ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Policy & Internet Journal

Deadline: November 2, 2025

Policy & Internet Journal has launched a special issue call for papers on the topic of “Shaping the Future of the Information Society: WSIS+20 and Beyond”, edited by Prof. Dr. Jonathon Hutchinson (University of Sydney) and Nadia Tjahja (United Nations University-CRIS and Free University of Brussels):

https://internet-policy-meco.sydney.edu.au/2025/09/specialissuewsis20/

We invite papers that explore:

Governance Modalities and Stakeholder Dynamics

We welcome papers that critically examine the evolving architecture of Internet governance, key questions include:

  *   Modes of Governance and Participation: Analyses of the WSIS+20 Review process, including its modalities, elements and drafts.

  *   Stakeholder Inclusion and Participation Models: Reviewing how the Global Digital Compact (GDC) and WSIS have approached multistakeholderism, inclusion and diversity in its processes.

  *   Meta-participation in Digital Governance: Exploring second-order stakeholder engagement – where stakeholders not only participate in processes, but actively shape the process itself

  *   Norm Development and Frameworks: Studies on the alignment and adoption of the SDGs, Sao Paulo Principles, the GDC Frameworks and ROAM-X as normative anchors.

  *   Multilateralism and Multistakeholderism: Reviewing the interplay between multilateralism and multistakeholderism

  *   Global and regional multistakeholderism: Evaluating tensions, synergies and practical implications in decision-making

Institutional Futures in Internet Governance

We invite contributions that address the evolution and future of key institutions shaping Internet governance:

  *   Preserving and Evolving the IGF: The future of multistakeholder governance through the IGF and its potentially renewed mandate

  *   Developing Institutional Architectures: Reevaluating the changing role of different offices such as the UN Tech Envoy’s office/ODET, and proposals for new bodies for future governance.

  *   Evolving institutions: Reflecting on ICANN’s role in the evolving governance ecosystems and its place in future frameworks.

  *   Governing Artificial Intelligence: Proposals for new spaces or mechanisms to coordinate global AI governance across stakeholders.

User-centric Perspectives in Internet Governance: Exploring Internet use and its socioeconomic consequences

We invite contributions that are user-centric and/or address topics related to the WSIS Action Lines:

  *   Digital Inclusion and Equity

  *   User rights

  *   Behavioural and psychological impacts

  *   Economic and labour transformations

  *   Education

  *   Cultural and language diversity

  *   Data sovereignty

  *   Topics related to the WSIS Action Lines

Submission Guidelines:

Please send through your title and 300-word abstract to Jonathon Hutchinson [jonathon.hutchinson@sydney.edu.au] and Nadia Tjahja [nadia.tjahja@vub.be] with the subject line: “Policy & Internet Special Issue” by 2 November 2025.

  *   Abstracts: up to 300 words

  *   Abstract deadline: 2 November

  *   Full papers: 6000-8000 words

  *   Full paper Deadline: 1 March 2026

Kind regards,

Jonathon (on behalf of Nadia Tjahja).

IE University, Madrid

IE University is hiring at least one tenure-track Assistant Professor of Communication & Media, to begin in September 2026. Applications are due on 24 November. The call is open but some of our areas of interest include Media Studies and Political Communication; Strategic, Corporate, and Visual Communication; and Critical, Cultural, and International Communication.

We are a research-intensive institution with an international student body. Salary is competitive. Courses are taught in English. Spanish proficiency is helpful but not required.

Find the full call here: https://apply.interfolio.com/174413

Please don't hesitate to reach out to search chair Dr. Vincent Doyle at vdoyle@faculty.ie.edu if you have any questions.

December 5-6, 2025

Porto, Portugal

Deadline (extended): October 9, 2025

https://videojogos2025.ipmaia.pt/

The call for full papers, short papers, posters, doctoral consortium papers, workshops, demos, and games is open for the 15th International Conference on Videogame Sciences and Arts (Videojogos 2025), organised by IPMaia (Porto) and Sociedade Portuguesa de Ciências dos Videojogos.

Important update:

The submission deadline has been extended - New date: 09/10/2025

The submission platforms and forms are now fully operational.

Main website: https://videojogos2025.ipmaia.pt

Paper submissions: https://pubreview.maieutica.pt

Games, demos & workshops submissions: https://forms.gle/c4ysRzmAChQvhNgj9

All selected papers (short or full) must be submitted in English to be eligible for international publication. The top 40% of research papers—peer-reviewed and evaluated for originality, relevance, and presentation quality—will be published in the annual Springer proceedings volume (Communications in Computer and Information Science – CCIS series).

The conference will be held on the 4th and 5th of December 2025 in Porto, and more information about keynotes and programme will be available soon.

We look forward to receiving your contributions and to seeing you at Videojogos 2025.

