ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Special issue of MedieKultur: Journal of media and communication research

Deadline: January 15, 2020

Guest editor: David Mathieu (Roskilde University)

Theme editor: Ana Jorge (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Instituto Superior Miguel Torga)

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Academic knowledge built over the last five decades on media audiences may be called into question by algorithmic recommendations, machine learning, platform design and new metrics that describe, anticipate and shape the audience’s every move. While we hold that audiences are selective in their choice of content (Katz et al., 1974), form communities of interpretation (Fish, 1980) and are freely giving their attention to public issues (Warner, 2002), it would appear that they are now increasingly being selected, calculated, interpreted and anticipated by media on the basis of a wide range of data provided more or less willingly and consciously. This datafication of media (and) audiences – i.e. the quantification of audience mediated experiences – is not to be understood simply as a new form of knowledge, but also as a new era in the commodification of audiences, challenging our understanding of audiences as an agentic and autonomous subjects.

This special issue invites contributions that:

• explore critically the tensions between, on the one hand, attempts at control and commodification made possible by the datafication of media (and) audiences, and on the other hand, the reactions and agentic possibilities of audiences to comply, avoid or cope with these attempts at control;
• provide empirical basis to answer broad and worrying questions about the democratic and societal consequences of datafication, about its impact on media consumption, everyday and cultural life, by operationalizing media audiences as a key actor in mediated processes of datafication;
• shed light on and theorise new forms of relation and mutual influence that link media with their audiences in the age of datafication.

Contributions can address, but are not limited to, these topics:

• Type, nature and origin of data collected on media audiences and their purposes in media production and practice
• Media practices made possible by data that contribute to the quantification, objectification and commodification of audiences
• Coping strategies and reactions of resistance or appropriation to datafication from the part of media audiences
• Audiences’ experiences of normalization, trust, comfort, compliance, numbness, resignation, anxiety in the face of datafied media
• Implications of data collection, aggregation, analysis, prediction, profiling and brokering on audience agency
• Consequences of the quantification of human experience, the transformation of subjective experience into ‘objective’ knowledge, the algorithmic personalization and recommendation of media content on the mediated experiences and everyday life of audiences
• The transformation of news practice, public connection and audience engagement in the age of datafication
• The (lack of) transparency and accountability of data practices in media industries, and especially the challenges this poses for audiences’ capacity to read the media (their media literacy)
• The new asymmetries and power relations that data practices may bring between media institutions and audiences, or between different segments of audiences
• Cultural specificities of the processes of datafication of media and the reception by audiences, including cross-cultural variations
• Impact of datafication on theories and methodologies in media and audience research

References:

Fish, S. (1980). Is There A Text in This Class, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U. Press.

Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). Ulilization of mass communication by the individual. In J. G. Blumler, & E. Katz (Eds.), The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research (pp. 19–32). Beverly Hills: Sage.

Warner, M. (2002). Publics and counterpublics (abbreviated version). Quarterly Journal of Speech, 88(4), 413–425.

Call for contributions and key dates:

Interested contributors to this special issue are first invited to provide an extended abstract of 500 words (excluding references) to mathieu@ruc.dk with the subject ‘Datafication of media (and) audiences’. Following a first review process, invitations will be sent to provide a full paper of 6000-8000 words (including references) through the Open Journal System, which will then go under peer review following the usual procedure of the journal MedieKultur. Invitation to submit a full paper does not guarantee acceptance for final publication in the journal. Accepted languages of contribution are English and Danish.

• January 15th 2020: Deadline for abstract submission
• February 1st 2020: Invitation to submit a full paper
• June 1st 2020: Submission of full paper
• July 31st 2020: Notification of acceptance and/or revisions
• August-October 2020: Revision period
• October 31st 2020: Final submission

About the editors:

David Mathieu is associate professor at the Department of Communication & Arts at Roskilde University, Denmark. He chairs the Audience and Reception Studies section of the European Communication, Research and Education Association and is leader of the research group Audiences & Mediated life. His current work focuses on audience and reception research in the context of social media, digitalisation of communication and datafication of society.

Ana Jorge is Guest Assistant Professor at Universidade Católica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Instituto Superior Miguel Torga, Portugal. She is Vice-Chair of the Digital Culture and Communication section of ECREA.

May 7-8, 2020

Vienna, Austria

Deadline: February 9, 2020

4th GIG-ARTS Conference

Organised by:

• Media Governance and Industries Research Lab & Jean Monnet
• Centre of Excellence FreuDE / Universität Wien
• LIP6 Computer Science Research Lab / Sorbonne Université &
• Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

It is now 30 years since the invention of the World Wide Web, and over fifteen years since the development of the interactive Web or also known as Web2.0. Online information and communication have never seemed easier and more accessible to everyone, thanks to the mediation of social networks, search engines, and other kinds of platforms and technologies.

