versa.

We invite researchers to prepare draft statements for proposed contributions to this volume. Please submit a copy of your 1- to 2-page proposal via email to each of the editors by December 1, 2020. Final contributions will be limited to 5000 words maximum (or roughly twenty double-spaced manuscript pages). Chapter drafts will be due June 1, 2021, and final manuscripts will be due November 1, 2021. The e-volume is expected to launch in February 2021.

Papers could address, but are not limited to, the following subjects:

• Alienation
• Authority
• Communities
• Crime, Violence
• Drugs, Alcohol, Addictions
• Economy, Work
• Education
• Environment, Technology
• Ethics
• Family, Marriage
• Globalization
• Health Care, Mental Health
• Inequality, Poverty, Wealth
• Law, Justice
• Media, Communications
• Methods
• Modernity
• Politics
• Pop Culture, Sport, Leisure
• Population, Migration
• Privacy / Surveillance
• Race, Ethnicity
• Religion, Cultural Issues
• Secularization
• Social Conflict, Social Change
• Social Movements
• Social Welfare
• Theoretical Perspectives
• Urban Issues, Rural Issues
• Youth, Aging, Life Course

Important Dates

-5 October 2020: Call for Chapter Proposals Sent Out to Contributors for Books.

-1 December 2020: Proposed Abstracts Due for Chapers.

-1 January 2021: Invitations to Contribute & Author Guidelines Distributed.

-1 June 2021: Full Manuscripts Due / Begin Review Process.

-1 September 2021: First Round of Reviews Completed / Revisions Start.

-1 November 2021: Revised Manuscripts Due.

-1 December 2021: Submission of Book to Publisher.

-1 February 2022: Publication

Editors

Murat Şentürk, Istanbul University, Turkey, murat.senturk@istanbul.edu.tr

Massimo Ragnedda, Northumbria Universtiy, UK, massimo.ragnedda@northumbria.ac.uk

Glenn W. Muschert, Khalifa University, UAE, glenn.muschert@ku.ac.ae

Managing Editor

Hamdüsena Eşrefoğlu, Istanbul University, Turkey, hamdusenaesrefoglu@istanbul.edu.tr

July 18, 2021

Leeds, United Kingdom, Queens Hotel Leeds, City Square, Leeds, LS1 1PJ

Deadline: May 1, 2021

Please note that the conference date is provisional and subject to change due to the epidemiological situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. We will not open a fee payment system until we are sure we can host the event. Please do not book flights and accommodation in the UK before the conference date is confirmed by the organiser.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

• Dr Audra Diers-Lawson, Leeds Beckett University, UK: Are women better crisis leaders? A reflection on lessons learned about gendered, leadership, and communication from the Covid-19 pandemic
• Erene Hadjiioannou, Therapy Leeds, Leeds, UK: ‘Sexual Violence and Gender: Findings from Psychotherapy in the UK’

RATIONALE

All recent research on gender demonstrates that patriarchy is alive and well and that both men and women suffer from patriarchal perceptions of expected roles. For example, women still face difficulties and inequality of opportunities for jobs, and when equality is achieved and they enter a certain industry; they face difficulties in being promoted to managerial positions (glass ceiling). On the other hand, men face difficulties in embracing roles traditionally seen as feminine such as staying at home with children or applying for paternal leaves, which are still approved more to women than men.

When it comes to gender perceptions the situation becomes even more complicated because if one refuses to identify with the sex assigned at birth and chooses to express gender differently, patriarchy kicks in even stronger and these individuals face not just discrimination in access to employment but also public mocking and even assaults. It is stating the obvious to say that many countries in the world still ban homosexuality and that LGBT individuals and couples are not just discriminated but also targets of public campaigns to ban them from ever having the same rights as heterosexual couples such as marriage and adopting children (before they even asked for these rights), assaults, threats and intimidation, etc.

The question we can ask is how far have we got in achieving not just gender equality (for the vast amount of research testifies we have indeed not got far albeit lots of progress has been made), but how far have we got in achieving an understanding of gender? What kind of culture needs to be created to embrace diversity beyond positive laws (that exist only in some countries), but a true diversity where nobody will think they should have the right to question someone’s self-perception and self-expression, and a culture where all genders will be equal?