November 7-8, 2025

Istanbul, Turkey

Deadline (extended): October 7, 2025

We are pleased to announce that the submission deadline for Istanbul 2025 – EMMA (European Media Management Association) has been extended to 7 October 2025.

This year’s emmahub workshop in Istanbul will focus on the growing complexities of media production, engagement, and sustainability within polarized media systems. Particular attention will be given to the evolving relationship between legacy media institutions and non-legacy actors, including influencers, content creators, and independent digital platforms. The workshops will be held at Istanbul Bilgi University. 

As part of a program that combines workshops, ignite talks, and roundtables, we invite scholars and practitioners to contribute to discussions around key questions such as:

• How do audiences navigate between legacy and non-legacy media, and what drives their trust and engagement?
  
• In what ways do non-legacy actors challenge or reinforce the authority of traditional institutions?
  
• How are legacy media organizations adapting to decentralized ecosystems and shifting audience behaviors?
  
• What new strategies and business models are emerging at the intersection of legacy and digital-native media?
  
• How do platform dependencies and algorithms shape these dynamics within polarized contexts?
  
• Can collaboration across sectors support depolarization and democratic renewal?
  

We warmly welcome your contributions and participation in shaping these timely discussions in Istanbul.

For more details and submission guidelines, please visit: Istanbul 2025 – EMMA

Please send any questions to:  emmahub@bilgi.edu.tr

We look forward to your proposals and to seeing many of you in Istanbul.

With best regards,

On behalf of the organizing committee

Prof. Dr . Eylem Yanardagoglu

Macromedia University of Applied Sciences |EMMA

Email: e.yanardagoglu@macromedia.de 

Edited by: Carola Richter, Melanie Radue, Christine Horz-Ishak, Anna Litvinenko, Hanan Badr, Anke Fiedler

This volume proposes a “deep internationalization” of media and communication studies by offering insights and guidance on how to integrate a cosmopolitan perspective in a variety of subfields of this discipline. Building on debates on de-Westernization and cosmopolitanism, the contributors advocate for the inclusion of both global and local perspectives and context-led approaches. They argue that acknowledging and incorporating epistemologies, topics, and methodologies from diverse regions, contexts, and backgrounds will enhance the comprehensiveness and relevance of their discipline and foster a more inclusive and meaningful understanding in communication studies.

https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-7677-8/cosmopolitan-communication-studies/?number=978-3-8394-7677-2

The Autumn 2025 list of books available to review in the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television has been updated on the IAMHIST website: https://iamhist.net/journal/#books-review

Should you be interested in reviewing a particular title, please contact the book review editor at Veronica.Johnson@outlook.ie giving details about your own research and why you are interested in reviewing the book you have chosen. 

Based on our own needs regarding collaborative work, methodological expansion, fair data usage, and support for open research processes, ZeMKI, the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research, University of Bremen, has been developing OpenQDA since January 2023. You can use the software at https://openqda.org/ and find the source code and developer documentation at https://github.com/openqda.

The OpenQDA team is pleased to announce the release of version 1.0.3. OpenQDA has been enhanced with new features, which are now available at https://openqda.org. Below, we would like to introduce these features:

1) Project Management

The listed projects now show how many documents (sources) are already available in each project. In addition, the project overview now also offers the option of selecting documents, allowing you to immediately proceed to editing (Preparation Editor) a document. 

2) Visualizations

All visualizations have been revised and expanded to include various parameterizations. This allows visualizations to be customized even more extensively to suit your specific needs.

3) Feedback and Help Form

It is now possible again to open a dialog for an integrated form via the navigation bar. This enables low-threshold contact with the OpenQDA team without requiring, for example, an account on another platform such as GitHub.

4) Documentation

The user documentation at https://openqda.github.io/user-docs/ has also been expanded to include the above-mentioned features.

Support OpenQDA

We welcome any form of feedback via all available channels (see below) as well as any form of participation in software development and documentation. If you have a GitHub account, you are also welcome to support us with a star.

Links and resources

OpenQDA application: https://openqda.org

User documentation: https://openqda.github.io/user-docs/

Source code: https://github.com/openqda/openqda

doi: 10.5281/zenodo.17182559

Contact: openqda@uni-bremen.de 

https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/en/9287-2/

Juraj Kittler

Publisher: Brill (Leiden, NL)

Publication Date: July 2025

This monograph explores the impact of expanding long-distance communication networks on late medieval business, politics, diplomacy, international law, and personal freedom. Trailblazed initially by pedestrian and later also mounted couriers in the context of Italy, postal operations were first and foremost at the heart of the commercial revolution that transformed late medieval banking and commerce. In their next stage, they were also essential to the formation of centralized states and early modern diplomacy. Expanding access to postal services during the Renaissance was likewise instrumental to the inception of the Republic of Letters, while travel by the posts fostered personal freedom and mobility. The emergence of the earliest postal networks is therefore presented in this volume as the opening stage of an entire series of subsequent communications revolutions that ushered in the modern era.

