ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Hossein Kermani

This book investigates Twitter activism in authoritarian regimes, with particular attention to Iran. Twitter provides citizens around the globe with a free and quick way to engage in politics and public discourses. The role of Twitter, alongside other social media, is even more critical in authoritarian regimes where official media is systematically monitored and censured. Thus, social media is vital in restrictive (non-democratic) societies for people to seek their liberty, raise their voice, and create counter-narratives and discourses. There is substantial research into Twitter and democracy, both in democratic and non-democratic regimes. However, Iran, as a country with a high population of tech-savvy users who actively participate in political discussions online, remains understudied to a great extent. Twitter in Iran has been blocked since the 2009 presidential election and its subsequent protests, the Green Movement. Nevertheless, Iranians have been continually using it to date.Recently, another significant hashtag movement unfolded in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini. But it is only an instance of how Iranians employ Twitter to fight a dictatorship. Given the unique context of Iran as a non-democratic society with a high number of Twitter users, this book tries to explore how Iranian users participate in politics, challenge the regime, mobilize their protests, and shape anti-regime discourses. It also examines the strategies that the Iranian regime takes to dismantle Twitter activism. Therefore, this work will fill some gaps in the existing literature on Twitter and democracy, which is relatively Western-centered.

https://link.springer.com/book/9783031815379

The International Journal of Games and Social Impact  (Special issue)

Deadline: May 15, 2025

Guest Editors: Rikkie Toft Nørgård (Aarhus University, Danish School of Education) & Conceição Costa (Lusófona University, CICANT

This special issue of The International Journal of Games and Social Impact invites contributions that delve into the manifold theoretical, practical, and methodological dimensions of game jams, game-making and games as cultural expression, engagement, practice, transformation, or invention.

Submissions may address (but are not limited to) the following questions:

• How can game jams facilitate the integration of tangible/intangible cultural heritage and values into the game-making process?
  
• In what ways do game jams in cultural contexts empower youth as active participants and co-creators of tangible/intangible cultural heritage?
  
• How can game jams foster curiosity, creativity, and community in cultural contexts and among participants from diverse backgrounds?
  
• What are some of the practical and methodological challenges of designing and implementing game jams and game-making in cultural heritage contexts?
  
• How do games created with the use of tangible/intangible cultural heritage or in cultural heritage contexts reimagine, reconfigure, or in other ways transform tangible and intangible cultural heritage?
  

Publication Timeline

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Dates are indicative.

Full Paper Submission Deadline: 15-05-2025

Notification of Acceptance for Full Paper Submissions: 30-07-2025

Publication Date: Second semester of 2025

Contact

For inquiries about the special issue or submission process, please contact Rikke Toft Nørgård (rtoft@edu.au.dk)

Join us in exploring how games and game-making practices can reshape our engagement with cultural heritage, values, and culture, creating new spaces for cultural expression and social transformation.

For more information: https://revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/ijgsi/announcement/view/225

July 7-10 , 2025

ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Brussels

Deadline: February 28, 2025

Website: www.discourseanalysis.net/DNC6 

Contact: contactdnc6@gmail.com 

Important dates:

• Deadline paper proposals: February 28th 2025
  
• Letter of acceptance or refusal: March 7th, 2025
  
• Deadline registration: April 31st 2025 (authors of papers need to be paying DN members)
  

Language policy:

DiscourseNet is a multilingual association. At DNC6 we welcome contributions in the following languages: French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese. We highly recommend providing a visual aid in English if you decide to present in Spanish or Portuguese. This is likely to facilitate interaction in multilingual panels. 

Topic:

Discourse and the imaginaries of past, present and future societies: media and representations of (inter)national (dis)orders)

The 6th DiscourseNet Congress (DNC6) focuses on the discursive construction of social and political imaginaries. It offers a forum to discuss how social actors imagine and articulate past, present and future societies in a world marked by multiple and overlapping crises.

DNC6 welcomes contributions of authors who explore ontological, theoretical, and methodological aspects of imaginaries that may (re)shape our societies. We also welcome analyses and case studies of specific imaginaries circulating in our mediatized societies. These may focus on linguistic, textual, narrative, visual, multimodal, and/or ideological articulations of social and political imaginaries.

This conference is open to discourse scholars from all disciplines, as well as to other scholars in the humanities and social sciences working on (aspects of) the imaginaries that allow us to make sense of and shape our realities. DNC6 offers an interdisciplinary forum for discussing imaginaries and the discursive construction of old and new (inter)national (dis)orders.