With such capabilities “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”, freedom of speech and freedom of the press should have grown to such an extent that some of the utopian visions of full participatory democracy would have appeared to be within our reach. At the very least, some of the long-standing informational imbalances concerning information flow globally, diversity of content and authors, and the accessibility of accurate information would have been taken as a given framework against which societies would have been called to solve problems and to look after citizens’ well-being.

Paradoxically, the levels of freedom and freedom of expression, as captured in global measuring instruments by a variety of institutions and organisations, do not show the expected or desired advancement. Rather there is evidence that freedom in societies and freedom of the press deteriorate.

Ambitious goals of freedom to express one’s own identity and opinion at the global public sphere on an equal basis and free from fear of retaliation or misuse evaporate for many, such as those subjected to hate speech, those persecuted by autocratic authorities and the great majority of citizens whose personal data become de facto ownership of private companies.

Misinformation, spread not only by politically extreme groups but also by “normal”, mainstream parties in the (desperate or calculated) attempt to influence voters, can undermine the quality and freedom of global debate. Information conflict thus becomes even more an object of state rivalry and diplomacy, but also the tool for the erosion of citizenship as the utmost form of participation in the commons. These phenomena are coupled with the fact that even values once considered unquestionable, such as the value of independent journalism, the value of human rights such as privacy and dignity, are being challenged.

The technological capabilities allowed the world over to express and share information and opinions, to connect and form alliances. However, they have also enabled the spread of misinformation, have been undermining the human right to privacy on digital communication channels, subjected vulnerable groups to more vulnerability, and provided for economic models putting at stake the fundamental pillars of democracy. Within this context, policies governing the fate of users’ data, citizens’ freedoms and the integrity of content have fallen short of helping pave the path to the desired communication environment. Regulatory responses capturing communication and information have oscillated between forms of a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction to resist any attempt to provide for the normative standards of content and a tendency to securitise communication as a matter of national security.

Importantly, critics argue that even where governance has allowed for more democratic processes in raising concerns and suggesting solutions, the gaps in connecting the dots are glaring. If governance refers to the role of ideas and principles, the role of actors and the processes of negotiation and solution, it is urgent to return, on the one hand, to the basic and fundamental rights questions and take stock of the achievements of hitherto frameworks. On the other hand, it seems crucial to interrogate what futures exactly are current policy frameworks shaping, especially in relation to a politics of care for young citizens and hence the future generations?

After having addressed global internet governance as a diplomacy issue at its first edition held in Paris in 2017, how to overcome inequalities in internet governance at the second edition held in Cardiff in 2018, and the role of Europe in the global governance of the internet at its third edition held in Salerno in 2019, this year’s GIG-ARTS conference turns its attention to the governance of online information, to address the relation of citizens to the quality of content online as an often neglected area of regulation and governance of the internet. In that respect, the conference continues the conversation on internet governance turning its attention from institutions and structural factors to the role of content and misinformation as an object of governance, and to internet users as forces of change. GIG-ARTS is inviting you to this conversation to help shape the debate of what kinds of futures might be desirable and envisioned in the process of internet governance, who and which actors might be most suitable to help shape such governance goals and under which conditions might these be achieved.

Hence, in addition to general internet governance issues and topics, submissions are particularly welcome on the following possible areas of investigation:

• The governance of fundamental freedoms online between global platforms, conflicts of jurisdictions and extraterritorial legislation
• The role of European and global institutions in shaping the conditions of free expression online
• Responsibility and liability of platforms and other intermediaries in content regulation
• Restrictive regulation and the securitization of content
• Privacy, misinformation, democracy: challenges to internet governance
• Structural role of individual targeting, behavioural advertising and other economic models of online platforms on the reshaping of fundamental freedoms and democracy
• From nudging to manipulation: consequences on autonomy and human dignity
• Successive copyright reforms and their impact on freedom of expression, freedom of the press and democracy
• Changes in and challenges to journalism practice through intentional misinformation
• Governance from below: how practices and principles by civil society aim to shape the conditions of technology for the advancement of democracies and human wellbeing
• Youth and access to information; news and misinformation in the online world; the purpose of thinking towards the future

Submission Information and Publication Opportunities

Authors are invited to submit their extended abstracts (no longer than 500 words), describing their research question(s), theoretical framework, approach and methodology, expected findings or empirical outcome. Submitted abstracts will be evaluated through a peer-review process.