This conference, therefore, invites papers in the following (but not limited to) themes:

• Definitions of gender
• Positive practices of gender equality legislation
• Positive practices of cultural and social understandings of genders
• Discriminatory practices
• Feminist studies
• Women’s studies
• Masculinity studies
• LGBT rights
• Women, LGBT identities and patriarchal society
• Men, LGBT identities and patriarchal society
• Transgender identities
• Discrimination against LGBT and transgender people
• Gender and Culture
• Gender activism: case studies
• Personal stories and biographies

Submissions of abstracts (up to 500 words) with an email contact should be sent to gender_conference@socialsciencesandhumanities.com by 1 May 2021. Decisions will be sent by 1 June 2021 and registrations are due by 30 June 2021.

The Conference fee is £180, and it includes:

• The registration fee
• Conference bag and folder with materials
• Access to the newsletter, and electronic editions of the Centre
• Meals and drinks
• WLAN during the conference
• Certificate of attendance

PUBLICATIONS

A special issue of journals will be edited and published in an Intellect journal. The topic of the special journal and the journal selection depends on conference submissions and the review process. From last year’s conferences, two special issues are currently being edited,

The Journal of Popular Television (Intellect), special issue topic ‘Women and Girls in Popular Television in the Age of Post-Feminism’ (eds. M. Topić & M. J. Cunha)

Facta Universitatis: Series Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History (University of Niš), special issue topic ‘#metoo movement: past, present and what next? (ed. M. Topić)

Participants are responsible for finding funding to cover transportation and accommodation costs during the whole period of the conference. This applies to both presenting and non-presenting participants. We will not discriminate based on the origin and/or methodological/paradigmatic approach of prospective conference participants.

The conference is a grassroots initiative led by Dr Martina Topić (https://www.martinatopic.com). Martina can be contacted on martinahr@gmail.com

The conference usually has five to six panels, and we can organise parallel sessions for panels (up to two parallel sessions per day).

Visa Information

The Centre will issue a Visa letter to participants with UK entry clearance requirement.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Audra Diers-Lawson: In her career of more than 20 years, Dr Diers-Lawson has been a practitioner, researcher and instructor in strategic communication with an emphasis on crisis response and brand management. She is also the Chair of the Crisis Communication Division of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). As a practitioner, Dr Diers-Lawson has worked across industries like IT, health, agriculture and the public sector in multinational, national, regional and local contexts. For example, she worked with the Applied Materials Shared Services Division on a global change initiative. She has been a part of many projects like the successful campaign for emergency contraception availability in Texas. Additionally, she has worked with small businesses in the agricultural industry to develop effective integrated marketing campaigns — developing cross-platform public relations and advertising campaigns. She has also lead a team that conducted a strategic communication audit and recommendations for an NHS health trust and part of a team that created a strategic communication toolkit for the European Public Employment Service. As a researcher, Dr Diers-Lawson’s research explores the relationships between socially responsible organisations, crisis prevention or mitigation, and crisis response. As a result, her research focuses heavily on understanding public attitudes and the factors driving behaviour and decision-making.

Erene Hadjiioannou: Erene is an integrative psychotherapist​ with over ten years of experience of working with adults in a variety of settings. She is currently in her private practice, Therapy Leeds, which is an LGBT+ affirmative service. Her specialist area is the impact of sexual violence. Between 2014 and 2018, Erene created and coordinated two specialist services for women with complex needs (offenders, and survivors of sexual violence). Erene incorporates activism into her work, believing that practitioners have a responsibility to create social change in the wider world as well as an individual change in appointments.

University of Sheffield

Rank: Postdoctoral Researcher

Area: Online Political Advertising

Deadline: 4th November 2020

Link: https://bit.ly/34ySBPo

We are seeking to recruit a Research Associate to join an innovative new project funded by the Leverhulme Trust entitled ‘Understanding Online Political Advertising: Perceptions, Uses and Regulations’. Working as part of an interdisciplinary team that spans Politics, Psychology and Computer Science, you will be generating new insights on how online political advertising is perceived by the public, how it is understood and described by practitioners, and how it actually appears online. This work will generate vital new insights on legitimate and trusted practices, and perceptions of effectiveness – findings that will be used to inform current policy making debates. Based at the University of Sheffield, you will conduct interviews, undertake literature reviews, design and analyse public opinion surveys.

Find more information about the post here: https://bit.ly/34ySBPo

Post is for 3 years. If you have any questions please contact Kate Dommett: k.dommett@sheffield.ac.uk.

