ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Deadline: April 14, 2025

Editors: Dr. Emma Heywood, Dr. Richard Berry, Prof. Tanja Bosch and Prof. Kim Fox

Publisher: Peter Lang

This edited volume seeks to explore the evolving landscape of global audio production and use, with a particular focus on moving beyond Western-centric narratives. The book will bring together contributions from academics, practitioners, and organizations to highlight diverse perspectives on the theory and practice of radio, podcasting, and other audio media. It aims to foster a dialogue between practice and theory, engaging voices from the Global North and South and showcasing underrepresented practices, technologies, and cultures.

Call for Contributions

We invite submissions from scholars, practitioners, and organizations to contribute original chapters that reflect on the production, use, and impact of audio media globally. Contributions may explore the intersections of practice and theory, offer case studies, or provide evidence-based insights into audio production in diverse contexts.

Chapters may be theoretical (5,000–6,000 words) or shorter reflections by practitioners or organizations (1,000–3,000 words). Submissions from underrepresented regions, particularly the majority world, are highly encouraged.

Themes and Topics

We welcome proposals on (but not limited to) the following themes:

The Universality of Listening:

• How is audio experienced, produced, and consumed globally?
  
• Cross-cutting themes including culture, technology, gender, language, and community.
  

Global Perspectives on Production and Technology:

• Audio production in resource-limited settings (e.g., solar-powered devices, limited internet access).
  
• Innovations and adaptations in audio technologies across regions.
  
• Ethical questions and applications of AI in audio production: Is AI a Western obsession or globally relevant?
  

The Producer:

• Diverse roles and practices of audio producers, from community radio broadcasters to DIY creators and AI-generated content.
  
• Challenges and opportunities faced by local and community organizations.
  

The Place:

• The influence of geographic and cultural contexts on audio production and consumption.
  
• Case studies from the Global South, conflict zones, and areas with limited connectivity.
  

The User:

• Audiences and their evolving engagement with audio content.
  
• Radio as a tool for advocacy, education, and democracy—or propaganda and control.
  
• Generational perspectives: Is youth radio dead, and if so, who killed it?
  

The Purpose:

• Exploring the role of audio across organizational types: public service broadcasters, commercial media, community radio, and alternative platforms.
  
• State vs. public service broadcasting: tensions and challenges.
  

Audio and Podcasts in Global Markets:

• Podcasting as a cultural phenomenon and its industrial practices.
  
• How audio formats are converging with other media.

Submission Process

Please submit an abstract of 300–500 words along with a brief bio (150 words) detailing your background and expertise. Abstracts should clearly state the chapter’s objectives, methodology, and contribution to the field.

Deadlines

• Abstract Submission Deadline:  Monday 14th April 2025
  
• Notification of Acceptance:  Monday 12th May 2025
  
• Deadline for submission of first draft:  Monday 6th October 2025
  
• Full Chapter Submission Deadline:  Monday 8th January 2026

Contact Information

Please send your submissions and any inquiries to theglobalaudiobook@gmail.com.

About the Editors

The book is edited by Dr. Emma Heywood, a senior lecturer and researcher at the University of Sheffield with expertise in radio journalism in conflict and humanitarian settings; Dr. Richard Berry, a scholar specialising in radio and podcasting as audio media; Prof Tanja Bosch, National Research Foundation Chair in the Digital Humanities at the University of Cape Town; and Prof Kim Fox who is an award-winning professor of practice in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication in the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at The American University in Cairo. 

We look forward to your contributions to this exciting exploration of global audio practices!

Book proposal for Palgrave by the TWG Affect, Emotion & Media

Deadline: March 3, 2025

We live in an era of victimhood, real or imagined, in which many identify or are being identified as victims. The book aims to add to our understanding of how vulnerability, suffering, empathy and indignation are expressed and develop societal impact through mediated communication. The editors welcome chapters on how (perceived) victimhood identities are elicited, reinforced and represented through emotionally arousing and infused narratives, performances and activities in the context of legacy and social media, popular culture, media practices and political communication.