Abstracts and authors’ information should be submitted through the Easychair conference management system at: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=gigarts2020

Authors of selected submissions will have the opportunity to submit their full manuscript for publication.

Key dates

• Deadline for abstract submissions: 9 February 2020
• Notification to authors: 19 March 2020
• Programme publication: 9 April 2020
• Conference dates: 7 & 8 May 2020

GIG-ARTS 2020 Co-Chairs

• Meryem Marzouki (LIP6, CNRS & Sorbonne Université, France)
• Katharine Sarikakis (Media Governance and Industries Research Lab & Jean Monnet
• Centre of Excellence FreuDE, University of Vienna, Austria)

GIG-ARTS 2020 Scientific Programme Committee

• Francesco Amoretti (University of Salerno, Italy)
• Eric Brousseau (Université Paris Dauphine, France)
• Andrea Calderaro (Cardiff University, United Kingdom)
• Jean-Marie Chenou (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia)
• Loreto Corredoira y Alfonso (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain)
• Wolfgang Hofkirchner (The Institute for a Global Sustainable Information Society, Austria)
• Matthias C. Kettemann (Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, Germany)
• Joanna Kulesza (University of Lodz, Poland)
• Nanette S. Levinson (American University Washington DC, USA)
• Robin E. Mansell (London School of Economics, United Kingdom)
• Meryem Marzouki (CNRS and Sorbonne Université, France)
• Trisha Meyer (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
• Michèle Rioux (Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada)
• Mauro Santaniello (University of Salerno, Italy
• Katharine Sarikakis (University of Vienna, Austria)
• Yves Schemeil (Sciences Po Grenoble, France)
• Ingrid Schneider (University of Hamburg, Germany)
• Jan Aart Scholte (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) (TBC)

Venue

The conference will be held at the Concordia Press Club, in the heart of Vienna (https://concordia.at/).

Conference Registration and Fees

Registration fees are 100 EUR for regular participants and 50 EUR for students showing proof of status. The conference fees include a participant kit as well as coffee breaks and meals.

GIG-ARTS 2020 Communication Details

• Website: http://events.gig-arts.eu
• Email for information: events@gig-arts.eu
• Submissions: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=gigarts2020
• Twitter: @GigArtsEU - Hashtag: #GIGARTS20
• Mailing list for updates: http://tinyurl.com/yc7rvxm4

Paris-Lodron University Salzburg, Department of Communication (Intercultural and Transcultural Communication)

Deadline: November 27, 2019

A new PhD position is available at the Department of Communication Studies (within the field of Intercultural and Transcultural Communication), starting 1st March 2020. The successful candidate will be offered a four-year position at the University of Salzburg.

Main duties and responsibilities

• supporting the research and teaching endeavours of the transcultural communication team
• taking on administrative duties
• carrying out individual research
• teaching duties comprise two hours a week from year three onwards
• the PhD thesis has to be defended and published within 4 years

Qualification requirements

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with experiences in intercultural competence (theories & methods), intercultural trainings (training design & evaluation), intercultural mediation, cultural studies, empirical data analysis as well as interest in the concept of resilience and various interdisciplinary avenues (e.g. cognitive sciences) regarding communication.

• The applicant must hold a master’s degree in communication studies or an affiliated discipline.
• Personal characteristics
• Agreeable, conscientious, flexible, industrious and adaptable to new environments.

We offer

• · exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment (https://kowi.uni-salzburg.at)
• · an inspiring work environment with dedicated colleagues

Salary and conditions

PhD candidates work 30hrs a week and are remunerated € 2.148,40 a month (14x a year). The place of work is Salzburg City, Austria.

For further information please call: +43 (0)662 8044-41-92

About the application:

The application comprises:

• CV including information on educational background, work experience, preprints and publications.
• Any relevant publications.
• Certified copies of relevant transcripts and diplomas.
• Contact information for at least two references.
• Documentation of fluency in English and/or German.

Other documents which the applicant finds relevant may also be included. We might ask for further documents when necessary during the hiring process.

Please submit your application electronically: bewerbung@sbg.ac.at

Please refer to application number: GZ A 0066/1-2019 in your covering letter.

Application deadline: 27th November 2019.

