ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

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

April 22-23, 2021, 2020

Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) or online platform

Deadline: 30 November 2020 (abstract submission)

Convenors and Prospective Editors: Anissa Maâ (Université libre de Bruxelles), Julia Van Dessel (Université libre de Bruxelles), Amandine Van Neste-Gottignies (Université libre de Bruxelles)

Scientific Committee: Pierluigi Musarò (University of Bologna), Antoine Pécoud (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), Anne-Line Rodriguez (Queen Mary University of London), Melissa Wall (California State University - Northridge)

Venue: 22-23 April 2021, 

Objectives:

Throughout their changing routes and precarious stays, migrants are increasingly targeted by information campaigns, everyday communication strategies, and less formal practices of advice and orientation. Led by governmental actors and diverse migration intermediaries, these communication practices intend - in a context of migration control - to act upon migrant's knowledge and perceptions, and ultimately to frame their agency and itineraries. Nevertheless, the efficiency of these communication strategies is not given, as migrants can oppose exogenous discourses and define their own informational practices. Accordingly, this workshop has two main objectives. On the one hand, it aims to explore the various discourses and communication strategies directed towards migrants and/or asylum seekers in countries of origin, transit and destination. On the other hand, it aims to highlight the endogenous informational practices defined by migrants throughout their journey.

Argument:

Since the 1990s, Western governments and international organisations have been supporting the implementation of so-called “information” or “awareness-raising” campaigns in migrants’ countries of origin and transit. Despite the questionable  impact of such campaigns on migrants’ behavior (Bishop, 2020; Brekke and Thorbjørnsrud, 2018; Browne, 2015; Schans and Optekamp, 2016; Oeppen, 2016), their development has peaked in the last decade – notably at the instigation of the International Organization for Migrations (IOM). In the literature, deterrence campaigns have been interpreted as policy instruments of border externalisation, aiming “to inscribe in potential migrants’ subjectivities the borders the EU [European Union] fails to control on the ground” (Heller, 2014). By highlighting the risks of the journey and/or the opportunities available “at home”, these campaigns promote a “culture of immobility” (Pécoud, 2010) within departure regions or encourage migrants to return from destination or transit countries (Van Neste-Gottignies, 2018). Doing so, they contribute to the “moralization” of migration by establishing the nation-state system as the ultimate reference to assess the legitimacy of cross-border mobilities (Watkins, 2020).

Nevertheless, the implementation of these deterrence campaigns remains largely disputed on the ground. Pro-migrant groups, non-governmental organisations and charity actors sometimes support the diffusion of alternative narratives which can “counter, contradict or even parody those coming from conservative tiers of the state” (Wall, 2019). In the meantime, international humanitarian actors led by compassionate feelings can engage in the dissemination of depreciatory representations of migration and the promotion of anti-migratory measures (Musarò, 2019; Maâ, 2020; Van Dessel & Pécoud, 2020). Moreover, local figures looking for symbolic and material resources - including artists, religious authorities and the youth - can appropriate and subvert such initiatives (Rodriguez 2017). Besides, migrants themselves and so-called “community-based” agents can be co-opted by governmental and international actors in order to reach the target audience more efficiently. Yet, while these actors share social capital with migrants, their intermediation can simultaneously lead to the transformation of the message they are meant to spread (Maâ, 2020).

Finally, migrants and asylum seekers are far from being mere recipients of exogenous discourses. While some of them can experience a form of “information precarity” exposing them to further violence throughout their journey (Wall et al., 2015), they generally show their ability to create and select alternative channels of information. They do so through the mobilisation of social and family networks and the use of new communication technologies, especially when they harbour a certain suspicion towards information provided by official authorities (Gillespie et al., 2018). Accordingly, the capacity of migrants and asylum seekers to translate institutional discourses and to define endogenous informational practices must be considered seriously. Therefore, it appears crucial to investigate to what extent communication strategies and informational practices give rise to highly contested processes, where heterogeneous actors, discourses, and interests, can combine and sometimes oppose.

In this perspective, the workshop and journal special issue will be structured around three analytical and complementary axes:

1. Who says what to migrants?

Discourses and/or counter narratives designed by actors invested in the migration field, including representations and moral economies conveyed by these discourses.