READ MORE

Deadline: 4 April 2025

Nominations are invited for the annual International Journal of Press/Politics Hazel Gaudet-Erskine Best Book Award, to be received no later than 4 April 2025.

Rationale

The International Journal of Press/Politics Hazel Gaudet-Erskine Best Book Award honors internationally oriented books that advance our theoretical and empirical understanding of the linkages between news media and politics in a globalized world in a significant way. It is given annually by the International Journal of Press/Politics and sponsored by SAGE Publications.

The award committee will judge each nominated book based on the following criteria: 

• the extent to which the book contributes to internationally relevant knowledge; 

• the significance of the problems addressed; 

• conceptual and theoretical innovation;

• strength of evidence; 

• clarity of writing; 

• ability to link journalism studies, political communication research, and other relevant fields of intellectual and scholarly inquiry.

Eligibility

Books written in English and published within the last ten years will be considered. Monographs as well as edited volumes of exceptional quality and coherence will be considered for the award. Books by current members of the award committee are ineligible and committee members will recuse themselves from discussion of books that may entail conflicts of interest, such as books authored by members of their own department or published in a series they edit. Books nominated for previous editions of the award may be nominated again as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.

Award committee

The award committee consists of Taberez A. Neyazi (Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Press/Politics), Kate Kenski (chair of the Political Communication Division of ICA), and Edson C. Tandoc Jr. (chair of the Journalism Studies Division of ICA).

Nominations

Nominations should be emailed to Taberez A. Neyazi (taberez@nus.edu.sg)  by 4 April 2025. Self-nominations are accepted. Nominations should be accompanied by a rationale of 300-500 words, authored by a researcher, that clearly specifies why the book meets the criteria listed above. Please include links to or copies of relevant reviews in scholarly journals if applicable.

Arrangements should be made with the publishers of nominated books to send one hard copy to Taberez A. Neyazi and Edson C. Tandoc Jr., and either one hard copy or an e-book (i.e., the full book in PDF format) to Kate Kenski. All copies should be sent to the respective committee members at the following addresses by 4 April:

• Taberez A. Neyazi, Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore, 11 Computing Drive, AS6, 03-11, Singapore 117416. Email: taberez@nus.edu.sg. 

• Kate Kenski, Department of Communication and School of Government and Public Policy, University of Arizona, 1103 E. University Blvd., Communication Building #25, Room 211, Tucson, AZ  85721-0025. Email: kkenski@email.arizona.edu 

• Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, 02-39, 31 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637718. Email: edson@ntu.edu.sg.

Presentation

The award will be presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association and will be announced on the IJPP website. 

Past winners of the award

2024: Erin Baggott Carter, Brett L. Carter, Propaganda in Autocracies: Institutions, Information, and the Politics of Belief (Cambridge University Press 2023).

2023: Gadi Wolfsfeld, Tamir Sheafer, and Scott Althaus, Building Theory in Political Communication: The Politics-Media-Politics Approach (Oxford University Press 2022).

2022: Nikki Usher, News for the Rich, White, and Blue: How Place and Power Distort American Journalism (Columbia University Press 2021).

2021: Allissa V. Richardson, Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones, and the New Protest #Journalism (Oxford University Press 2020).

2020: Thomas Hanitzsch, Folker Hanusch, Jyotika Ramaprasad, and Arnold S. de Beer (Editors), Worlds of Journalism: Journalistic Cultures Around the Globe (Columbia University Press, 2019).

2019: Maria Repnikova, Media Politics in China: Improvising Power Under Authoritarianism (Cambridge University Press, 2017).

2018: Erik Albæk, Arjen van Dalen, Nael Jebril, and Claes H. de Vreese, Political Journalism in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2014). 

2017: Katrin Voltmer, The Media in Transitional Democracies (Polity Press, 2013).

2016: Andrew Chadwick, The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power (Oxford University Press, 1st edition 2013).

