ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Aarhus University

The Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University, in collaboration with the European Research Council and the School of Communication and Culture, invites applications for a fully funded PhD fellowship in PAY4PLAY: Entrepreneurial Organizing in the Platform Society provided the necessary funding is available. This PhD fellowship is available as of 1 February 2027 for a period of up to three years (5+3).

It is expected that candidate awarded the PhD fellowship will be able to commence the PhD degree programme on 1 February 2027. 

The PhD fellowship is part of project “PAY4PLAY: Entrepreneurial Organizing in the Platform Society,” led by Associate Professor Blake Hallinan and funded by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). 

Project description

PAY4PLAY is an interdisciplinary, large-scale investigation of organizing in the creator economy concerned with how creators and their communities come together and create value. The project is premised on the idea that organizing is essential to understand how creators - and people more broadly - both exploit and challenge the growing power of digital platforms. The project approaches creator organizing from three perspectives (culture, infrastructure, policy) and compares three industrial sectors (gamers, VTubers, adult content creators). In so doing, the project will map the industrial conditions of the creator economy, develop a new theory of organizing and platform power, and provide policy recommendations for platforms and regulators.

The PAY4PLAY team includes the principal investigator Blake Hallinan, postdoctoral researcher Emilija Jokubauskaitė, and three PhD fellows working on the sub-project “Cultures of Participation within and among Creator Communities.” This PhD fellowship focuses on VTubers, or virtual content creators. We are particularly interested in proposals that compare Japanese and English-language VTuber communities, but we are also open to proposals that focus on other significant VTuber communities (e.g., Chinese VTubers, LBGTQ VTubers). 

The project design is flexible but should investigate organizing within (i.e., how creators, co-producers, volunteers, and audience members relate to each other) and among creator communities (i.e., how creator communities form alliances to shape industrial conditions). The PhD fellow will also have the opportunity to collaborate with team members working in other sectors and in the projects focused on infrastructure and policy, as well as with an international network of advisors and collaborators. 

The PhD fellowship will be supervised by Blake Hallinan, Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Journalism Studies, and Anja Bechmann, Professor in the Department of Media and Journalism Studies. 

Tasks and responsibilities

The candidate will: 

• Design and conduct studies of organizing within and among VTuber communities across social media platforms (e.g., Twitch, YouTube, Discord, Patreon, TikTok)
  
• Conduct interviews with members of VTuber communities
  
• Observe creator community organizing at industry events (e.g., TwitchCon, OffKai Expo)
  
• Observe creator community organizing online using relevant methods (e.g., digital ethnography, digital methods analysis of social media data)
  
• Collaborate closely with supervisors, the postdoctoral researcher, and fellow PhD researchers on the PAY4PLAY project
  
• Present research at international conferences
  
• Publish PhD research in international publication venues
  

Requirements

• Master’s degree (120 ECTS) in a relevant field (e.g., media studies, communication, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies)
  
• Experience with studying digital platforms and/or online communities
  
• Ability to speak and write in English at an academic level
  

Desirable assets

• Ability to conduct research in Japanese (reading documents, interviewing participants)
  
• Domain expertise in the creator economy
  
• Theoretical sophistication, as reflected in the project description
  
• Experience with collaborative, interdisciplinary, and/or international research projects
  

Please see the project’s website (www.pay4play.eu) for further information.

Enrolment and place of work

The PhD student must complete the studies in accordance with the Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions (PhD Order): http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/thephddegreeprogramme/

Description of the graduate school’s PhD degree programme: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/phdstudystructure/

Rules and regulations for the PhD degree programme at the Graduate School at Arts: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/thephddegreeprogramme/ 

The PhD fellow will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University, with the aim of completing a PhD degree at the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University. 

The PhD student will be affiliated with the PhD programme ICT, Media, Communication and Journalism.

The PhD student’s place of work will be the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University. In general, the student is expected to be present at the school on an everyday basis. 

The PhD degree programme is expected to include a lengthy research stay at a foreign institution, cf. Description of the graduate school’s PhD degree programme.

School of Communication and Culture’s research programme: http://cc.au.dk/en/research/research-programmes/ 

5+3 programme

When you apply for a 3-year PhD fellowship (5+3), you must have completed your Master’s degree no later than 31 January 2027. Your Master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish Master’s degree.

