ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Call for book chapters

Deadline: October 16, 2020

Editors: Darcy White, Julia Peck, Chris Goldie

We seek abstracts for chapters (6,000-8,000 words) to be considered for inclusion in an edited collection, for publication in Summer 2022. The proposed book is the third of a series published by Transcript Verlag, following /Northern Light: Landscape, Photography and Evocations of the North,/ Chris Goldie / Darcy White (eds.), (2018), and /Proximity and Distance in Northern Landscape Photography: Contemporary Criticism, Curation, and Practice/, Darcy White/ Chris Goldie (eds.) (2020).

This book will consider a range of approaches examining the critical role of visual culture in shaping and interrogating conceptions of ecological crisis in relation to the northern landscape. The book will address the geopolitics of visual culture within debates concerned with the politics of climate change and ecological crisis. Its aim is to engage critically with recent debates about the Anthropocene: arguments concerned with identifying the socioeconomic and political causes of environmental crisis, and the problem in regarding the latter as the consequence of undifferentiated human activity.

At its most challenging and critical the visual culture of place is able to represent a complexity and heterogeneity frequently absent or displaced within dominant discourses of environmental catastrophe. Conversely, many images of landscape and place within fine art practice, commercial and popular forms play a role in supporting a more conventional interpretation of environmental crisis. It is our argument that images of northern places and landscapes have a pivotal function within the geopolitics of visual representation, whether through their exclusion and displacement of other locations and the everyday consequences of ecological crisis for heterogeneous populations; through familiar images of pristine wilderness; through melancholic representations of man-altered landscapes and environmental damage; or through an alternative sublime of eco-catastrophe in which scenes of ecological violence are invested with an awe-inspiring, perverse beauty.

We suggest that the visual culture of northern places has not remained static in the era of ecological crisis but has played a dynamic role within the latter’s broad discursive field: northern landscape photography can still give visual form to historically settled conceptions of a natural world, but these images are frequently placed within a context of human mastery and thus sanction the latter’s purported achievements; and ubiquitous representations of environmental disaster can also reinforce the notion of its techno-utopian resolution.

While the medium of photography / photographic practice will be foregrounded in this anthology the discussions may also range into related practices within the wider terrain of visual culture, where examples may be identified that facilitate useful critiques of the conventional or enhanced understanding of new developments in this field of enquiry. Contributions to the book will explore this visual field, presenting wide-ranging critical appraisals of landscape photography and its related practices, as traditionally conceived, as well as more recent developments in art and visual culture in relation to the representation of place. Authors may question the validity of images where they function as vehicles for the consolidation of the global world order around enhanced networks of power, but also consider where visual culture is part of an emancipatory project in the era of global warming.

Chapters can address original work or themes, or the work of particular photographers, genres, collections. Both historical and contemporary approaches will be considered. We welcome proposals from anyone working within this broad field, including theorists, practitioners, curators and archivists.

Please submit a 500 word abstract and a short bio by Friday 16th October, 2020. Please send your submission *TO ALL* of the following:

• Darcy White-d.white@shu.ac.uk
• Julia Peck -jpeck@glos.ac.uk
• Chris Goldie -c.t.goldie@shu.ac.uk

We look forward to receiving your proposals.

UCLouvain

The research project focuses on the analysis of images and videos on climate change circulating in digital social networks.

Questions about this offer can be directed to Andrea Catellani (andrea.catellani@uclouvain.be).

Hiring Context

The Research Centre in Communication (part of the Institute for Language and Communication, UClouvain, Belgium) has an opening for a fully funded three-year PhD fellowship in video and images analysis. This opening is done in the context of a pan-European interdisciplinary research project on climate change communication analysis. You will work within a team of more than 10 researchers and academics from Belgium, France and Norway.

The fellowship will start between 15 November 2020 and 15 January 2021 for 36 months. The offer is open until 30 September 2020, but candidates that suit all requirements can be interviewed before this date. We specifically encourage women to respond to this call for applications, as we are committed to equality of opportunity. Due to the Covid-19 specific context, face-to-face & teleworking conditions will depend on official conditions at the start of the job.