2015: Rodney Benson, Shaping Immigration News (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

Special issue of the Journal of Language and Politics 24:1 (2025)

Editors

• Benjamin De Cleen | Vrije Universiteit Brussel
  
• Nico Carpentier | Charles University in Prague
  
• Jason Glynos | University of Essex
  
• Jana Goyvaerts | Vrije Universiteit Brussel
  
• Maximilian Grönegräs | Vrije Universiteit Brussel
  
• Yannis Stavrakakis | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  

https://benjamins.com/catalog/jlp.24.1

Damian Guzek

Series: Religion and the Social Order, Volume: 29

In a decade, Francis has transformed Catholicism into a dynamic institution that openly deliberates on urgent questions of society and religion, standing at the forefront of digitally driven public opinion. With this in mind, Portrayals of Pope Francis’s Authority in the Digital Age: Flicks and Media Discourses, and User Perspectives explores the digital portraits of Pope Francis in various types of media content and productions. It investigates how digital Catholic users articulate and negotiate papal authority and through which media they do so.

Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies (Special issue)

https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/cona/30/6

Edited By: Karolina Koc-Michalska, Darren Lilleker, Christian Baden, Damian Guzek, Márton Bene, Larissa Doroshenko, Miloš Gregor, Marko M. Skoric

Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have faced significant political, economic, social, and technological transformations over the last four decades. Democratic processes, after relative stabilisation, have begun to tremble again around polarizing values, populist leaders, or nationalistic ideologies. Online communication, especially social media platforms, play a vital role in shaping how citizens interact with the state, political actors, media, and other citizens.

This book focuses on some of the challenges democratic institutions in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries face in transforming and sustaining civil society and captures how the digital media environments mitigate or exacerbate those challenges. The chapters in this book focus on the role that online platforms play in shaping satisfaction with democracy in the CEE region, the interactions between journalists and political actors, the strategic media coverage of elections, affective polarisation and political antagonism, and discursive attempts to discourage young people from civic engagement. The first section of the book looks at CEE countries from a comparative perspective, and the second section examines specific case studies within different CEE countries such as Albania and Kosovo, Czechia and Hungary, Poland and Ukraine.

This volume will be a key resource for scholars and researchers of Communication Studies, Politics, Media Studies, Sociology and Central and Eastern European studies. The chapters in this book were originally published in the Journal of Information, Technology & Politics. 

https://www.routledge.com/Citizens-Participation-and-Media-in-Central-and-Eastern-European-Nations/Koc-Michalska-Lilleker-Baden-Guzek-Bene-Doroshenko-Gregor-Skoric/p/book/9781032852317?srsltid=AfmBOooAlc65341-soABCIpWWfp-brhfP-2cn3L5rOueg4JWr5yA4dWk

Odense, Denmark

The Danish Institute for Advanced Study (DIAS) and the Faculty of Humanities are seeking to appoint a DIAS Assistant Professor to contribute to the interdisciplinary field of organisational communication. DIAS Assistant Professor tenure track positions run for up to six years, after which tenure will be offered subject to positive evaluations and reviews. 

Given the central role of commercial, non-profit and governmental organisations in contemporary society – and of practices of ‘organisation’ in increasingly many domains of social life – researching organisational meaning-making practices and outputs is crucial for comprehending their broader societal impact. The ideal candidate will research such issues, recognising that communication is not merely an output of organisations but is also constitutive of them and lends itself to being researched from various perspectives. We are looking for a candidate who can engage with diverse research methodologies and particularly welcome applicants with a background in semiotics, multimodality, or narrative. 

The successful candidate must have an international profile and a strong emerging record of research and funding excellence as well as novel ideas with a clear potential to expand our frontiers of knowledge.

The position is a joint position at DIAS and the Department of Culture and Language at University of Southern Denmark (SDU). The candidate will thus have two affiliations—DIAS and the department—and is expected to contribute to both. Tenure will be offered in the department with continued affiliation with DIAS. 

The starting date for the position is September 1st 2025, or as soon as possible thereafter. 