Publisher’s Page Link: https://brill.com/display/title/72460?language=en&srsltid=AfmBOooNHzKlavrR0CM3MPt2D2lV2S3IkrG1TiuxMe4ZLV41ADiWtK-g

COMMUNICATIONS - THE EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH

(special issue, volume 50, issue 3)

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/journal/key/comm/50/3/html 

The entire issue is freely accessible. 

EDITORIAL 

Reclaiming the past, rethinking the future: Marking 50 years in media and com£munication scholarship 

Stefanie Averbeck-Lietz, Leen d’Haenens, Viviane Harkort 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2025-0087/html 

ARTICLES 

Grappling with surveillance before datafication 

Göran Bolin 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0150/html 

Reclaiming the Radical: Feminist Legacies and the Transformative Power of Media Ethnography 

Laura Candidatu and Koen Leurs 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0198/html 

Media use as social action – then and today 

Ingrid Paus-Hasebrink and Uwe Hasebrink 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0142/html 

The changing norms and standards of scholarly journal articles. A response to Pietilä’s “Peoples Conceptions of the Mass Media” 

Jesper Strömbäck 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0128/html 

To construct or to reveal? Network analysis as formalising communication 

Bernie Hogan 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2025-0071/html 

Stereotyping the Foreigner: Revisiting Gumpert & Cathcart’s Seminal Contribution 

Maria Kyriakidou 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0183/html 

Making progress in a trackless, weightless and intangible space 

Keith Roe 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0185/html 

Alphons Silbermann (1909–2000) and the founding of Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research 

Stefanie Averbeck-Lietz 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0196/html 

BOOK REVIEWS 

Book Review of „Turkle, S. (1997). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the internet. Simon & Schuster. 352 pp.“ 

Giovanna Mascheroni 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0121/html 

Book Review of „Thompson, J. B. (1995). The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media. Polity Press.“ 

César Jiménez-Martínez 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0174/html 

Book Review of „Atton, C. (2002). Alternative media. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446220153“ 

Bart Cammaerts 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0143/html 

Book Review of „Jensen, K. B. (Ed.) (2012). Handbook of media and communication research: Qualitative and quantitative methodologies (2nd edition). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203357255“ 

Martine van Selm 

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2024-0209/html 

COMMUNICATIONS 

Editors: Stefanie Averbeck-Lietz-Lietz & Leen d’Haenens 

Associate Editors: Denisa Hejlová, Philippe J. Maarek, Hillel Nossek, Christian Pentzold, Cristina Ponte, Christian Ruggiero, Brigitte Sebbah 

Book Review Editors: Olivier Driessens, Stijn Joye, Rebecca Venema 

Editorial Management: Viviane Harkort 

For questions please contact the editorial management: journal.comun@degruyterbrill.com 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/communications-journal/ 

Twitter: @commejcr

November 11-14, 2025

Lusófona University, Portugal

Deadline: September 26, 2025

The Media Literacy and Civic Cultures Lab – MeLCi Lab (Lusófona University, CICANT) is organising its V Autumn School from 11 to 14 November 2025 in the form of a bootcamp to boost research hands-on skills. 

The MeLCi Lab Autumn School invites applications from PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scholars for a four-day intensive online program focused on innovative research methods at the intersection of AI, Communication, and Media Studies.

The School combines practical workshops and keynote lectures, allowing participants to develop hands-on skills with classical and AI-driven methodologies.

In 2025, the school’s AI tracks are specifically designed to meet the needs of media studies and PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, and early-career scholars. Participants will explore case studies and practical examples directly relevant to media analysis, digital journalism, and content curation. The sessions will address unique challenges in media-related research, such as bias in content classification, audience segmentation, and the interpretative complexity of multimedia annotation. Interactive workshops and tailored exercises will enable participants to apply AI tools to media-specific datasets, ensuring immediate applicability and facilitating deeper understanding through experiential learning.

In this sense, contributions for the following tracks (not exclusively) will be considered.

Track 1: AI in Research Practice: Foundations, Methods, and Ethics

1. Foundations of current AI tools → Recent natural language processing (NLP) breakthroughs, particularly through large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini, have significantly transformed research methodologies across disciplines. The unprecedented accessibility and effectiveness of zero- and few-shot prompting techniques have led to widespread adoption, sometimes even replacing traditional human coders (Gilardi et al., 2023; Grossmann et al., 2023; Ziems et al., 2024). Yet, these powerful tools introduce critical concerns regarding reproducibility, transparency, and ethical use. Prompt stability and variability in LLM responses—affected by minor prompt adjustments—can challenge the replicability and accountability of research (Barrie et al., 2025). This subtrack equips researchers in communication science with essential knowledge of the theoretical foundations of contemporary AI tools, highlighting methodologies and best practices for their ethical and accountable use.