University of Sheffield

Rank: Postdoctoral Researcher

Area: Data-driven campaigning

Deadline: 5th November 2020

Link: https://bit.ly/3nmTtiS

This post offers the chance to join an innovative new project ‘Data-driven campaigns: intended and unintended consequences for democracy [DATADRIVEN]’. This international research project will be gathering insights on the practice, regulation, impact and perception of data-driven campaigning activity.

This job will see the successful candidate work as part of a wider collaborative team based in the UK, Amsterdam and Vienna to conduct interviews, undertake literature reviews, gather and analyse relevant documents and data, inform survey design and data analysis. Based in the UK, you will be gathering data on four countries – the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Austria - to build up unprecedented insight into data-driven campaigning activity.

Find more information about the post here: https://bit.ly/3nmTtiS

Post is for 3 years. If you have any questions please contact Kate Dommett: k.dommett@sheffield.ac.uk.

University of Passau

The University of Passau owes its strong visibility and good repute to excellent research, innovative teaching and its tight-knit international academic networks. Some 12,000 students from 100 countries and more than 1,200 staff study and work on our University campus, which is located a stone’s throw from the historical Old Town of Passau and combines state-of-the-art technical infrastructure with award-winning architecture. Internationally successful high-tech companies and a vibrant start-up scene, coupled with a rich culture and Lower Bavarian traditions, give Passau and the surrounding area a special appeal that makes it a great place to live and work.

The Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region (Professor Florian Toepfl) invites applications for the position of

Assistant Professor – Akademische Rätin/Akademischer Rat auf Zeit (1.0 FTE)

for immediate start. This is a 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) position, based on a fixed three-year contract with the option of extension. Remuneration is in accordance with pay grade E13 of the German public-sector collective agreement TV-L; the salary step is dependent on your qualifications and experience. If you meet the criteria, you may receive temporary civil servant status (‘Beamter auf Zeit’) and obtain remuneration in accordance with pay grade A13.

Job description

• Working largely independently, you will have manifold opportunities to advance your own research agenda and develop an internationally competitive track record of publications with leading academic journals or publishing houses, centred on the field of political communication.

• You will have the chance to collaborate and exploit synergies of your own work with the ERC RUSINFORM research group (please visit www.rusinform.uni-passau.de for details).

• You will plan, administer and deliver classes of five teaching contact hours per week (i.e. you will teach approximately 2.5 courses per semester). Your teaching efforts will be centred on the discipline of communications. The courses you will teach may range from introductory classes for bachelor’s programmes all the way to advanced, research-oriented seminars for master’s programmes. In addition, some of your classes will reach out to students of other social science disciplines with a strong interest in Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet Region.

• You will take on responsibility for a fair share of administrative and organisational tasks at the Chair of Political Communication (www.phil.uni-passau.de/en/political-communication).

Person specification/selection criteria

• An excellent doctorate in the discipline of communications or an adjacent social science. You need to have your doctoral certificate in hand by the time you start the position.

• A master’s degree or equivalent in communication science, a related social science discipline such as sociology or political science, or an interdisciplinary, social-science-oriented course of study with a geographical focus on the post-Soviet region.

• Evidence of an emerging, strong track-record of peer-reviewed publications in major international communications journals, or of book publications with internationally leading publishing houses.

• A strong interest to pursue research that focuses on Russia, Eurasia, or Eastern Europe.
• Highly motivated candidates with or without prior work experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

• Experience with the application of traditional (qualitative or quantitative) methods of socialscience research (essential).
• Knowledge and experience with new computational methods (highly desirable).
• Excellent English-language skills (essential).
• Good knowledge of German or willingness to learn German (essential).
• Very good knowledge of at least one language spoken in the post-Soviet region (highly desirable).

• Evidence of ability and willingness to work as part of a team of researchers (desirable).
• Evidence of flexibility, autonomy and creativity (essential).
• Evidence of strong communication skills (desirable).
• Evidence of strong analytical and critical skills and clear academic writing (essential).
• Willingness to assist in organisational and support functions (essential).

What we offer

• This postdoctoral position comes with an internationally competitive salary, stipulated in accordance with the German collective agreement for the public sector (TV-L E13; minimum gross salary: 49,900 euros per annum) or the A13 pay grade for civil servants (both at the 1.0 full-time equivalent level).