2. How is it disseminated on the field?

Communication strategies implemented to reach and convince the target audience - including the material and human channels used on the ground - and their interaction and transformation in specific local contexts.

3. How is it perceived by migrants?

Informational practices defined by migrants and asylum seekers, and their perception and reappropriation of information-disseminating initiatives.

Contributions:

Given the interdisciplinary nature of the issues raised, the organisers wish to expand discussions beyond communication studies, and will especially welcome contributions rooted in political science, sociology, anthropology, history, social psychology and more broadly social sciences. Submissions based on qualitative research method and fieldwork are particularly encouraged, and so are contributions by junior researchers (advanced PhD students, postdocs). Case studies concerning all geographic areas are welcomed.

Abstracts (up to 300 words) mentioning academic affiliations should be sent to the following address: whatdowesaytomigrants@gmail.com. Abstracts will be selected by the organisers based on four main criteria:

1. Relevance to the topic and axes of the conference

2. Use of and contribution to theory

3. Quality of research methodology

4. Originality and/or thought-provoking nature of the contribution

Draft versions of full papers will be read and commented by an appointed member of the scientific committee.

Timeline:

• 30 November 2020: deadline abstract submission
• 15 January 2021: notification of acceptance
• 8 March 2021: full draft papers submission
• 22-23 April 2021: seminar (format depending upon the sanitary context)

Bibliography:

Bishop, 2020, An International Analysis of Governmental Media Campaigns

to Deter Asylum Seekers, in International Journal of Communication, 14(2020). URL: file:///C:/Users/ThinkPad/Downloads/Bishop_campaigns_to_deter_migrants.pdf

Brekke and Thorbjørnsrud, 2018, Communicating borders - Governments deterring asylum seekers through social media campaigns, in Migration Studies, 8(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mny027

Browne, 2015, Impact of communication campaigns to deter irregular migration, GSDRC. URL: https://gsdrc.org/publications/impact-of-communication-campaigns-to-deter-irregularmigration/

Heller, 2014, Perception management – Deterring potential migrants through information campaigns, in Global Media and communication, 10(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766514552355

Gillespie et al., 2018, Syrian refugees and the digital passage to Europe: Smartphone infrastructures and affordance, in Social Media + Society, 4(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118764440

Maâ, 2020, Manufacturing collaboration in the deportation field: intermediation and the institutionalisation of the International Organisation for Migration’s ‘voluntary return’ programmes in Morocco, in Journal of North African Studies. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2020.1800210

Musarò, 2019, Aware Migrants: The role of information campaigns in the management of migration, in European Journal of Communication, 34(6), DOI: 10.1177/0267323119886164

Oeppen, 2016, ‘Leaving Afghanistan! Are you sure?’ European efforts to deter potential migrants through information campaigns, in Human Geography, 9(14). URL: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/61744/1/Oeppen%202016%20Info%20campaigns%20paper%20pre-proofs.pdf

Pécoud, 2010, Informing Migrants to Manage Migration? An Analysis of IOM’s Information Campaigns, in Geiger, M., Pécoud, A. (Eds.), The Politics of International Migration Management, Palgrave Macmillan UK, London, pp. 184–201.

Rodriguez, 2017, European attempts to govern African youths by raising awareness of the risks of migration: ethnography of an encounter, in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 45(5). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1415136

Schans and Optekamp, 2016, Raising awareness, changing behavior? Combating Irregular Migration through Information Campaigns, Nederland Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie (Netherlands Ministry of Justice and Security), 39p.

Van Dessel & Pécoud, 2020, A NGO’s dilemma: rescuing migrants at sea or keeping them in their place? [Online]. URL: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/centre-criminology/centreborder-cr iminologies/blog/2020/04/ngos-dilemma

Van Neste-Gottignies, 2018, Que dit-on aux migrants ? La communication dans les centres d’accueil en Belgique, in Hermès, La Revue, 82(3). URL: https://www.cairn-int.info/revue-hermes-la-revue-2018-3-page-41.htm

Wall, 2019, Inducing Information Precarity: State Messaging and Refugees, [Unpublished].