2. Accountable Literature Search Using AI Tools → AI-powered tools such as SciSpace and Litmaps have radically improved the efficiency and comprehensiveness of literature searches. However, the convenience of these tools requires heightened researchers’ accountability. This subtrack guides participants through strategies to validate AI-generated results, critically assess literature coverage, and maintain transparent documentation practices, ensuring methodological rigour and reliability in AI-assisted literature reviews.

3. AI-Assisted Data Annotation in Research Pipelines → Data annotation is a cornerstone in research pipelines, traditionally relying heavily on human coders. However, AI-based annotation tools are emerging as viable and highly effective alternatives, particularly for large datasets. Barrie et al. (2025) highlight that prompt stability—the consistency of AI-generated annotations across multiple semantically similar prompts—remains a significant challenge. This subtrack introduces participants to AI-driven annotation, focusing on practical approaches to enhancing annotation consistency through frameworks like Prompt Stability Scoring (PSS). Participants will gain hands-on experience in assessing and improving the reliability of AI annotations, integrating responsible AI practices into their research workflows.

Track 2: Communication, Audiences, and Civic Cultures in the Age of AI

1. Civic Cultures and Artificial Intelligence → AI can play a crucial role in how citizens engage with the digital world in contemporary times, and a set of opportunities and challenges emerge from it (Sarafis et al., 2025). This subtrack explores the impact of AI-driven platforms and recommendation algorithms on civic engagement, activism, and media literacy.

2. Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy in an AI-Mediated World → Leveraging AI and overcoming its challenges requires the development of broad and critical skill sets, the definition of which is still fuzzy (Chiu et al., 2024). This subtrack intends to explore critical media literacy skills in the era of misinformation, deepfakes, and algorithmic personalisation.

3. Data Ethics, Equity, and Inclusivity in AI Research → Different biases can emerge from the use of AIs, and the ethical implications of using different tools for knowledge production are still unclear. While AI is frequently represented as either a magical solution or a looming threat, our Autumn School aims to demystify AI, exploring its realistic capabilities, limitations, and responsible use (Ferrara, 2024; Ntoutsi et al., 2020). This subtrack will focus on responsible research practices, equity grants, and inclusive research design for underrepresented communities.

Participants do not require previous experience with AI or data science, as introductory modules will provide a foundational understanding.

The Autumn School will be conducted online and in English.

For inquiries, please contact: melci.lab@ulusofona.pt

Call for proposals deadline

Deadline: 26th September  2025

Notification of Acceptance: 13th October 2025

Registration: 27th October

See details about how to submit a proposal at the bottom of this page.

Format

Online

Dates

11 to 14 November 2025 – V MeLCi Lab Autumn School

TIME (Lisbon time zone)

V MeLCi Lab Autumn School Schedule

Check the website for details. 

How to apply 

Interested participants must send their application (in English) by 26 September 2025, including:

• Updated Curriculum Vitae (máx. 3 pages); 
  
• Candidate’s research statement that includes a description of their doctoral dissertation, research questions and methods (máx. 2 pages);
  
• Motivation letter describing your current perspective on AI, specific concerns or interests regarding AI’s role in media practices, and your preferred track/subtrack(s) máx. 1-2 pages;

Please send your application as a ZIP file to melci.lab@ulusofona.pt with the subject “Application for the V MeLCi Lab Autumn School”.

Target-group

PhD Students

Early Career Researchers (with a PhD obtained in the last five years)

Fee *

Lusófona University, CICANT PhD Students 70 euros

PhD students from other Institutions 100 euros

Others 150 euros

*The best participant will not pay the fee

Keynote Speakers

Joana Gonçalves Sá, Researcher at LIP – Laboratory of Particle Physics and at NOVA-LINCS

Massimo Ragnedda, Associate Professor/Reader in Media and Communication Studies at both Sharjah University (UAE) and Northumbria University, Newcastle (UK)

Mustafa Can Gursesli, Postdoctoral Researcher, Gamification Group, Tampere University

Saul Albert, Lecturer in Social Science (Social Psychology) in Communication and Media at Loughborough University

Simone Natale, Associate Professor in Media Theory and History, University of Turin

Tutors

Carla Cerqueira – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Carla Sousa – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Fábio Ribeiro – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Lúcia Mesquita – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Pedro Costa – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Rita Grácio – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Sofia Caldeira – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Sónia Lamy – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Teresa Sofia Castro – Profile | Ciência Vitae | ORCID

Vanessa Rodrigues – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Organisers

Bruno Saraiva – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Carla Sousa – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Lúcia Mesquita – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Manuel Marques-Pita – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Maria José Brites – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID

Zuil Pirola – Profile | CienciaVitae | ORCID