• You will have the opportunity to cooperate closely with the RUSINFORM ERC consolidator research group, its principal investigator, Professor Florian Toepfl, and leading international scholars affiliated with this research project. The community of researchers affiliated with the Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region aspires to be a vibrant, friendly and energetic academic environment with flat hierarchies, in which everyone has great enthusiasm for their shared research interests.

• Assistant professors may invite leading scholars in their field to join this community for a limited period of time in the framework of the visiting fellows’ programme of the ERC project.

• You will be encouraged to vigorously pursue your own ideas, strengthen your track record of independent academic publications, and energetically advance your own academic career.

• Generous support for participation in a wide range of conferences, workshops and methods-training courses.

• A high level of freedom when it comes to establishing your work processes.
• An enjoyable work climate in a family-friendly research environment, in a medium-sized town offering a high quality of life, on a modern, verdant university campus situated a few minutes’ walk from the historic Old Town.

As the University of Passau wishes to raise the proportion of women in research and teaching, female academics are expressly encouraged to apply. This post may be available part-time, provided a suitable number of candidates are willing to work on a work-share basis. Furthermore, this post is suitable for those who are registered disabled. Registered disabled persons are given preference over non-disabled applicants who do not otherwise have statutory preferential status if their overall personal aptitudes, skills and qualifications are equal.

How to apply

Your full application (in English or German), sent as a single e-mail attachment in PDF format, should include the following documents:

• Your curriculum vitae.
• Your bachelor’s and master’s degree certificates as well as your doctoral certificate.
• Letter of motivation (maximum two pages) stating why you would like to join the Chair of Political Communication, the avenues of independent research you would like to explore, and potential areas of collaboration with the RUSINFORM project. Please provide evidence with regard to the selection criteria listed above.

• One to three pieces of academic writing (for instance, your doctoral thesis, a book chapter, or a journal article).

• Contact details and phone numbers of one to three referees (at least one academic, for instance, the supervisor of your master’s or doctoral thesis).

Please send your application by e-mail to sarah.miedl@uni-passau.de, using the subject line ‘POLCOMM-PROF’, by 1 November 2020 (whilst we may be able to consider applications received after this date, this is not guaranteed.)

We look forward to receiving your application! If you have any questions related to this vacancy, please feel free to contact Professor Florian Toepfl (florian.toepfl@uni-passau.de), Sarah Miedl (sarah.miedl@uni-passau.de) or one of the doctoral researchers at the Chair.

Once the application process has been completed, we will retain your application on file for six months before deleting it from our computer systems. Please visit www.unipassau.de/en/university/current-vacancies for our data privacy statement.

The University of Passau

The University of Passau owes its strong visibility and good repute to excellent research, innovative teaching and its tight-knit international academic networks. Some 12,000 students from 100 countries and more than 1,200 staff study and work on our University campus, which is located a stone’s throw from the historical Old Town of Passau and combines state-of-the-art technical infrastructure with award-winning architecture. Internationally successful high-tech companies and a vibrant start-up scene, coupled with a rich culture and Lower Bavarian traditions, give Passau and he surrounding area a special appeal that makes it a great place to live and work.

The University of Passau is conducting a five-year ERC (European Research Council) Consolidator project (2019–2024) titled The Consequences of the Internet for Russia’s Informational Influence Abroad (RUSINFORM). Receiving approximately two million euros in funds from the European Research Council, RUSINFORM will involve six researchers and a series of visiting fellows. The project aims to investigate how, and with what consequences, new Internet-based technologies have contributed to the emergence of novel resources, techniques and processes by which political elites in Moscow can influence media audiences abroad. More information is available at www.rusinform.uni-passau.de/en.

For the RUSINFORM project, the Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region (Professor Florian Toepfl) invites applications for the position of

Doctoral student – Graduate Research Assistant (0.65 FTE)

for immediate start. This is a 65% full-time equivalent (FTE) position, based on a fixed three-year contract with the option of extension for an additional year. Remuneration is in accordance with pay grade E13 of the German public-sector collective agreement TV-L; the salary step is dependent on your qualifications and experience.

Job description

• Working largely independently, you will pursue research that makes important contributions to the success of two of the subprojects (work packages 1 and 2) of the RUSINFORM project. The work packages’ titles are ‘Foreign audiences as co-creators and disseminators of Russia’s strategic narratives in Belarus, Germany and Estonia’ and ‘The audiences of Russia’s domestic media abroad’. In pursuing the research efforts required to accomplish these work packages, you will co-operate closely with the other doctoral students and the principal investigator of the project.