Research Context

Climate change today is undoubtedly a challenge for humanity. The Special IPCC 1,5 °C report highlighted the numerous dramatic consequences of climate change; yet, the response of our societies has been slow, contradictory and elusive. The humanities and social sciences are called on to make a crucial contribution to the understanding of how humans approach and make sense of climate change, in order to reduce the value-action gap, using innovative forms of communication to identify entry-points for climate action.

This research project has the transformative aim to improve the scientific understanding of why societies remain indifferent to the risks of climate change, and to understand how multimodal devices and recommendations can convert apathy into action. The project will focus on Belgium, France, and Norway. The cooperation between specialists in linguistics, semiotics, law and governance studies, anthropology and psycho-social analysis can significantly improve the state of the art, by combining expertise on texts and images as indications of sensemaking by individuals and cultures, and expertise on social and psychological factors that influence behaviours and attitudes. In Belgium, the research will be undertaken in collaboration with some non-governmental organizations: (1) a cooperative which will receive assistance transforming their communication strategy for calls to action; and (2) a network of organisations, which will contribute to a real-time social-network analysis of a new communication strategy in 2020-2021.

One of the main tasks of the project is to increase knowledge on the visual aspect of online discourses on climate change and climate change mitigation. The analysis of the most “famous” (most seen, shared and commented on) images and videos on climate change from YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit and of the interaction between images and verbal texts will also aim at improving our knowledge of the role of visual content in climate change mitigation.

Job Description

On each platform, the most famous climate change images and videos will be identified and collected. These images will be analysed with a semiotic approach, which is useful for understanding the implicit potential meaning of images, including interactions with texts. The same approach will be applied to a corpus of comments on this visual content, in order to analyse how real viewers produce meaning in relation to images and videos. Intertextual connections will also be examined. This analysis will allow for a comparison between different countries and different platforms.

The aims of the research are the identification of patterns and tendencies concerning the most influential images on climate change in the countries of focus. We aim to

1) identify iconic, narrative and rhetorical multimodal configurations in (dominantly) visual content concerning climate change, and to

2) analyse the attitudes and discursive forms of commentary concerning this content, whether in favour of or against climate mobilisation. For example, how different forms of opposition to climate change mitigation policies are expressed, in comments on the visual content but also through recycling, use and manipulation of this content? How do climate skepticism is expressed and articulated through disagreement and conflict, in particular in relation to and through visual contents? This analysis will contribute to the understanding of how people interpret and manipulate these images, and of how images participate in creating meaning concerning climate change and climate change mitigation practices. The global approach is inspired by the semiotic tradition of analysis, taking into consideration also the theoretical and methodological contributions of social semiotics and pragmatics.

On this basis, the PhD aims to offer advice on effective climate change communication. A result of the research will be also a scientific support to the production and test of prototypes of multimodal and innovative communication devices on climate change for the partners, including for example augmented and virtual reality. Devices and prototypes will be produced by the project team with the support of MIIL (Media Innovation & Intelligibility Lab, UCLouvain); they will be tested by the PhD student with techniques that are made available by the Social Media Lab of UCLouvain, in particular, eye-tracking, interviews, and user experience tests.

The PhD candidate will work mainly in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, under the supervision of Andrea Catellani (IL&C, UCLouvain) and Louise-Amélie Cougnon (MiiL, UCLouvain). S/he will be affiliated with the Institute for Language and Communication. Applicants from outside the EU are responsible for obtaining the necessary visa or permits.

The candidate’s activities will include the following:

- taking part in the doctoral training programme;

- working actively on a PhD thesis, with the aim of defending it by the end of the three-year position;

- contributing actively to the global research project;

- reporting on the results of the PhD project in scientific articles and at conferences, with the support of the supervisors.