The PhD fellow will be employed at the Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University.

The terms and conditions of employment and salary will be governed by the collective agreement for academics employed by the Danish state. The PhD fellow will be employed and remunerated in accordance with Appendix 5 of the collective agreement.

The Circular on the Collective Agreement for Academics Employed by the State between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne), as well as the Protocol on Salaried PhD Fellows (Appendix 5 of the collective agreement), can be found here: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/thephddegreeprogramme/

The PhD fellow will be placed in salary group 4-8 of the academic pay scale, depending on relevant seniority-qualifying work experience acquired after completion of the Master's degree.

Salary: https://phd.arts.au.dk/4-4-part-b-and-5-3/salary-and-employment

How to apply 

The application must include: 

• Motivation/cover letter (statement of motivation and research interests, max one A4 page of 2,400 characters including spaces)
  
• CV (including a complete list of education, positions, publications and other qualifying activities)
  
• Project description outlining how the candidate envisages completing the work to be undertaken during the course of the term of appointment.
  
• The overall project description (excl. list of project literature/bibliography/reference list and timetable) must not exceed 12,000 characters including spaces, tables, diagrams, footnotes, endnotes and illustrations (5 A4 pages of 2,400 characters each)
  
• Project literature/reference list
  
• Timetable (mandatory form)
  
• Cover sheet (form stating your degrees)
  
• Copies of educational certificates (Bachelor and Master’s degrees). The diplomas or diploma supplement/transcript of records must state: name of university, education (Bachelor or Master), duration (number of years, full-time), courses, marks and (if given) ECTS credits.
  

Please see a detailed description of the requirements for the application in the guide for the application facility: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/how-to-apply/ 

Application

If you require professional guidance regarding your application for the PhD fellowship please contact the PhD programme director at ICT, Media, Communication and Journalism: http://phd.arts.au.dk/about-us/contact/

For further information, please contact Associate Professor Blake Hallinan, School of Communication and Culture, bhallinan@cc.au.dk, Phone + 45 93997501.

The application must be submitted in English.

All applicants must provide documentation of excellent communication skills in English which are considered essential, and you must therefore be able to read, write, and speak academic English fluently. English language requirement is comparable to a minimum of TOEFL 83 or IELTS 6.5. Please see this page for further information: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/english-test/

Child protection certificate

In accordance with Ministerial Order no. 554 of 23 May 2023, Aarhus University is obliged to obtain a statement of no previous convictions in respect of children in connection with the appointment and employment of staff whose work will involve direct contact with children under the age of 15. If you, in connection with your PhD project, will be in direct contact with children under the age of 15 who are not accompanied by a parent or guardian, childcare professional or teacher, you will be covered by the requirements of the ministerial order. 

• If you are covered by these requirements and read Danish, please complete the section “Samtykkeerklæring” (declaration of consent) in the police form and upload the file under “Other information to consider” in the application form. You can download the form here: https://phd.arts.au.dk/fileadmin/phd.arts.au.dk/ARTS/Rules_and_forms/Boerneattest.pdf  
  
• If you are covered by these requirements and do not read Danish, please upload a brief statement with the headline “Child protection certificate needed” under the field “Other information to consider” in the application form. 
  

Applications for the PhD fellowship and enrolment in the PhD degree programme can only be submitted via the application form in Aarhus University’s web-based facility.

Deadline for applications: 1 November 2026 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CEST).

Reference number: 2026-11

During the assessments, Aarhus University can conduct interviews with selected applicants.

Andra Siibak , Giovanna Mascheroni

This Palgrave Pivot book examines how AI‑based technologies shape children’s everyday lives and imagines possible digital futures. Drawing on qualitative interviews and a child‑rights approach, the authors map how new AI tools are used and understood at home, at school, and among peers. They trace shifts in family routines; education, care, and health practices; and peer cultures associated with AI; cutting through the current hype to assess both promises and risks.

Building on prior work on the datafication of childhood and family life, Children and AI: Changing Digital Childhoods? rethinks AI’s implications for children’s wellbeing, rights, and life chances amid rapid market diffusion. It highlights potential harms, including widening digital divides and privacy violations, and calls for child‑centred, safety‑by‑design legal and policy frameworks. Timely and interdisciplinary, it will interest scholars, students, and policymakers across childhood studies, digital and family sociology, internet studies, children’s rights, and education.