• Simultaneously, you will develop, design and conduct independent research that will qualify you for the award of a doctoral degree. The topic of this independent doctoral research should be closely related to the central topic of the research group. It may – but need not necessarily – be grounded in data collected in the framework of the RUSINFORM project.

• You will have the chance to author, or contribute as a co-author to, publications of the RUSINFORM research group.

• You will also support other work packages of the RUSINFORM project, if this is required and your specific project-related skills are needed.

• You will contribute to efforts in the area of project administration and outreach. The ERC project will organise a series of public events and workshops, invite visiting scholars from across the globe, and maintain a website and several social media accounts. Although routine tasks in these areas will be carried out by an administrative assistant and a student/research assistant, doctoral students are expected to take on management responsibilities and other leading roles in this work.

• You will present the results of your research at national and international conferences across the globe. 

Person specification/selection criteria

• A master’s degree or equivalent in communication science, a related social science discipline such as sociology or political science, or in a social-science-oriented, interdisciplinary course of study focusing on Russia or Eastern Europe as a geographical region. Highly motivated candidates with or without prior work experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

• Good knowledge of and/or experience with the application of traditional methods of socialscience research, ideally with a focus on survey research and/or the conduct of semistructured interviews.
• Good knowledge or willingness to acquire extensive skills in the application of new, so-called computational methods of social-science research, with a focus on the automated collection and analysis of web content.

• Excellent English-language skills (essential).
• Good knowledge of German (desirable)
• Very good knowledge of one or more of the following languages: Russian, Belarusian, or Estonian (desirable)

• Evidence of ability and willingness to work as part of a team of researchers (desirable).
• Evidence of strong self-management skills, as required to successfully complete a four-year doctoral project (essential).

• Evidence of intellectual flexibility, autonomy and creativity (essential).
• Evidence of strong communication skills (desirable).
• Evidence of strong analytical and critical skills and clear academic writing (desirable).
• Willingness to assist in organisational and support functions (essential).

We offer

• The doctoral position comes with an internationally competitive salary, which will be stipulated in accordance with the German collective agreement for the public sector (TV-L E13 at a 0.65 full time equivalent). Depending on the candidate’s work experience, the initial annual gross salary will be at least 32,400 euros (i.e. approximately 2,600 euros per month). From this gross salary, contributions to the German pension scheme, health insurance and other social insurances will be automatically deducted. Depending on the family situation, the doctoral candidate’s initial net salary will thus amount to at least 1,680 euros a month.

• The ERC group offers doctoral candidates a vibrant and international academic environment with flat hierarchies. In the course of the project, doctoral students will receive hands-on training in conducting world-class communication research. They will be closely supervised and supported by the principal investigator of the ERC research group, members of academic staff at the University of Passau, and international scholars affiliated with the project. Doctoral candidates will be encouraged to pursue their own ideas, make strong individual contributions to the success of the research project and develop an initial track record of independent academic publications that will qualify them for a career in academia.

• Generous support for participation in a wide range of project-related conferences, workshops and methods-training courses.

• A high level of freedom when it comes to establishing your work processes.
• A great work climate in a family-friendly city offering a high quality of life, on a modern, verdant university campus situated a few minutes’ walk from the historic Old Town.

More information about the project is available at www.rusinform.uni-passau.de/en.As the University of Passau wishes to raise the proportion of women in research and teaching, female academics are expressly encouraged to apply. Furthermore, this post is suitable for those who are registered disabled. Registered disabled persons are given preference over non-disabled applicants who do not otherwise have statutory preferential status if their overall personal aptitudes, skills and qualifications are equal.

How to apply

Your full application (in English or German), sent as a single e-mail attachment in PDF format, should include the following documents:

• Your curriculum vitae.
• University entrance qualification (usually your secondary-school leaving certificate) and bachelor’s or master’s degree certificate.

• Letter of motivation (approximately one page) stating why you would like to pursue doctoral study within the research group, envisaged doctoral thesis topic (or type of research you could imagine pursuing) and how you think you could contribute to the success of the project. Please also provide evidence with regard to the selection criteria listed above.

• One or two pieces of academic writing (for instance, a seminar essay, your bachelor’s dissertation or master’s thesis).