Research Profile

• A master’s degree in Semiotics, Visual Studies, Communication, Information and Communication Studies, Linguistics or any similar degree.

• Excellent academic record and strong interest in visual and multimodal analysis and on climate change communication analysis.

• Fluency in French; good level of English (minimum B2); proficiency in Dutch and/or Norwegian will be considered as an add-on.

• Skills in semiotic analysis or willingness to acquire such skills.
• Skills and familiarity with the analysis of social media corpora and images or willingness to acquire such skills.

• An experience in climate change or political discourse and images research are an asset, but not a requirement.

• Capacity to work both independently and as part of a team.

Application Procedure and Timetable

If you are interested in this position, please send to Prof. Andrea Catellani andrea.catellani@uclouvain.be:

- a detailed CV in English or in French;

- a copy of Bachelor’s and Master’s diplomas;

- a transcript of records for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees;

- a cover letter, describing, at least, your motivation and how your profile responds to the offer;

- a sample piece of academic writing in English or French;

- the names and contact details of two academic referees.

Deadline for application: 30 September 2020

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview (in Louvain-la-Neuve or online) in October 2020.

Questions about this offer can be directed to Andrea Catellani (andrea.catellani@uclouvain.be).

Philippe J. Maarek

La communication politique des élections européennes de 2019 a été paradoxale. Alors qu'il s'agissait des dernières à inclure la Grande-Bretagne avant son départ de l'Union, le Brexit n'y a pris qu'une part marginale. Alors que pour la première fois en quarante ans la participation a augmenté, ce sont les partis populistes qui en ont bénéficié, remettant en cause la culture de compromis établie de longue date. Alors que l'on pensait les pratiques médiatiques disparates, notamment le Nord et le Sud, les comportements électoraux se sont caractérisés par une grande communauté d'usages synchrones des médias traditionnels et des réseaux sociaux. Cet ouvrage met ainsi en évidence le paradoxe suivant : si l'Europe semble traversée par de puissantes forces centrifuges, un électeur européen prend forme.

https://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=66650

MedieKultur: Journal of media and communication research (SPECIAL ISSUE)

Deadline for abstracts: October 15, 2020

Streaming is an increasingly used form of content distribution. This special issue of MedieKultur: Journal of media and communication research aims at bringing together articles that contribute to a better understanding of how streaming as a phenomenon affects established media industries such as film, television, gaming, music, radio/podcasts, books and audio books. As communication and media scholars we are interested in streaming media, that is the structures, relations and practices including and surrounding streaming as distribution systems. This encompasses (at least) studies of media industries and production, interfaces, content, and use of streaming media.

Read more: https://tidsskrift.dk/mediekultur/announcement/view/818

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

1 FTE (2-3 years)

The PROFECI Team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (http://profeci.net/ (is looking to recruit a Postddoctoral Fellow in an ERC-funded project about the social dynamics of projecting possible futures and the role of the media in this process. In collaboration with an international team of researchers, led by Prof. Keren Tenenboim-Weinblatt, the postdoctoral fellow will examine how projections regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in media discourse interact with political and behavioral responses in different countries.

The research will involve collection and analysis of projections regarding the pandemic’s development, outcomes, and longer-term implications in news and social media, and the integration of this data with publicly available statistics on the pandemic. This includes developing a model capable of accounting for the behavioural implications of Covid-19-related projections. The postdoctoral fellow will also participate in the application and validation of algorithmic tools for the automated extraction and analysis of pandemic-related projections in media discourse and the development of survey measurements to examine real-time public responses to such projections.

The position is fully-funded for two years, with a possibility for a third-year extension. Specific start date will be determined based on pandemic-related constraints and the availability of suitable candidates.

Suitable candidates should have:

·PhD in Communication, Public Health, or related fields (or be close to completion of the PhD). Expertise in health communication is an advantage.

·advanced language skills in English, as well as another European language, with a preference for French.