About DIAS 

DIAS at SDU is a hub for interdisciplinary excellence at and beyond the frontier of knowledge, bringing together outstanding researchers from various disciplines to foster interdisciplinary research and innovation. It hosts Chairs and Fellows from all faculties of the university, fostering an interdisciplinary environment. DIAS encourages and supports curiosity-driven research and fosters the meeting of minds across disciplines and levels of seniority. The center cultivates an ambitious, open-minded and playful environment that nurtures both academic growth and a strong sense of community.   The candidate will be anticipated to contribute actively to DIAS, including but not limited to participation in DIAS activities, promotion of DIAS nationally, internationally and within SDU, as well as through strengthening the bonds between the department/faculty on one hand and DIAS on the other, through interdisciplinary collaborations where meaningful. 

For more information about DIAS activities: https://www.sdu.dk/en/forskning/dias

Contact information

Questions can be addressed to Director of DIAS, Professor Sten Rynning, director-dias@sdu.dk.  

About the Department of Culture and Language

The Department of Culture and Language is located at SDU’s campus in Odense and home for appr. 200 employees, covering a wide range of subjects and research interests, including American Studies, SLT and Audiology, Classical Studies, Communication, Comparative Literature, Culture, Danish, English, German, History, Middle East Studies, Organisational Communication, and the Study of Religion. Our staff is committed to interdisciplinary research and teaching, encouraging students to explore the intersections of language, culture, and society. Our researchers are actively involved in various research centres, groups, and networks, contributing to cutting-edge projects and publications.

Candidates are expected to support the department’s strategic objectives: excellence in research, high-quality teaching, and social impact. 

Contact information

For more information about the department and the position, please contact chair of search committee, Vice Head of Department of Culture and Language Anne Klara Bom, akbom@sdu.dk, or Associate Professor and Head of the Research group Multimodality, Language and Organisation Nina Nørgaard, noergaard@sdu.dk.

Conditions of employment

Appointment to the position will be in accordance with the salary agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Please check links for more information on salary (only available in Danish) and taxation.

Application

The Faculty expects applicants to read the information "How to apply" before applying. 

Teaching obligations will be reduced compared to a regular Assistant Professor position at SDU.

To qualify for the position as Assistant Professor you must have obtained a PhD degree by the employment date.

The application must include:

• A motivation letter
  
• A detailed Curriculum Vitae
  
• A copy of important certificates/diplomas
  
• A complete list of publications, indicating which publications are most relevant for the position
  
• Up to five of the most relevant publications. Please attach one pdf-file for each publication. In case of co-authorship, a co-author statement must be submitted as part of the pdf-file
  
• Three letters of recommendation from established international researchers. They can be sent separately to Marie-Louise Wethje-Raabe at raabe@sdu.dk  
  
• A research and publication plan for the next three years, including a description of the synergy with the department activities as well as the potential for benefitting from the interdisciplinarity at DIAS
  

Application and all appendices must be in English. Only applications written in English will be accepted for evaluation. Please always include a copy of original diploma/certificates. We only accept files in pdf-format no more than 10 MB per file. All pdf-files must be unlocked and allow binding and may not be password protected. 

The assessment process

Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee and the applicant will receive the part of the evaluation that concerns him/her. The committee may request additional information, and if so, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the necessary material.

If the application does not meet the requirements mentioned above, the faculty may reject your application without further notice. Applications received after the deadline will neither be considered nor evaluated.

Shortlisting and tests may be used in the assessment process. You can find more information about shortlisting at SDU on our website Assessment of applicants for academic staff positions. Please note that only a shortlisted applicant will receive an assessment. 

Applications should be sent electronically via the link "apply online". The faculty expects applicants to read the information “How to apply” before applying.

We recommend that as an international applicant, you take the time to visit Work in Denmark where you will find information and facts about moving to, working and living in Denmark, as well as the International Staff Office at SDU.

SDU and DIAS wish our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background. 