Contact details and phone numbers of one to three referees (at least one academic, for instance, the supervisor of your master’s thesis).Please send your application by e-mail to sarah.miedl@uni-passau.de, using the subject line ‘RUSINFORM–DOC’, by 1 November 2020 (whilst we may be able to consider applications received after this date, this is not guaranteed.)

We look forward to receiving your application! If you have any questions related to this vacancy, please feel free to contact the Principal Investigator of the ERC project (florian.toepfl@unipassau.de) or a doctoral student in the project.

Once the application process has been completed, we will retain your application on file for six months before deleting it from our computer systems. Please visit www.unipassau.de/en/university/current-vacancies for our data privacy statement.

October 14, 2020

Virtual seminar

Deadline: October 12, 2020

The Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries at King's College London has the pleasure of hosting a research seminar.

Speaker: Professor Ursula Huws

Date & Time: Wednesday 14th October, 16.00-18.00 (London time)

This is a virtual seminar.

In this special event, Ursula Huws (Professor of Labour and Globalisation, University of Hertfordshire) will talk about digital labour during the Covid-19 pandemic. Responses and questions are welcome after her presentation. The event is open to all.

Please register at: https://cmci-seminar-series-huws.eventbrite.co.uk (open until 12.10.2020). Joining instructions will be sent the day before the event.

Biography: Ursula Huws’ most recent books include Reinventing the Welfare State: Digital Platforms and Public Policies (2020) and Labour in Contemporary Capitalism: What Next? (2019). She has been carrying out pioneering research on the economic and social impacts of technological change, the restructuring of employment and the changing international division of labour, for many years. She lectures, advises policy-makers, and has written numerous books.

Call for book chapters

Deadline:  November 30, 2020

Editors

• Tendai Chari (PhD), Senior Lecturer, University of Venda, South Africa
• Martin N. Ndlela (PhD), Associate Professor, Inland Norway
• University of Applied Sciences, Norway & Northwestern University-Qatar

The mass media have an enormous responsibility to disseminate truthful, accurate and up-to- date information to the public during pandemics. Yet, pandemics pose serious ethical conundrums to the media in that their informational role can easily be undermined by their tilt towards sensational reporting and scare-mongering, thereby undermining public trust (Thomas & Senkpeni, 2020). Pandemics are in great measure evolving, highly unpredictable, and in most cases panic inducing. This makes the media’s capacity to disseminate balanced and credible information timely more compelling than ever. COVID 19 has reawakened the media to their ethical responsibilities by bringing to the fore unique ethical issues, challenges and dilemmas, and has also reincarnated ethical debates associated with reporting of previous pandemics such as negative stereotypes, stigmatization, protecting the confidentiality of sources, dealing with bereavement, privacy issues, thus underscoring the fact that pandemics are not just health crises, but information crises as well.

While the media have played a positive role in helping shape positive public health behavior, and by extension promoting human security, there has been fear that media reporting of pandemics is fueling “infodemic” epitomized by fake news, conspiracy theories and apocalyptic prophecies, misinformation, disinformation, thus posing a threat to human security. In the age of social media networks whereby information spreads very fast, the deluge of information may make it difficult for citizens to separate reliable information from false information. Centralization of information about the pandemic by governments and international bodies and the concomitant over-dependence on ‘expert analysis’ have opened the floodgates for patriotic discourses and appeals for ‘collective action’ mantras which impinge on media independence. In addition, health protocols constrain the media from accessing critical information, thus predisposing journalists to politically correct ‘accredited’ sources while jettisoning unpalatable voices from the news agenda. As the media become more embedded in official narratives, journalism may be reduced to a public relations exercise, resulting in the proverbial echo chamber.

Pandemics predispose the media to overt and covert influence and control, yet the ability to obtain and disseminate information without external interference are two fundamental tenets of media ethics (Hooker, Leask & King, 2012). As COVID 19 has demonstrated, nature of ethical dilemmas confronting the media during global pandemics, relating to both media content and the professional conduct of media practitioners are becoming more complex and have elicited diverse responses using different philosophical lenses in different contexts. As the contours of ethics shift during pandemics, it is necessary to critically reflect on existing ethical norms, issues, practices, challenges and dilemmas confronted by the media during global pandemics.