·experience in textual analysis. Acquaintance with computational approaches is an advantage, but not a mandatory requirement.

·statistical understanding and capabilities.

·a record of academic excellence.

If you are interested in this position, please submit the following

materials, by email, to bath@savion.huji.ac.il:

·a letter stating your motivation and qualification for the job (~1 page).

·CV, including a list of publications.

·two letters of recommendation (one of them should be from the PhD supervisor).

·one relevant publication (published or under review).

Review of applications will begin on October 15, 2020, and continue until the position is filled.

For inquiries about this position, you can contact PROFECI Coordinator Bat-Sheva Hass (bath@savion.huji.ac.il_)_, or PI Keren Tenenboim-Weinblatt (keren.tw@mail.huji.ac.il ).

ECREA’s Political Communication Section Interim Conference

March 26-27, 2021

Bucharest, Romania

Deadline: September 30, 2020

The Political Communication Section of ECREA invites abstracts of papers for the next Interim Conference to be held in Bucharest, March 26th-27th , 2021. For self-explanatory reasons, the theme of the conference is “Communicating crisis: Political communication in the age of uncertainty”. The organizers call for proposals in all sub-fields of political communication research, but particularly invite conceptual, empirical, and methodological proposals reflecting on the ‘plague year’ we are living in, or comparable crisis events, and the role of media and/or communication therein. The conference will reflect both empirically, and conceptually and methodologically focused work.

This is a timely and rich topic, and not only due to the tragic circumstances around Covid 19. The last 20 years have brought or aggravated several challenges to humanity: rapid population increase, climate change, war and conflict, humanitarian catastrophes, economic crises, growing inequalities, population ageing, and the uncertain future of work among them. These ongoing crises are now the background of a pandemic of proportions unseen in at least a century. In such turbulent times, communication in general and political communication in particular play a significant role in helping the public at large as well as volatile groups in society in particular to understand unfolding events, and in developing constructive attitudes and resilient behaviors regarding the crisis. Perspectives can even be adjusted or corrected, e.g. in reorienting audiences to reliable information outlets and away from possibly “polluted information” from untrustworthy sources.

The digital information ecosystem comes with further challenges to effective communication in times of crisis. Among them, the large variety of sources of information, the partisan bias of media organizations and outlets, the relatively high incidence of “polluted information” (i.e., dis-, mis-, and mal-information), the potential of each message to go viral due to the constant use of social networking sites and instant messaging platforms, the rapid circulation of conspiracy theories, the high potential of exposure to contradictory information, the almost instant access to interpersonal communication which might fuel various rumors, and so on. All these trends contribute to making people more vulnerable to accept and to disseminate various pieces of ideologically-driven, highly polarized information. Against this backdrop, communication is no longer used as a strategy to keep people well informed, but as an engine responsible for generalized skepticism and emotionally-driven attitudes. Addressing (political) communication changes and challenges during crises is of high

relevance not only for scholars, policy-makers, and journalists, but also for citizens, as co-creators of

content within the communication flow.

Keynote speaker

Prof. Darren G. Lilleker, Bournemouth University

Dr Darren G. Lilleker is Professor of Political Communication in The Faculty of Media & Communication, Bournemouth University and Convenor of the Centre for Comparative Politics & Media Research. He has published widely on election campaigning and voter engagement, including Political Communication and Cognition (Palgrave, 2014).

Papers & panels

The conference will feature both presentations of individual research papers, and thematic panels.

Paper submissions will be grouped in sessions of 4-5 papers by the conference program chair. A limited number of slots will be available for coherent panels where one topic is addressed in four to five presentations, followed by responses. Preference will be given to panels with presenters from diverse backgrounds and affiliations.

Submission

 Paper submissions: Please send an MS Word (.doc, .docx) file including (a) the title of your paper and an abstract of no more than 400 words, and (b), on a separate page, the names and affiliations of the authors.