Wall et al., 2015. Syrian refugees and information precarity, in New Media & Society, 19(2). DOI: 10.1177/1461444815591967

Watkins, 2020, Irregular migration, borders, and the moral geographies of migration management, in Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 38(6). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2399654420915607

University of Sheffield

There are two ring-fenced PhD studentships for Black British students available via the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership (https://wrdtp.ac.uk/ ) for 2020/21. 

We welcome applications for these studentships in the Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield, especially to study with members of our Digital Media and Society team, who have expertise across a range of methodologies and research areas. In particular, our fantastic colleague Dr Ros Williams (https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/…ams) welcomes expressions of interest or applications in the areas of race, mixed-ness, health and digital and social media.

If you know of anybody who might be interested in this opportunity, please encourage them to get in touch with Ros at r.g.williams@sheffield.ac.uk to discuss possible research ideas.

Deadline for studentship applications is the end of January 2021. This is a two-stage process, with acceptance onto our departmental PhD programme required before studentship applications can be submitted, so please encourage potential students to get in touch as soon as possible.

Further details on the scheme can be found here: https://wrdtp.ac.uk/…ds/

University of Zurich,  Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ)

The doctoral position is based in the division "International and Comparative Communication Research" headed by Professor Frank Esser. This division is part of the Department of Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich (IKMZ). The department offers an outstanding research and teaching environment, a wide range of work areas and an inspiring intellectual climate.

Your responsibilities

Completion of a dissertation in three to four years

Collaborating in existing projects and developing new projects with members of the team "International and Comparative Communication Research"

Research and teaching in innovative areas of political communication, digital journalism, news audience research and neighboring areas

Teaching in German at BA level

Your profile

Excellent Master's degree in Communication Studies

Strong interest in international comparative communication research

Experience with quantitative methods and data analysis (e.g. content analysis, surveys, experiments); interest in computational methods

Fluent in English and German

What we offer

An outstanding research and teaching Environment

A wide range of work areas and an inspiring intellectual climate

A culture of cooperation and mutual support

Excellent opportunities for national and international networking

Place of work

Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zurich

Start of employment

Start of employment is November 1, 2020 or later

Please send us the following documents through the button below:

A letter of motivation addressing the match between your profile and the position

• Curriculum Vitae
• 1-2 page outline of potential dissertation idea that could fit the division's profile
• Copies of transcripts, degrees, relevant certificates
• A full text example of a representative academic work (e.g. MA thesis)

Deadline: October 23, 2020

Further information

Prof. Dr. Frank Esser

Apply here: https://jobs.uzh.ch/offene-stellen/research-and-teaching-assistant/a3eba080-3914-44ac-ab1f-cd7f0734d403?fbclid=IwAR0ytv3owRePejTCTD80PfuDKFeGsxMECNWeC0lzrUFBWX7Z5d9OLRXNPOQ

December 4, 2020

University of applied sciences Kufstein Tyrol (Kufstein, Austria)

Deadline: October 10, 2020

Online academic conference “Trends in Business Communication 2020” (TIBCOM), December 4th, 2020.

Launched in 2013, our academic conference “Trends in Business Communication” (TIBCOM) has developed over the years into a benchmark in the scientific marketing and communication scene in Austria. Every year, scientific issues and case studies in the field of communication and marketing are being dealt with at the conference.

This year for the first time we are organising an online only conference with the focus on scientific research in the fields of Marketing and Communication. A peer review process ensures the quality of the submitted contributions. All accepted full papers will be published in a conference proceedings at the prestigious publisher Springer Gabler.

Please refer to the detailed Call for Papers and your options for participating in the Download Center at the bottom of this page (https://www.fhkufstein.ac.at/eng/Events/TIBCOM-2020).

We are looking forward to welcoming you in Kufstein!

May 26-28, 2021

Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany

Deadline: October 31, 2020

8th Rhetoric in Society Conference

Organized by the Rhetoric Society of Europe in collaboration with the Institute for General Rhetoric and the Institute for Media Studies at Tübingen University

http://ris8.org/

We are very happy to announce that proposals are now invited for panels, papers, roundtables, and other forms of presentation to be delivered at Rhetoric in Society 8, which is the biannual conference organized by the Rhetoric Society of Europe. The conference is scheduled to take place from May 26th to 28th 2021 at Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, Germany.