This proposed edited volume explores ethical issues confronted by the media during global pandemics. The aim is to enhance the media’s capacity to report pandemics and similar emergence situations ethically by drawing lessons from the current and previous pandemics. What ethical challenges have confronted the media during health pandemics? What dilemmas have the media faced? To what extent have these impacted on the media’s role? What philosophical approaches can be used to address these challenges and dilemmas? What lessons can be drawn for reporting future pandemics? How can the media be better equipped to deal with ethical issues during pandemics?

We are looking for innovative original works which critically engage with different aspects of ethical issues in the context of global pandemics using different theoretical and methodological approaches.

Contributions can focus on, but are not limited to the following topics:

• Ethical Issues in the representation of pandemics
• News Sourcing and Ethics
• Fabrications, Falsehoods
• Confidentiality and protection of sources
• Privacy and the Public Interest
• Ethical Dilemmas
• Trauma reporting during pandemics
• Health protocols, government restrictions and journalism ethics
• Language and Reporting Pandemics
• Pandemics, Racism and Hate speech
• Sensationalism and propaganda
• Journalism ethics and “infodemics”
• Conspiracy theories, misinformation and fake news
• Ethnocentrism and Stereotyping
• Patriotic Journalism
• Social Media
• Medical remedies, Advertising
• Ethical philosophies, media and pandemics
• Media law and ethics during pandemics

Articles should not be more than 7000 words, including references

Important Dates

• Deadline for Accepted Abstracts: 30 November 2020
• Deadline for Full Papers: 31 March 2021
• Deadline for Submitting Revised Chapters: 30 May 2021
• Expected Date of Publication: 31 September 2021

Targeted Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Interested contributors are invited to submit a 500-word proposal and a short biography by 30 November 2020, to Tendai Chari, tendai.chari@univen.ac.za and Martin Ndlela, martin.ndlela@inn.no .

Final chapters of approximately 5000-7000 words will be due by 31 March 2021. Please note that all submissions will be peer-reviewed. Abstracts must clearly state the aim and objectives of the study, the theoretical and methodological approaches contemplated in the study.

MedieKultur: Journal of media and communication research

Deadline: November 1, 2020

Over the last couple of decades, the global social, political and economic landscape has been marked by rise and dominance of social media. These transnational owned social media and communication services fundamentally alter both the ways economic value is produced, as well as the fundamental ways that social life is lived. To understand this dual impact we have seen a wealth of theoretical innovation, with platform studies proven to be an immensely powerful instance (Gillespie, 2010; Van Dijck, et al., 2018). In an early work, Van Dijck supplies a key intervention when suggesting that techno-cultural constructs and socioeconomic structures should be integrated in an ecological approach to better capture “the mutual shaping of social media and the culture of connectivity” (Van Dijck, 2013, 26). In other words, intertwining cultural and economic analysis is key for understanding the current moment in which digital platforms, services and devices are of increasing importance to more and more aspects of society and everyday life.

In this analysis however, the question of the body as a somatic reality, a social construct, and a site of experience and contestation, is less clear. It is this intersection that this special issue of MedieKultur takes aim at. We invite submissions that combine analysis of platforms and the body.

Bodies as an situated site of experience has long been of interest to media and communication studies. Especially in works inspired by critical, feminist and queer theory (Sedgwick, 2003; Ahmed, 2004; Sullivan and Murray, 2009), and medical anthropology (Mol, 2002) is the body interrogated for the ways it mediates relations of technology, identity, sociality, and power. Because “the body” as an analytical unit is constructed in many different ways, its analysis also varies. Rather than adhere to one definition, however, we invite submissions that reflect such multiplicity, presenting different perspectives on the platformed body.

We ask that contributions engage with one or more of the following general questions:

* How do bodies emerge in relationship to platforms?

* What is the body’s relationship to platform content, technological infrastructure, and/or its user base?

* How do platform dynamics intersect with race, gender, sexuality, disability, and other categories of body and social distinction?

* What does attention to the body infuse into the theories of platform analysis?

We encourage contributions that explore such topics and questions including but not limited to:

* Health topics: self-monitoring, mediated health communications, counterpublic health, and health monitoring

* Sexuality: hookup apps, porn, media panics, and (de)platformization of sex

* Social media: celebrity, fandom, and influencers

* Fitness

* Food and nutrition

* Geographical Displacement: Platforms of refugee and immigrant life and movement

* Activism and resistance

* Non-human bodies: Robotics and animals

* Death and dying

Please submit an abstract of maximum 500 words (excluding references) by November 1st 2020 on MedieKultur’s website: http://www.tidsskrift.dk/…tur

Authors will be notified of their acceptance by November 6th 2020. The deadline for submission of full papers is March 1st 2021.