 Panel submissions: Please send an MS Word (doc., docx) file including (a) a rationale of no more than 300 word; (b) summaries for all the presentations in the panel (no more than 150 words for each summary); and (c) the names and affiliations of the chair, presenters, and respondents.

 Please note that all submission will undergo peer-review, and will be accepted or declined accordingly.

 Only one proposal per first author can be accepted.

 All submissions should be sent via email at: contact[at]comunicare[dot]ro.

Deadlines

 Please e-mail your abstract or panel proposal by September 30th 2020.

 Notifications of acceptance will be sent to authors by November 15th 2020.

A possible virtual conference

Due to the global pandemic circumstances, the Organizers are preparing two other options for the conference as a precaution:

 There will be an option of online participation for those presenters who are unable to travel.

 In the worst case scenario, the entirety of the conference will be done online, but the

Organizers would do their best to run the conference at the planned and scheduled dates.

We will be in contact as the situation evolves.

Local host

Nicoleta Corbu (National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania), E-mail: nicoleta.corbu[at]comunicare[dot]ro

Section Management Team

• Andreas Schuck (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Chair)
• Melanie Magin (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway; Vice Chair)
• Václav Štětka (Loughborough University, United Kingdom; Vice Chair)

University of Hamburg, Germany

The Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences invites applications for two Research Associate positions in the subject area Journalism and Mass Communication (Salary level 13 TV-L, 75%)

Responsibilities:

Research associates will be expected primarily to teach and conduct research. The research associates will also have the opportunity to pursue further academic qualifications, in particular a doctoral dissertation. At least one-third of set working hours will be made available for the research associate’s own academic work.

Specific Duties:

- Research and teaching duties in the area of communication and journalism in a digital context

- Development of a PhD thesis in the area of digital journalism, particularly concerning new roles and professions in news organizations OR news recommender systems

- Participation in publications, presentations, and conferences

- Support preparing project proposals for third-party funding

- Designing and conducting research in a team

- Planning and teaching of courses (three teaching hours per week)

- Supporting the organization of the research team and participation in the University's self-administration

Please find more details about both positions here:

https://www.uni-hamburg.de/en/uhh/stellenangebote/wissenschaftliches-personal/30-09-20-358-en.pdf

https://www.uni-hamburg.de/en/uhh/stellenangebote/wissenschaftliches-personal/30-09-20-357-en.pdf

Closing date: 30 Sept 2020

Start date: 1 Dec 2020 or soon thereafter

For enquiries, please feel free to contact me.

Review of Communication Research

Deadline: May 10, 2021

Review of Communication Research invites the submission of literature reviews and meta-analyses that relate social media and self-concept.

Here there a list of topics that we find of interest. However, this call is not limited to the listed topics:

- Communication of the self in social media (e.g., Instagram, Facebook.)

- Influence of social media on self-concept.

- The interactions of self-concept, collective identity, and shared identity.

- Social comparison.

- Sexual identity and social media.

- Imagined audience.

- Online self-presentation.

- Reputation in social media of individuals and organizations.

Deadline: May 10, 2021 (we will reply in a few days to the authors to inform if RCR is interested in working on the manuscript, or not).

Authors should submit their manuscripts through the RCR editorial management system: www.rcommunicationr.org.

Paper proposals, questions, and comments should be addressed to Giorgio De Marchis (Universidad Complutense de Madrid): editor@rcommunicationr.org.

About the Journal:

Review of Communication Research (www.rcommunicationr.org) is an internationally respected open-access journal that specializes in publishing high-quality literature reviews and meta-analyses for the field of Communication. The comprehensive critical reviews that we publish summarize the latest advances in the field, but also root out errors and provoke intellectual discussions among scholars.

RCR ranks Q1 in Scopus CiteScore. It ranks in the top 2% in Social Science (#159/8,000, according to Scopus SNIP indicator) and top 10% in Communication (#41/434, according to the SJR indicator.)

We are looking forward to receiving your manuscripts or proposals.