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-95-8922-7

La Valle dell’Eden (No. 50)

Deadline: October 15, 2026

The short form has always existed in a state of inherent uncertainty. Far from being a limitation, this paradoxical nature represents an invitation to examine the audiovisual short form today as a theoretical object, an artistic practice, and an industrial segment.

In the current media landscape—marked by digital disruption and platform convergence—short formats have gained renewed prominence. This constellation encompasses both traditional screen culture (short films, music videos, video art, fashion films, animation, screendance) and the new media ecosystem (vertical video dramas, reels, stories, GIFs, bumper ads).

This special issue of La Valle dell’Eden aims to provide a comprehensive mapping of contemporary short forms by intersecting interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks with media industry perspectives, stylistic analyses, and pedagogical practices.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

Theories and genealogies of short forms: Continuities, ruptures, and specificities of short audiovisual content in relation to historical expressive forms.

Writing practices for short audiovisual forms: Analytical models, structural strategies, and narrative configurations in self-contained and serialized short forms.

Aesthetics of density and visual configurations of short forms: Formal intensification strategies, visual rhythm, verticality, smartphone filmmaking, and new poetics of vision.

Circulation, festivals, and the curation of short forms: Distribution circuits, short film festival ecosystems, exhibition networks, and digital-native platforms.

Production cultures of short forms: Industrial logics, monetization models, creator economy dynamics, and professionalization processes.

Platforms, algorithms, and bit-sized formats: Streaming platforms, social media environments (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube), and the reshaping of artistic vs. user-generated content.

Authorship and identity: The short form as an aesthetic laboratory, space for experimentation, and site for condensing individual poetics.

Pedagogies of and with short forms: Educational functionalities, adaptability in teaching, and methodologies for training in audiovisual languages.

Key dates:

• Abstract submission deadline: October 15, 2026
  
• Notification of acceptance: October 30, 2026
  
• Full paper submission deadline: February 28, 2027
  

Submission guidelines:

To propose an article, please submit an abstract (max. 2,500 characters) in English or Italian, accompanied by up to 5 essential bibliographic references, 5 keywords, and a short bio (max. 1,000 characters). Submissions must be sent to the editors at mariapaola.pierini@unito.it and enrico.nicolosi@unito.it, as well as to eden@unito.it.

Full details of the Call for Papers can be found here: https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/vde/announcement/view/266

LMU Munich

We invite applications for three academic positions across two DFG-funded research projects: 

"Democratic Persuasion: How to Make the Case for Democracy" Using survey experiments, LLM-based persuasive conversations, and a framed field experiment involving one-on-one dialogues, this project identifies the motivations behind democratic skepticism and tests which communicative strategies reinforce support for democracy 

Emmy Noether Research Group: “Predictably Paradoxical - Mapping the Democratic Mind with AI" Developing and employing the novel method of AI Conversational Interviewing, this project analyzes multi-modal data from LLM-enabled semi-structured interviews to map people’s democratic belief systems

We are hiring:

1. PhD Researcher working in both projects (75%, 4 years, TVL E-13, approx. €44,500/year)

Link to Job Ad: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/gkypvd8pgaxvxgtxrartd/Job_Ad_PhD_2027-CSS.docx?rlkey=e4ylv65if0vjf5ezw5kt0hxo4 

2. PhD Researcher in Computational Social Science (75%, 4 years, TVL E-13, approx. €44,500/year)

Link to Job Ad: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9gscd16e88k395ss9w7gq/Job_Ad_PhD_Combi_2027.docx?rlkey=phh7ia7575k83jz28qky9y1hx 

3. Postdoctoral Researcher on Democratic Persuasion (100%, fixed term: 22 months, TVL E-13, approx. €64,000/year)

Link to Job Ad: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4vcicqtwv0s403sfk9cpc/Job_Ad_PostDoc_2027.docx?rlkey=tj6h9uln2bwi4jpr6we54m9a0  

Positions start in January 2027 or as soon as possible

We offer:

• A welcoming, inclusive environment at a leading European research university
  
• Involvement in impactful, cutting-edge research
  
• Dedicated resources for professional growth and research activities
  
• Excellent quality of life in Munich
  

Ideal candidates have a background in quantitative methods, proficiency in statistical programming (R and/or Python), and an interest in political psychology, persuasion, or democracy research.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis (until October 20th). So, the earlier you apply, the better. 