A non-exhaustive list of questions that may be addressed at this event is provided below:

• How are past, present, and future societies imagined in debates over culture, education, migration, economy, climate change, AI and/or robotics?
  
• What are the building blocks of populist, neoliberal, environmentalist, radically democratic, reactionary and/or post-humanist imaginaries? How do these evolve?
  
• What role do media play in the production, distribution, and consumption of imaginaries? How do media impact on the articulation of imaginaries?
  
• How do media figure with(in) discursive imaginaries of past, present and future societies? What socio-technical imaginaries inform existing and future mediascapes?
  
• How can one operationalize discourse analytical approaches, concepts, and methods to investigate cultural, social, political and/or environmental imaginaries.
  
• How are imaginaries of past, present and future expressed in different media types and genres?
  
• How can we identify imaginaries in works of fiction, non-fiction, and science fiction? What are their characteristics and how do they evolve over time?
  
• How do discursively constructed imaginaries inform social identities and subjectivities? How do they impact on past, present, and future notions of citizenship?
  

DNC6 invites scholars to submit papers that may enrich our understanding of social and political imaginaries, through explicit theoretical discussions and/or through relevant case studies and discourse studies.

Concepts of the ‘imaginary’ have so far occupied a relatively marginal position in the field of discourse studies. While the notion is not absent in (critical) discourse studies, other meta-concepts such as narrative, ideology, hegemony tend to be used more frequently.

The concept of the imaginary currently figures more prominently in sociology, political philosophy, psychoanalysis, and media studies. In these disciplines we find competing and overlapping notions of the imaginary that merit discourse theoretical and analytical attention.

What place can we give to the concept of the imaginary in the field of discourse studies? What concepts and methods can discourse scholars offer to investigate social and political imaginaries? DNC6 invites discourse scholars to present relevant research and/or explicit reflections on such matters.

The imaginary has been conceptualized in a variety of ways. Imaginaries have been thought of as background horizons providing tacit and pre-reflective social meanings that prefigure the way subjects relate to themselves and to the world. They have been treated as images of self and society that infuse reality with imaginary significations. Authors have also drawn attention to the interpretive functions of imaginaries. 

Imaginaries play a key role in fictional and non-fictional types of discourse. They also play a role in the construction of social identities and ideologies. Psychoanalysis has stressed the importance of the imaginary in constituting subjects and subjectivity. The imaginary has been theorized in relation to ideology, as well as in relation to specific ideologies such as nationalism.

Concepts of the imaginary may help us to understand how social actors construct discourses of social (dis)order. Empirical studies have focused on topics as varied as the way scientists imagine the future of climate change, the construction of plans for the future of urban environments, migration, cyber- and energy security, university education, and so on.

We only started to scratch the surface of the literature on social and political imaginaries here. DNC6 invites scholars from all subfields of the transdisciplinary field of (critical) discourse studies to submit papers and to explore what lies under the tip of the iceberg. We also explicitly welcome scholars from other disciplines and perspectives in the humanities and social sciences:

• Media studies
  
• Communication sciences
  
• Political sciences
  
• International relations
  
• History
  
• Ideology studies
  
• Semiotics
  
• Linguistics
  
• Post-foundational social research
  
• Critical fantasy studies
  
• Sociology of knowledge
  
• Cultural studies
  
• Audience and reception studies
  
• Governmentality studies
  
• Strategic narrative studies
  
• Journalism studies
  
• Populism studies
  
• (Social) media studies
  
• Visual culture
  
• Future studies
  
• Gender studies
  
• Development studies
  
• Post- and De     colonial studies
  
• Environmental studies
  
• …
  

May 5, 2025

Södertörn University, Sweden

Deadline: May 2, 2025

Symposium arranged by the Knowledge Center for Public Service Media (Kpub), the Center of Excellence for Digital Transformations (DigiTrans) and the ECREA Section for Media Industries and Cultural Production.

Public service media (PSM) in Europe are undergoing significant transformations over the last decade. Some of these are necessitated by technological shifts, such as the dominance of digital platforms within contemporary media ecologies. Others are precipitated by political and geopolitical developments. Some actors are questioning the overall need for public service media in a transforming media landscape, and others dispute if they still carry a democratic role.