November 26-28, 2020

Auckland, New Zealand

Deadline: March 15, 2020

Important Dates

• Abstract submission deadline: on or before March 15, 2020
• Abstract acceptance: maximum of 60 days after abstract submission
• Full papers: on or before July 31, 2020
• Early Bird Registration: on or before July 31, 2020

The conference theme covers a broad area signifying the imperative power of change. Change is a constant in human communication. From climate change to technological innovation, communication and media play an integrative role for sustainable and progressive development. Mass Media likewise plays a crucial role in shaping public perception and influencing the powers that be. The conference explores how change is managed, embraced and adapted in communication and media. More research in this area is needed to fully explicate the complexities and nuances involving change –climate change and change management communication, paradigm shifts, cultural, technological and linguistic dynamics in diaspora and more. The 2020 ACMC International Conference is pleased to invite papers addressing the conference theme. Streams include but are not limited to:

• Reinventing communication paradigms
• Broadcast media in flux
• Media influence and impact
• Public Relations theory and practice
• Social media, digital media and dynamic technologies
• Advertising, adaptations and changing perspectives
• Communication, education challenges and changes
• Love, life, popular culture and the new media
• Democracy and disinformation
• Language, culture and the dynamics of change
• Ethnicity, identity, gender and the media
• Climate change communication, global crisis and the Asia-Pacific

Submission Guidelines

Email Abstract to: acmc2020@asianmediacongress.org

Abstract length: 300 to 500 words, in RTF, DOC or DOCX file (we will not accept PDF files)

Font: Tahoma, size 11

Author info: Full name (please indicate if Mr. or Ms.), Position/Title, Affiliation (University, College or Company), Paper Title

Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich

Deadline: January 7, 2020

"Scientific Assistant" (Post-Doc; 100%; E13/A13aZ) as of 1 March 2020

The Department of Media and Communication (Prof. Dr. Romy Fröhlich) is currently seeking applicants for the post of  a Scientific Assistant (Post-Doc; E13/A13aZ; temporary full-time position). The position is initially limited to three years. If the evaluation is positive, it can be extended for further three years (maximum duration six years). The remuneration is paid according to E13 TVL or A13 as a temporary civil servant. At this position, the implementation of a habilitation is made possible and expected.

Tasks:

The responsibility in research and teaching extends thematically to the area of strategic-persuasive communication/organisational communication/public relations. Research, publication and teaching experiences in this area are desirable. Active participation in the division’s research projects and/or the independent acquisition and implementation of own projects as well as the support and participation in tasks of (self-)administration and in the supervision of students, examinations and dissertations is expected. The task of the applicant also includes the organisation and implementation of courses of five semester hours per week, particularly in the Master's programme "International Public Relations" (teaching in English is possible). In order to ensure active participation in the self-administration and committee work of the department, a command of the German language is expected.

We are looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic and independently working member of staff with an enthusiasm for science who is willing to familiarise himself/herself with further areas of responsibility. Good networking with PR practice would be an advantage.

Requirements:

In addition to the general employment law requirements, applicants must have a university degree in communication science (media research, etc.), a relevant above-average doctorate, very good knowledge and experience in the field of statistics/(multivariate) data analysis and methods of empirical communication research (preferably qualitative and quantitative methods of content analysis). In addition, pedagogical-didactic knowledge and experience in the field of university teaching as well as very good knowledge of English are expected. International publications, stays abroad and experience in project management or in the acquisition and implementation of third-party funded projects are advantageous.

The University of Munich is striving to increase the overall proportion of women in scientific personnel and thus explicitly invites qualified women to apply in accordance with the above-mentioned recruitment requirements. 

Preference will be given to handicapped applicants with equal qualifications.

Application address

Prof. Dr. Romy Fröhlich 

Institute for Communication Science and Media Research 

Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich 

Oettingen Street 67 

80538 Munich, Germany 

Please send your application by January 7 2020 by e-mail to froehlich@ifkw.lmu.de at the latest. The application documents should be summarized in a PDF file with a maximum size of 2 MB, complete with letter etc. If you have any questions, please contact Prof. Dr. Romy Fröhlich (froehlich@ifkw.lmu.de).

Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

Deadline: February 1, 2020

The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania invites applications for a “CARGC Postdoctoral Fellowship.” This is a one-year position renewable for a second year based on successful performance.

Description

The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC) produces and promotes scholarly research on global communication and public life. As an institute for advanced study dedicated to global media studies, we revisit enduring questions and engage pressing matters in geopolitics and communication. Our vision of “inclusive globalization” recognizes plurality and inequality in global media, politics, and culture. Our translocal approach fuses multidisciplinary “area studies” knowledge with theory and methodology in the humanities and social sciences. This synthesis of deep expertise and interdisciplinary inquiry stimulates critical conversations about entrenched and emerging communicative structures, practices, flows, and struggles. We explore new ways of understanding and explaining the world, including public scholarship, algorithmic culture, the arts, multi-modal scholarship, and digital archives. With a core commitment to the development of early career scholars worldwide, CARGC hosts postdoctoral, doctoral, undergraduate, and faculty fellows who collaborate in research groups, author CARGC Press publications, and organize talks, lectures, symposia, conferences, and summer institutes.