October 7, 2026

MeLCi Lab – Media Literacy and Civic Cultures Lab, a laboratory of CICANT (Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies), at Lusófona University, invites for the online open session “Ethical and Epistemic Questions in the Era of AI,” featuring Dr Daniel Cardoso.

The session will critically examine the language, assumptions and material structures surrounding so-called artificial intelligence. It will also explore the ethical, epistemic, political and economic implications of generative technologies, challenging technologically deterministic understandings of their development and use.

Date: 7 October 2026

Time: 17:00 (Lisbon time)

Venue: Online via Microsoft Teams

Registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecY-TlnSI7BsAHSjp4C7VCXD1md81OMVwQuCTw12Hnw4LPVg/viewform?usp=publish-editor

Further information: https://melcilab.cicant.ulusofona.pt/news/ethical-and-epistemic-questions-in-the-era-of-ai/

The event is open to everyone interested in critically discussing AI, digital technologies and their wider implications for society. Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues, students and others who may be interested.

November 23-24, 2026

Yeni Yuzyil, Turkey

https://uyymik.yeniyuzyil.edu.tr/index-en.php

Invited Keynote speaker: Nico Carpentier

The 1st International Congress on Media and Communication at Yeni Yuzyil, organized to support the sharing of scientific knowledge, international collaborations, and professional development, brings together academics, researchers, professionals, and relevant stakeholders who are experts in the field.

At the online congress, which will be held on 23-24 November 2026; current developments in our field, innovative approaches, scientific studies, and perspectives for the future will be discussed. We invite all academics, researchers, experts, and relevant stakeholders to participate in our congress; to share their knowledge and experience, develop new collaborations, and become part of the international scientific network.

To apply, please send your abstract to uyymik@yeniyuzyil.edu.tr

The congress will be held online and there is no participation fee. The languages of the congress are Turkish and English. Selected papers will be published in the Journal of Yeni Yüzyıl’da İletişim Çalışmaları.

Theme: Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence in Communication.

Sub-themes:

• New Communication Technologies
  
• Virtual Reality and Communication
  
• New Media Studies
  
• Augmented Reality in Media
  
• Digital Divide
  
• Broadcasting in the Digital Age
  
• AI and Communication Studies
  
• AI in Media: Ethical Challenges
  
• Political Economy of Social Media
  
• The Metaverse as a Medium of Communication
  
• XR Technologies and Cinema
  
• History of Communication
  
• Transformation of Traditional Media
  
• Current Issues in Media
  
• New Approaches in Marketing Communication
  
• PR and Advertising Practices in New Media
  
• Visual Communication Design in the Digital Age
  
• Visual Culture and Design
  
• The Future of Digital Art
  
• Communication Education in the Digital Age
  
• Health Communication
  
• Political Communication and Media
  
• Cultural Studies

Contact Information

ADDRESS:

Maltepe Mahallesi, Yılanlı Ayazma Caddesi, No: 26 P.K. 34010 Cevizlibağ

/ Zeytinburnu / İstanbul

E-MAIL:

uyymik@yeniyuzyil.edu.tr

Deadline: December 31, 2026

Dear all,

We have extended to the 31st of December the deadline for the Topical Collection (TC) Untangling the Quantum Ecology: Charting the Impact of Quantum Theory and Quantum Technologies on Technoscience and the Digital Transformation, guest-edited by myself and Prof. Robert Braun (Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna) in the journal Digital Society.

Here the full call: https://link.springer.com/collections/hafcjjejbd

This TC aims to shape a novel dialogue at the intersection of Critical Data Studies CDS), Science and Technology Studies (STS), and social quantum theory (Bohm 1980; Barad 2007; Wendt 2015).

Our point of departure is that analyses of the social are tacitly grounded in a Newtonian-Cartesian interpretation of the physical (Braun 2024). Challenging onto-epistemic frameworks, including those of science, data and datafication practices, need to investigate alternative imaginaries and practices in order to better understand the co-constitution of scientific, technical, human, and biotic relations.