MedieKultur does not charge for submission, review or publishing articles, and no payment from the authors will be required.

Articles that are accepted for further process by the editors will go into peer-review in March 2021. We expect to have decisions on manuscripts and potential further revisions by May. The special issue will be published around December 2021.

Editors for this special issue are: Kristian Møller (IT University of Copenhagen): krimo@itu.dk and Maja Nordtug (University of Southern Denmark and Aarhus University): majan@sdu.dk.

Journal of Alternative & Community Media (Journal)

Deadline:

ISSN 26344726 , ONLINE ISSN 22065857

The Journal of Alternative & Community Media (JOACM) publishes research that helps explain the shifting media environment, and the ways in which people use alternative forms of media and communication. Issues of concern to the journal include the nature and distribution of media power; access to and participation in media; media practices of communities and social movements; and the possibilities of emerging technologies and new media.

Volumes 1–4 of JOACM are available Open Access

https://www.intellectbooks.com/…pdf

 This Special Issue of Journal of Alternative & Community Media is inspired by papers from the OURMedia gathering in Brussels, 2019; and the planned (but cancelled) post-conference to the ICA 2020, to submit papers on the theme, ‘Community and Activist Media: Resistance and Resurgence’.

Planned publication is September 2021. We call for academic papers alongside contributions from alternative media practitioners who will contribute to a Special Section, ‘Essays from the Frontline’.

From the resurgence of white supremacy and authoritarian rule to rapidly changing technologies and the rise of social media; and from the precarious state of journalism to state crackdowns on dissent and the ‘free press’, community and activist media face multiple ‘disruptions’ and challenges. While the twenty-first-century media environment offers increasing opportunities for ‘voice’, the challenges for community and activist media are practical, political and fundamental. At the same time that this is occurring in community and activist media, scholars in this field are often working at the intersection of research and activism, a theme explored in the 2019 OURMedia gathering.

This Special Issue will bring together engaged scholars to explore the challenges and opportunities for community and activist media at a time of unprecedented pressures – considering new resurgences and enhanced opportunities for resistance. Additionally, paper proposals at the intersection of research and activism are most welcome; and by extension, papers that draw connections between scholarly activism (scholactivism) and media activism, emanating from a key theme of the OURMedia conference, are also sought.

Key questions to be explored include:

• What is the role of activist and community media in contemporary social justice struggles – including anti-racist work in the context of resurgent racisms and intersectional work in the context of anti-feminist backlash? What are the possibilities for resistance and transformation?
• How can we best analyse and respond to white supremacist and far-right media? How do community and alternative media enable voices that are marginalized or excluded from the ‘mainstream’ to be heard – what can we learn (or not ) from their practices?
• What is the role and value of established ‘community’ media when social media platforms enable a proliferation of voice?
• What have we learned from the legacy of platforms such as Indymedia, and how can this inform our structures, agendas and goals for the future?
• How does one integrate activism and scholarship? What are the tensions between the ‘scientific’ needs of research and commitments to social change and social justice?
• What is the state of news and current affairs – including news journalisms and issues-based talks programming – at a time of both technological and professional ‘disruption’?

• What does ‘community’ or ‘alternative’ media mean in the current digital media environment, which features a proliferation of non-mainstream voices?

The Special Issue welcomes participation from researchers and practitioners across community and activist media very broadly defined – including alternative media in all its guises, community media interventions, alternative journalism initiatives, citizens media, media activism and more. No APCs are charged. Media activists and other practitioners who wish to contribute should contact Susan Forde directly (s.forde@griffith.edu.au) to discuss an alternative ‘Essays from the Frontline’ format to complement the suite of academic papers to be published in this Special Issue.

Abstracts should be submitted by 1 October 2020

Full articles are due 10 December 2020

Reviews will be sent to authors by 15 February 2021

Revised manuscripts are due 30 April 2021

Article acceptances notified 30 June 2021

Publication September 2021

Please send your abstracts to the guest editors.

Guest Editors: 

Tanja Dreher, University of New South Wales, Australia, t.dreher@unsw.edu.au

Pieter Maeseele University of Antwerp, Belgium pieter.maeseele@uantwerpen.be

Susan Forde Griffith University, Australia, s.forde@griffith.edu.au