How can we imagine a future for public service media in Europe? How can contemporary challenges understood and met? And what should be the role of PSM in the future media- and political landscapes of Europe?

This symposium will tackle these issues drawing on current international and comparative research, as well as insights from the Swedish broadcasting companies themselves.

Programme

• Presentations, 13:00-14:30
  

José van Dijck, Professor of Media and Digital Society at Utrecht University

Public Service Media in the age of platformization and Big Tech

Catherine Johnson, Professor of Media and Communication, University of Leeds

Content distribution and independence: a comparative study of European Broadcasters

Jannie Møller Hartley, Professor in Communication and Journalism, Roskilde University

Datafication of Journalistic Practices – An Ethnographic Inquiry

Victor Picard, Edwin Baker Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy, the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

Funding democracy: Public media and democratic health in 33 countries

• Coffee break 14:30-15:00
  
• Panel discussion 15:00-16:00
  

K-pub (sh.se/kpub) is a knowledge and research center on public service media at Södertörn university, Sweden.

K-pub is takes as its starting point the rapid technological and industrial shifts as well as the (geo)political challenges for public service media in Sweden and Europe. K-pub seeks to stimulate research and disseminate knowledge in order to enhance evidence-based policy and development.

K-Pub offers:

• An infrastructure for knowledge about public service media: making existing knowledge available to relevant users.
• A platform for knowledge exchange: through publications, seminars, workshops, etc. in cooperation between industry, decision-makers and the research community.
• A forum for learning: by organizing and coordinating education about public service media and about its role in a contemporary media landscape.
• A Hub for research: gathering and coordinating researchers and research projects on the future of public service media, in Sweden and internationally.

K-pub is funded by the research environment Digital Vulnerabilities in Automated Welfare: Infrastructures, Citizens’ Experiences and Public Values (Swedish Research Council, 2024-01837_VR), the ECREA Section for Media Industries and Cultural Production. and the research platform on Digital Transformations at Södertörn university.

Registration until 2 May - see link HERE.

https://www.sh.se/english/sodertorn-university/calendar/events/2025-05-05-the-future-of-public-service-media

February 25, 2025

We are pleased to announce an ECREA OSC online event on Tuesday, 25 February, 18:00 CET (Central European Time), where we will present recent publications based on the best papers presented at the ECREA OSC Conference in Lisbon 2023. Both publications provide a comprehensive exploration of ethical challenges in organisational and public communication:

Ethics and Society: Challenges in Organisational and Public Communication

Book co-edited by Evandro Oliveira (Associate Professor at EAE Business School, Barcelona) and Gisela Gonçalves (Associate Professor at the University of Beira Interior, Portugal). https://labcom.ubi.pt/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Ethics-And-Society.pdf

Navigating the Ethical Landscape: Organizational Dynamics, Engagement, Authenticity, and Societal Impact

Journal special issue edited by Gisela Gonçalves with the contribution of Evandro Oliveira, Shannon Bowen (Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina) published in Vol. 1 N.º 39 (2024) in Estudos em Comunicação / Estudos de Comunicação explores critical ethical issues within organisational contexts. https://ojs.labcom-ifp.ubi.pt/ec/issue/view/73

How to participate: The event will take place online. Please sign up via this form (https://forms.gle/Q1x1pQ1qGtyuCVMYA) by Friday, 21 February, and we will send the link to registered attendees.

Book co-edited by: Evandro Oliveira (Associate Professor at EAE Business School, Barcelona) and Gisela Gonçalves (Associate Professor at the University of Beira Interior, Portugal).

https://labcom.ubi.pt/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Ethics-And-Society.pdf

October 9-10, 2025

Vilnius University, Lithuania

Deadline: March 31, 2025

Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.

George Orwell’s dystopian vision has only gained in relevance since 1984 was published in 1949. With the spread of digital communications technologies, states and individuals are increasingly able to manipulate the population with tendentious narratives of the past.

However, the aim of shaping the future through representations of the past needs not be nefarious. The German Institute for the History of the National Socialist Era was mandated in 1949 to document, analyse and educate the public about Nazism and its crimes, so they would never be repeated. Based on the German model, institutes of contemporary history spread rapidly, helping to consolidate the postwar democracies of Western Europe.

Established with the aim of consolidating postcommunist democratic development and European integration, the "memory institutions" of East Central Europe have sometimes been associated with the politicisation of historical research, non-inclusive approaches to commemoration, and outdated methods and practices of research. Meanwhile the House of European History was established in Brussels to implement the idea of European remembrance.