Hence, we experiment with the notion of quantum ecology (Calzati & de Kerckhove 2024) intended as both an onto-epistemological framework – drawing on principles and phenomena of quantum physics such as uncertainty, nonlocality, entanglement, complementarity, superposition – and a disruptive technological paradigm shaped by quantum technologies , whose impact has profound implications for the digital transformation, including Artificial Intelligence.

We welcome research articles (8000 words) or commentaries (3000 words), which can be sent anytime until the 31st of December via Editorial Manager of the journal, by selecting "TC-Quantum Ecology". Submissions will be sent to peer-review as soon as they are received and, if accepted, published as soon as they are ready.

All best,

Dr Stefano Calzati, Prof Robert Braun

Indicative references

Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Braun, R. (2024). Radical reflexivity, experimental ontology and RRI. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 11(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2024.2331651

Busemeyer, J., & Bruza, P. (2012). Quantum models of cognition and decision. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Calzati, S., & de Kerckhove, D. (2024). Quantum ecology: Why and how new information technologies will reshape societies. MIT Press. https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5872/Quantum-EcologyWhy-and-How-New-Information

Fierke, K. M, and N. Mackay. (2020). To ‘see’ is to break an entanglement: Quantum measurement, trauma and security. Security Dialogue, 51(5): 450–466. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010620901909

Oksala, J. (2010). Foucault’s politicization of ontology. Continental Philosophy Review, 43(4): 445-466.

Smith, D. E. (2001). Texts and the ontology of organizations and institutions. Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies, 7(2): 159-198. https://doi.org/10.1080/10245280108523557

Voelkner, N. & Zanotti, L. (2022). Ethics in a quantum world. Global Studies Quarterly, 2(3). https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksac044

Wallace, D. (2010). Decoherence and Ontology (or: How I learned to stop worrying and love FAPP). In Many Worlds? Everett, Quantum Theory, and Reality, edited by Simon Saunders and et al. Oxford: Oxford Academic.

Wendt, A. (2015). Quantum mind and social science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau

Term: lifetime civil servant

Start: at the next possible date

Location: Landau

Scope: Full time 100 %

Salary: W 3 LBesG

Faculty: Psychology

With about 17,000 students, more than 300 professorships and around 160 degree programs, the RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau is the technical university of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. As a place of top international research, it offers excellent working conditions and career opportunities. Those who study, research or work at RPTU experience a cosmopolitan environment and shape the future.

The professorship is based in the Department of Psychology and embedded in an interdisciplinary research environment at RPTU that addresses societal communication in times of multiple crises and digital transformation (Potential Area SCOPE). The research focus includes digital public spheres, social media, political communication, disinformation, and the role of algorithmic and AI-based systems in societal processes. The professorship is also expected to play a key role in the AI, Computing and Society initiative (AICS), which is supported by RPTU in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS) in Kaiserslautern and with the Societal Observatory Using Novel Data Sources initiative (SOUNDS) at Saarland University.

Your tasks include:

We are seeking a scholar, whose research addresses core questions in the social, behavioral, and/or communication sciences using computational, quantitative, and data-intensive methods. The successful candidate is expected to represent Computational Social Science in research and teaching with a strong international profile. The professorship is expected to contribute to proposals for coordinated research consortia. Further expectations include the supervision of early-career researchers and an active contribution to RPTU’s international visibility in Computational Social Science.

Teaching responsibilities arise, among other things, from the curriculum of the planned master’s degree program Democracy, Communication and Technology (DCT).

Your profile:

In addition to the relevant academic qualifications, applicants are expected to have special teaching skills and experience in teaching. RPTU expressly welcomes applications from early-career scholars who meet the criteria set out below.

The requirements are:

• a doctorate in computer science, data science, communication studies, psychology, political science, or a closely related field. We welcome both candidates with a background in computer science/data science and a strong social science orientation, as well as applicants from the social sciences with demonstrated expertise in IT and research methods;
  
• internationally visible research achievements in the field of Computational Social Science related to the above-mentioned thematic areas of the professorship (in accordance with Section 49(2) of the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Education Act);
  
• success in securing competitive third-party funding as Principal Investigator;
  
• relevant teaching experience related to the above-mentioned thematic areas of the professorship, as well as very good teaching skills. The languages of instruction are English and German. Applicants should be able to offer courses in both languages within five years at the latest;
  
• leadership experience is desirable (relative to career stage).
  