About SDU and Odense

SDU was founded in 1966 and now has more than 27,000 students, almost 20% of whom are from abroad. It has more than 3,800 employees, and 115 different study programmes in the fields of the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, and engineering. Its main campus is located in Odense, the third largest city in Denmark, but is present also in Kolding, Sønderborg, Esbjerg and Copenhagen. 

The city of Odense provides family-friendly living conditions with the perfect combination of a historic city centre with an urban feel and yet close proximity to beaches and recreational areas. Its location on the beautiful island of Funen is ideal with easy access by train or highway to the bigger cities of Aarhus and Copenhagen. As the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark’s famous fairytale author, the city is home to a vibrant and creative population that hosts numerous festivals and markets throughout the year. 

Application deadline: February 27, 2025 at 12.59 PM/23.59 (CET/CEST). 

Apply: https://fa-eosd-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/da/sites/CX_1001/job/2323 

August 28-30, 2025

Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Deadline: April 1, 2025

Mid-term conference of the European Sociological Association, Research Network 18 - The Sociology of Communications and Media Research 

The small-scale and focused mid-term conferences of the European Sociological Association’s Research Network 18 seek to ensure that the sociological investigation of media and communications is given full focus, distinguishing its work from that of large international associations, which provide important forums for communications and media research but do not have especially sociological concerns. 

The challenges facing societies today seem daunting even by the most volatile historical standards. These include deepening economic inequalities, class antagonisms, the rise of radical right-wing authoritarianism around the world and violent wars that may soon erupt into even wider international conflicts. Generative AI is increasingly reshaping virtually all relations, and digital tech giants are running amok along with their increasingly unhinged owners. Somewhere behind all this, looming on the horizon, is an ecological crisis. While many of these issues are intricately interlinked and, among other things, speak volumes about the deepening power imbalances and crises of liberal institutions, their causes and trajectories may be divergent and contradictory, with outcomes that seem difficult to predict. 

As the conference title suggests, no social issues can be addressed without recourse to communication or capitalism. For Hanno Hardt, critical scholar and former professor in Ljubljana, communication could be considered “the sine qua non of human existence” (1979, 1). In this sense, the study of communication must always be the first stepping stone, but one that is now influenced and shaped in various ways by digital giants and media-as-industries. Similarly, critical authors have historically regarded capitalism as a system that cannot be ignored in a holistic social analysis. Sociologist Wolfgang Streeck has, for instance, asserted “that contemporary society cannot really be understood by a sociology that makes no reference to its capitalist economy” (2012, 1). In other words, the sociology of communications and media must inevitably include or address these two of the most fundamental social relations in its research. 

In line with these premises, the conference will feature a plenary round table on digital platforms and labour and plenary talks by critical scholars who have addressed the dynamic between communication and capitalism throughout their careers: 

• Kylie Jarrett (University College Dublin, Ireland) 
  
• Graham Murdock (Loughborough University, UK) 
  
• and Slavko Splichal (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia). 
  

The Communication and Capital(ism) conference aims to bring together contributions that explore the unpredictable and unstable social terrain in the era of digital capitalism. It seeks to critically engage with these issues and their consequences by focusing on the role of social communication, media, and journalism. We are looking for theoretical and empirical submissions that may include, but are not limited to, the following topics: 

• Theoretical reflections on political economy and cultural studies; 
  
• The role of critique and criticality for the sociology of media; 
  
• Digital capitalism, imperialism and colonialism; 
  
• Digital platforms and tech giants; 
  
• Labour and platformisation of working conditions; 
  
• Capital, class, gender, and race; 
  
• Global media corporations and media-as-industries; 
  
• Capitalism and journalism; 
  
• Sociology of news; 
  
• The material and ideological impact of advertising; 
  
• Transformations in political communication; 
  
• Democracy and democratic transformations; 
  
• The public sphere; 
  
• (Re-)presentations in journalism and the media; 
  
• Possible alternatives to the existing political/economic malaise and 
  
• digital capitalism. 