The conference The Past and Future of Public History invites participants to consider the establishment of institutes of "contemporary history" after the Second World War, "national memory" after the Cold War and "European Remembrance" after the eastward expansion of the EU as three waves of public history activism, and to consider what the next wave might entail.

Approaches to public history have varied considerably over time and across space, but they are joined by the key concerns of communicating the past while encouraging the participation and engagement of various constituencies.

The conference will take place on 9–10 October 2025. It will be held at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University. We invite you to submit proposals for both individual papers and panels. Please submit your abstract (up to 250 words) along with a short bio (up to 250 words) by completing this survey by 31 March 2025:

Link to the form

Selected presenters will be notified on 19 May 2025. We strongly encourage on-site participation, but online participation will be possible in individual cases. In the survey, please indicate your preferred mode of participation. The conference language is English. For further information, please contact us at info@europast.vu.lt.

September 11-12, 2025

Cardiff University, UK

Deadline: February 14, 2025

Cardiff University invites submissions of abstracts of papers on all aspects of journalism to be considered for presentations at the 10th biennial Future of Journalism conference. The event is hosted by the School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC), and it takes place at Cardiff University on the 11th & 12th of September, 2025.

The organisers especially encourage contributions addressing the theme of:

“Conflicting Journalisms: Resistance, Struggle, and Prospects.”

This includes, but is not limited to, papers addressing themes such as:

• The role of journalists and journalism in covering conflict, including war, repression, and political violence
  
• New forms of journalism used in covering conflict, such as open source intelligence
  
• The challenges created in reporting on authoritarian and populist political movements
  
• The difficulties of covering elections in polarised news environments
  
• Conflict in journalism created by the development and introduction of generative artificial intelligence
  
• The threat to journalism’s standards, normative behaviours, and the compromises to journalistic values in covering populism/authoritarianism
  
• Conflict as a news value
  
• The aesthetic of conflict in photojournalism
  
• The challenges created by reporting on and/or for minority communities
  
• The challenges of reporting systemic or existential changes, such as climate change
  
• The accommodations made by legacy news institutions under pressure and the impact on ideals of journalistic objectivity, quality, and fairness
  
• The impact of both online and physical abuse and threat to journalistic challenge to authority
  
• Journalists work environment: conflicts in the newsroom
  
• Ongoing conflict around the gendering of journalism and news
  
• Conflicting ethical frameworks
  
• The struggle between opposing forces as a rhetorical trope in journalism
  
• Beyond blame: using compassion and empathy to address conflicts
  
• The future of the field of journalism studies and conflicts over its value and values
  
• The implications for improving journalism education associated with these developments
  

Confirmed keynote speakers include Professor Seth Lewis, the Shirley Papé Chair in Emerging Media at the University of Oregon, and Jodie Ginsberg, Chief Executive of the Committee for the Protection of Journalists.

The deadline for abstracts (300 words maximum) is Friday, 14th February, 2025. Abstracts should be submitted online via the link: https://auth.oxfordabstracts.com/?redirect=/stages/77035/submitter

Should you have any questions, please contact us at foj2025@cardiff.ac.uk

September 18-19, 2025

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Deadline: March 15, 2025

The “Communication Law and Policy” Section of the European Communications Research and Education Association (ECREA) invites abstracts for theoretical and empirical papers to be presented at its next workshop Media Freedom and Pluralism in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Platforms: A New Era for Media Policy/Regulation? This two-day workshop will be a unique opportunity to bring together those researchers investigating the processes of regulating media sectors under the influence of online platforms in Europe and beyond. The workshop will take place in Brussels, Belgium, on 18-19 September 2025. It is hosted by the imec-SMIT research centre and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).

The workshop invites contributions dealing with media and communication law and policy, and its implementation. This includes submissions from political economy, policy and govern-ance studies, media and communication law, among others. We welcome theoretical, methodological and empirical submissions, case studies and comparative work. Innovative use of methods, and in particular interdisciplinary approaches, are encouraged. See the full call for papers here: https://smit.research.vub.be/en/ecrea-communication-law-and-policy-conference-at-vub-brussels-on-18-19-september-2025

Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted for blind peer review in DOCX or ODT directly to the organizers of the conference by March 15th, 2025 at the following e-mail address CLPBrussels2025@vub.be.

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!