The incalculable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic obliges us to remain precautious. As the safety of our conference participants is of highest concern, we ought to point out that in an event of the pandemic extending into the late spring of 2021, the conference will be postponed. However, we remain optimistic and encourage you to submit your papers and panels and are looking forward to welcoming you in Tübingen.

We invite proposals for:

- Papers or panels which speak directly to the conference theme (explained below);

- Papers or panels which address general issues related to the theory, analysis & practice of rhetoric in society;

- Other kinds of presentations such as roundtables, world cafés or debates.

Rhetoric as Strategic Thinking

With its focus on ‘strategy’ and ‘strategic thinking,’ the Rhetoric in Society 8 conference discusses the ways we define rhetoric as a specific form of communication, argumentation, persuasion, or mediation. Strategic thinking as a complex cognitive activity involves the mental representation of a goal as well as an understanding of the ways and means to achieve this goal through communicative action. Rhetors are expected to imagine a number of possible scenarios before deciding on a specific strategy and even to adjust this strategy during a campaign or even during a single speech. As Quintilian famously put it in his Institutio oratoria (II, 13, 2, transl. Butler): “If the whole of rhetoric could be thus embodied in one compact code, it would be an easy task of little compass: but most rules are liable to be altered by the nature of the case, circumstances time and place, and by hard necessity itself. Consequently, the allimportant gift for an orator is a wise adaptability since he is called upon to meet the most varied emergencies.” The bellicose metaphor of the commander (strategos) is often used in ancient rhetorical theories to conceive of the orator’s ability to adjust a strategic plan to specific circumstances or specific audiences. Like the commander, Quintilian’s orator has to find answers “in the circumstances of the case.” (Institutio oratoria, II, 13, 5, transl. Butler)

The conference endeavors to discuss rhetoric as strategic thinking in order to both define and question a key characteristic of rhetorical communication. It does so by exploring different concepts from different disciplinary backgrounds, such as argumentation, strategic maneuvering, imagination and mental simulation, rhetorical agency, situational rhetoric, literature and linguistics, political theory, communication and media studies, organizational rhetoric/communication, public relations, philosophy of language and many more. We would also like to discuss the blurring boundaries between rhetoric and other forms of strategic communication such as manipulation, propaganda, or populism, to assess the strategies applied by human and non-human actors in scripted or artificial media environments, and to explore the conditions responsible for the success or failure of rhetorical strategies and tactics in societies that are increasingly coping with polarization, radicalization and deception.

General papers

We also invite proposals for papers and panels more generally concerned with the theory, practice or analysis of rhetoric. This may include, for example, historical scholarship, theoretical analysis and contemporary cultural or political critique; work grounded in political theory, philosophy, languages and linguistics, argumentation, literary studies, communication studies, composition, media studies, psychology, sociology, history, cultural studies and more. Papers might be comparative, national or international in focus, concerned with particular orators, ideologies or movements and focus on spoken, written or audio-visual communication.

Alternative presentations

We welcome proposals for forms of presentation other than panels and papers. This might include: roundtables addressing key rhetorical themes, works or phenomena; debates between contending positions; other, novel and effective ways of communicating research findings, claims and arguments.

How to submit a proposal

Please submit your paper proposals by September 31, 2020 to ris8@rhetorik.unituebingen.de

We will inform you about our decision in December 2020.

Please do not submit more than two proposals. Panel proposals should not comprise more than four individual papers.

Individual Paper Proposals

All individual paper proposals must be written in English and submitted to the Committee with the following information:

- Title

- Author name

- Email address

- Affiliation

- Abstract (300 words maximum)

Session Proposals

Session Organizers should submit session proposals written in English to the Committee with the following information:

- Session title

- Session abstract of 300 words maximum

- List of participants including chair, presenters and discussants (if applicable), their email addresses, and the names of the institutions that they are associated with

- The related paper abstracts (300 words maximum/ paper)

Ashley Riggs

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

This book demonstrates the central role played by the stylistic features of online news in constructing meaning and shaping cultural representations of people and places – in particular, France and Muslims/Islam. Taking the 2016 violent attack in Nice, France as a case study, Ashley Riggs analyses online news coverage of the attack from the UK, Spain, and Switzerland, three distinct linguistic and cultural spaces. An innovative mixed-methods approach, including content analysis and elements of translation criticism and comparative stylistics, is used to analyse this corpus, revealing the frequency and influence of stylistic devices found in online news and exploring how they help to shape reader interpretations.