Download a PDF of the Call for Papers: https://www.rcommunicationr.org/public/journals/1/call%20for%20papers%20or%20proposals%20RCR%20-%20SOCIAL%20MEDIA%20AND%20THE%20SELF-CONCEPT.pdf

Special issue of Convergence

Deadline: September 10, 2020

Over the past years, digital disconnection has emerged as a research topic attracting interest across media and communication studies. In an age of ubiquitous media, the idea of “digital disconnection” represents a cultural, political and personal response inspiring interest and investigation. Along with related concepts such as abstention, resistance, avoidance and detox, digital disconnection is discussed and explored in a growing number of research endeavors emerging in various subfields. This special issue invites papers on digital disconnection as a concept and a topic for empirical research, to advance digital disconnection studies as a research area.

READ MORE: https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cfp_Advancing%20Digital%20Disconnection%20Research%20June%202020.pdf

Special issue in Digital journalism

Deadline: November 1, 2020

In 2004, the landmark study by Hallinand Mancini, ‘Comparing Media Systems’, has opened doors for hundreds of comparative studies in journalism, media, and communication that featured nearly every aspect of media life. However, an important mediated realm that has been under-studied in relation to comparative and cross-cultural analysis is digital journalism – whether seen as a theoretical concept, a professional domain, a creative industry, or a possible macro-indicator of the national media system development. Since 2004, media and communication world has changed beyond recognition. Digital journalism and social media are becoming the leading source of information for citizens all over the world, demanding more than a humble place within models of journalism of the previous era. Transborder mediated communication and proliferation of global audiences have put under question whether nation states need to remain major units of analysis for comparative media and journalism studies.

On one hand, globalization of media production and social networking plaforms evokes expectations that digital journalism practices may standardize across nations. On the other hand, there is growing evidence that local/regional social, political, and cultural factors critically affect how digital journalism is made and perceived. Together with that, the challenges of audience segmentation, populism and political polarization, digital and social inequalities, blurring borders of media trust, and spread of misinformation create a need for new criteria in comparative journalism studies.

The special issue aims at bringing together comparative studies of digital journalism in various contexts and across them, elaborating comparative criteria, and discussing the methodological and institutional challenges in comparative digital journalism research. The issue seeks to examine whether digital journalism differs depending on social or cultural contexts, geographic proximity of countries, political or economic factors, accessibility of ICTs, and specifics of media landscapes, among other factors.

The guest editors welcome comparative studies that involve at least two countries, as well as theoretical contributions. In particular, we invite submissions that engage with (but are not limited to) one or more of the topics below:

• Digital journalisms? Contextual dependence of the development trajectories of the digital journalism practices around the world

• The place of digital journalism in the existing approaches to modeling media systems

• Digital journalism compared cross-culturally and cross-regionally: variables and metrics

• Comparing media policies in response to growth of digital journalism
• Cross-country comparisons of the recent digitalization effects and digital practices of journalism

• Democratic and wider societal roles of digital journalism in both democratic and non-democratic contexts

• Digital and non-digital journalism: competition and strategies for claiming niches

• Digital journalism and politics in comparative perspective
• Technological and social challenges for digital journalism in various parts of the world

• Digital divide and economic divide: implications for digital journalism

The special issue is open for regular submissions; decisions about inclusion will be quality-based, reliant on thorough peer-reviewing.

Abstract submissions (500-750 words excluding references, indicating central questions, theoretical framework, and methodology) are to be sent to Svetlana Bodrunova s.bodrunova@spbu.ru and Anna Gladkova gladkova_a@list.ru. Full papers are expected to be between 7,000 and 9,000 words long, including references, tables, figures, and supplementary materials. All the queries on the special issue should also be addressed to the guest editors.

Timeline:

Abstract submission to emails of the guest editors: November 1, 2020

Authors notified of the results of abstract selection: November 20, 2020

Deadline for full paper submission to ScholarOne: March 20, 2021

The full call for papers may be found here: http://bit.ly/comparingDJSI