Applicants are expected to have an independent research program that combines advanced computational methods with research questions, theories, and methods clearly grounded in the social and behavioral sciences, for example, in one or more of the following areas: digital political or societal communication (e.g., disinformation); natural language processing, large language models, and AI-assisted methods in empirical social research; multimodal analyses; digital trace data linked to survey data.

In line with RPTU’s mission statement, the Department of Psychology attaches great importance to the transparency and reproducibility of social science research and expects applicants to explain the extent to which they implement Open Science practices, such as preregistration, open data, and open materials, in their research and teaching.

The state of Rhineland-Palatinate and RPTU advocate a supervision concept in which a high level of presence of teaching staff at the university location is expected. In addition to the general employment requirements, the employment requirements set out in Section 49 of the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Education Act apply.

RPTU stands for the diversity of all employees. We welcome applications from all interested parties, regardless of their ethnic and social origin, age, religion, gender, disability and sexual orientation or identity. Severely disabled persons and persons with equivalent status will be given preference if they are suitably qualified and suitable (please enclose proof of severe disability/equal status with your application).

RPTU strives to increase the proportion of women in areas in which women are underrepresented. Applications from female and male scientists from abroad are expressly encouraged.

Your application:

We look forward to receiving your detailed application in a single (!) PDF document no later than 14 October 2026. Please submit your application via the RPTU 'Online Application' button below or through our application portal (https://jobs.rptu.de).

Interviews are expected to take place during the week beginning 16 November 2026.

For further inquiries, Prof. Dr. Michaela Maier will be available from 28 September 2026 (michaela.maier@rptu.de).

Damien John O'Meara, RMIT University

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003676621

As screen scholars and practitioners grapple with growing expectations for onscreen diversity, this book examines how such expectations manifest through hidden production processes for queer stories in Australian scripted television.

Through analysis of 18 original interviews with Australian television industry professionals, along with political-economic, content, and textual analysis of queer television content from 2011 to 2021, this book demonstrates how Australian television’s once-pervasive industry perceptions that queer stories would not appeal to broad audiences changed throughout the decade. It traces the lifecycle of scripted television projects across all stages of television production from development to distribution. This book examines how queer representations are negotiated by creatives and executives for distribution through mainstream television networks. While recent Australian hits, such as Heartbreak High (Netflix) and Deadloch (Amazon Prime Video), appear to support the common belief that streaming is driving onscreen diversity, this book reveals how the reality in Australia is much more interesting and complex. With a small and highly regulated television distribution market, a low uptake of cable, and a high proportion of public funding, Australia saw a boom of queer stories appearing in its television drama from 2011, four years before streaming entered the market.

This book is for screen scholars and industry practitioners alike. It illuminates how Australia’s television industry has changed in relation to queer stories appearing onscreen. Screen scholars will gain a deeper understanding of the industrial influences on diverse textual representations. New, emerging, and established screen practitioners will develop new insights into how diverse stories are negotiated through the stages of production.

October 2, 2026

Please join us for the fourth event in the 2026 virtual lecture series of ‘By/For: Photography & Democracy’ on Friday 2nd October 2026 (13.00 Eastern Time / 18.00 British Summer Time).

Dr Jeehey Kim (Associate Professor of Art History, University of Arizona) will deliver her lecture, ‘War, Movement, and the Camera: Black Lives in Korean and Japanese Photography’. Learn more and register here.

We also invite you to explore the rest of this year’s series which includes exciting research from leading thinkers Anne Strachan Cross & Matthew Fox-Amato, Vindhya Buthpitiya, Leigh Raiford, Zahid R. Chaudhary and Tiffany Fairey. Explore season two, view recordings, and register for all events here.

By/For: Photography & Democracy is a collaborative partnership between three photographic historians, Dr. Tom Allbeson, Dr. Colleen O’Reilly, and Helen Trompeteler. Our collective investigates photography’s assumed democratic credentials as an art form and a medium of mass communication. We believe a historical perspective on the complex relationship between photography and democracy is critical to understanding how the medium and related visual technologies can address the social and political issues of our time.