Drawing conclusions about journalistic practices by place and interrogating the notions of 'European identity' and 'European journalism', Stylistic Deceptions in Online News reveals how stylistic features may vary according to both political leanings and national and regional contexts, and the influence these features have upon readers.

Table of contents

1. Introduction

2. Terrorism in “European” News: What Role for Translation Studies?

3. Comparing British, Spanish and Swiss Societies: Politics, Social Attitudes, Language and the News

4. Analysis of Stylistic Features in British, Spanish and French-Language Swiss News

5. Comparative Conclusions

6. Stylistic Features of News as a Catalyst for Change? Lessons for Journalism, Translation Studies and “Europe”

Reviews

“This book delves into media representations of Islamic terrorism in three Western societies (Britain, Spain and Switzerland) and analyses journalistic translation from a novel perspective. Combining cultural, linguistic and political approaches, the author demonstrates the important role played by the stylistic features of modality, alliteration and metaphor in the reproduction of stereotyped images of Muslims via news production and translation. A must-read for all those interested in journalistic translation, news media, and image studies.” – Roberto A. Valdeón, Professor of English, University of Oviedo, Spain

“This book analyses news reports on terrorist attacks in France in media from different countries, focussing on their stylistic features and the role of translation in re-presenting events and cultures. It reveals the significance of the journalists' stylistic choices in shaping the messages. This focus on style makes an original contribution to news translation research.” – Christina Schäffner, Emeritus Professor of Translation Studies, Aston University, UK

“Focusing on details of language use in the online media coverage of violence, Ashley Riggs convincingly shows how stylistic choice reverberates – and can foster – intercultural (mis-)understanding. In a nutshell: style matters, and so does this book.” – Daniel Perrin, Professor of Applied Linguistics, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland

“Weaving a rich tapestry of data and examples and adopting a broad definition of translation, Ashley Riggs's book challenges many of our core assumptions about stylistic choices and their influential role in shaping the messages conveyed by news articles and the readers' representations.” – María José Hernández Guerrero, Professor of Translation and Interpreting, University of Malaga, Spain

University of Washington

Academic Personnel: College of Arts and Sciences: SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION: Communication

Location: Seattle, WA

Open Date: Sep 17, 2020

Description

The Department of Communication seeks a tenure-track assistant professor of political communication. This position will utilize a strong grounding in theories of public opinion to establish and maintain a dynamic research agenda that illuminates the media’s role in attitude formation and opinion management in democratic societies and how these processes play out across lines of social and political difference.

This full-time position has an anticipated start date of September 16, 2021 and will have a nine-month service period. Tenure-track faculty in the department are expected to produce a significant line of research, teach undergraduate and graduate classes, work with graduate students at the master’s and doctoral levels, and engage in departmental, university, and disciplinary service.

The Department of Communication is founded on the principles of intellectual and cultural pluralism, equity, interdisciplinarity, innovation through collaboration, and public scholarship. The Department’s statement on difference and equity can be found at http://www.com.washington.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Difference-and-Equity-Statement.pdf.

Information about the faculty, departmental centers (Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy as well as the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity), degree programs, and course offerings can be found at http://www.com.washington.edu.

Qualifications

Candidates must have a Ph.D., or foreign equivalent, in Communication or a related field by the start of the appointment.

Application Instructions

Candidates should submit the following: (1) a two-page letter of interest outlining the candidate’s research trajectory in political communication and explaining how that research meets the job criteria and complements/extends existing strengths in the department; (2) a separate two-page teaching statement that includes the candidate’s pedagogical philosophy and identifies existing and new courses the candidate is qualified to teach; (3) a two-page diversity statement that describes the candidate’s experiences with and commitments to difference, race, equity, and social justice in research, teaching, and/or service; (4) a curriculum vitae; (5) two article-length academic writing samples; and (6) the names and contact information of three referees. Application materials must be submitted online through

Interfolio. Priority will be given to applications received before October 18, 2020. Inquiries can be directed to the search committee chairs Patricia Moy (pmoy@uw.edu) and Matthew Powers (mjpowers@uw.edu).