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 

• Abstract submission deadline: 1 April 2025 
  
• Notification of selected abstracts: 15 May 2025 
  
• Conference dates: 28-30 August 2025 
  

Abstracts should be sent to The Conference Organising Committee, 

rn18esasubmission@gmail.com 

Abstracts should be sent as an e-mail attachment (400-600 words including title, author name(s), email address(es), and institutional affiliation(s)). Please insert the words “ESA RN18 Submission” in the subject. Although we do not provide a template for the abstract submission, we expect abstracts that include a rationale, research question(s), theoretical and/or empirical methods applied, and potential results and implications. Each abstract will be independently reviewed by two members of the ESA RN18 Board based on the call for papers. 

Deadline: February 28

The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has generated a lot of debate on its impact on society, the economy, and the environment. These debates range from the impact of AI in promoting inequality, as espoused by the two recent Nobel Prize winners in Economics, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, in their recent work, Power and Progress (2023)[1], to the more in-depth analysis on the role of artificial intelligence in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by Vinuesa et al. (2020).[2] They found that AI can serve as an enabler on 134 targets (79%) across all SDGs, while 59 targets (35%) may likely experience a negative impact on the SDGs due to the consequences of the development of AI.

These facts emerged at a time when the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, admitted that the SDGs are off-track, with only 15% of the global goals being on course to be achieved by 2030. Yet, the SDGs are the most ambitious development agenda agreed upon by 193 countries at a time when global consensus on issues affecting humanity remains as arduous as it has ever been in history.

While the debate on the role of AI in achieving the SDGs continues, with experts from different fields making scholarly and professional contributions to this phenomenon that would have a reverberating impact on society and the economy, the question to be asked is, what is the role of communication in achieving the SDGs in the age of artificial intelligence? This is the gap that this edited book seeks to fill.

AI is an important enabler that can help to achieve the SDGs. Some additional questions to consider include: What role can AI play in communicating how to alleviate poverty, eradicate hunger, ensure quality education, or address the pressing challenge of climate change? How can AI mitigate the effects of misinformation, which could hinder the realization of the SDGs by undermining peace, partnerships, and other sustainability initiatives? How can AI support the reduction of digital inequality, promote decent work, and serve as an effective platform for stakeholder engagement?

This call for chapters is an opportunity for media and communication scholars/professionals, journalists, and development experts to contribute to the literature on how communication would play a role in achieving the SDGs in the age of artificial intelligence. The book, expected to be published by Palgrave Macmillan, seeks contributions in the following areas, but not limited to these:

• Artificial Intelligence as a tool of communication for development
  
• Communicating SDGs through Artificial Intelligence
  
• Data journalism, Artificial Intelligence, and Sustainable Development Goals
  
• Misinformation, Sustainable Development Goals, and Artificial Intelligence
  
• Role of Artificial Intelligence in mobilizing stakeholders to achieve the SDGs
  
• Communicating climate action through Artificial Intelligence
  
• SDGs, big data, and Artificial Intelligence
  
• Peace Communication and Artificial Intelligence
  
• Energy journalism, SDGs, and Artificial Intelligence
  
• Communication, education, and Artificial Intelligence
  
• Communication, digital inequality, and Artificial Intelligence
  
• Health communication in the age of Artificial Intelligence
  
• Artificial Intelligence, SDGs and Social Media
  

Contributors should submit a 250-300 word abstract to the editor, Muhammad Jameel Yusha’u via email: mjyushau@gmail.com by 28 February 2025.

Abstracts should comprise the following information:

• Name of contributors, affiliation, and contact details
  
• 200-word biography of contributors
  
• Corresponding authors should be specified
  

Contributors whose abstracts meet the high-quality criteria will be notified by 30 March 2025. Full chapters would be expected by 15 June 2025.

[1] Acemoglu, D., & Johnson, S. (2023). Power and progress: Our thousand-year struggle over technology and prosperity. Hachette UK. 

[2] Vinuesa, R., Azizpour, H., Leite, I., Balaam, M., Dignum, V., Domisch, S., ... & Fuso Nerini, F. (2020). The role of artificial intelligence in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Nature communications, 11(1), 1-10.