CARGC postdoctoral fellows work on their own research, typically a book manuscript, and collaborate with staff and postdoctoral, doctoral and undergraduate fellows. They may design and teach one undergraduate course during their second year. They present a CARGC Colloquium and publish one CARGC Paper with CARGC Press. Fellows are provided a stipend of $50,000, a research fund of $3000, health insurance, a work space, computer and library access.

CARGC Fellows integrate primary sources and regional expertise in theoretically inflected, historically informed, comparative, translocal and transnational analyses of media, technology, geopolitics and culture. Candidates challenging normative paradigms and incorporating non-Western theories, sources and contexts, are especially welcome. Ongoing research groups focus on theory and history in global media studies, geopolitics and the popular, digital sovereignty, and radical media and culture. We recommend that applicants read our 5 year-report to familiarize themselves with our mission and priorities. This year we are particularly interested in candidates working on the Middle East and/or Latin America with Arabic and/or Spanish primary sources, though all candidates will be actively considered.

This is a residential fellowship. CARGC strives to be an inclusive community of scholars driven by intellectual curiosity and exchange, and rooted in the life of the Annenberg School, the University of Pennsylvania, and the city of Philadelphia . To foster mentoring and collaboration at all levels, we expect fellows to be fully engaged in the life of the center. Postdocs are therefore expected to work at our beautiful sixth floor premises—CARGC’s “World Headquarters”—on the Penn campus at least four days a week.

Eligibility

We welcome applications from scholars with PhDs awarded by an institution other than the University of Pennsylvania between May 1, 2018 and May 1, 2020. The appointment typically starts on August 15.

Submitting Your Application

A complete application consists of:

• Cover Page – include your name and contact information, dissertation supervisor name and contact information, defense date (if degree not awarded), and 100-word abstract of your project.
• Research Proposal (not to exceed 1000 words) – include research questions, topic significance, theoretical framework, methodological design, clear description of primary sources and necessary language skills, and work plan with projected date of manuscript completion and publication.
• Statement of institutional fit (not to exceed 250 words) – explain how your project aligns with CARGC’s mission, fits with one or more CARGC research themes listed above, and contributes to the field of global media and communication studies. Please refer to our 5-year report for more information.
• CV (not to exceed two single-spaced pages, minimum font size 11) – list degrees, peer-reviewed publications, academic non-peer-reviewed publications, public scholarship, invited talks, conference papers, other relevant qualifications, specific research and language skills.
• Project bibliography (not to exceed one single-spaced page, minimum font size 11) – include primary and secondary sources.
• Letters of recommendation – three are required, including one from the dissertation supervisor, stating unequivocally expected date of Ph.D. defense (if degree not yet awarded).
• Up to two publications (not to exceed 50 pages in total) – published peer-reviewed articles preferred.

Timeline

All materials except reference letters must be sent as a single PDF document to cargc@asc.upenn.edu by February 1, 2020. Because of the volume of applications, we are unable to read drafts of submissions. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. Applicants should arrange for their letters of recommendation to be sent to the same address by the same date. We expect to contact finalists for phone interviews by mid-March and make final decisions shortly thereafter.

Additional Information

If you have additional questions, please email us at cargc@asc.upenn.edu. Do not contact CARGC staff individually.

The University of Pennsylvania is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. For more information, go to http://www.upenn.edu/affirm-action/eoaa.html.

View and share call online here: http://bit.ly/cargc2020postdoc

April 16-17, 2020

Istanbul (Turkey)

Deadline: March 2, 2020

7th International Communication Days

Faculty of Communication is hosting the seventh International Communication Days on 16 - 17 April 2020. This year’s symposium title is “Communications Education in the Digital Age”. The symposium series, attracting great interest both nationally and internationally, have been held annually since 2014 with themes such as digital addiction, digital culture and digital transformation.

The main title of this year’s international symposium is “Communications Education in the Digital Age”. In our age, digitalization has led to significant transformations in the media sector and it is inevitable that the educational institutions will develop an educational approach appropriate for this transformation. The accreditation processes initiated in the faculties of communication are indicative of efforts to adapt to the standards of excellence and requirements of the age in higher education institutions. It is important to update the curriculum which forms the basis of communications education in accordance with the requirements of digitalization. Furthermore, it is crucial to replan the educational tools, materials and techniques. It is significant both in terms of meeting the expectations of the sector and professional success of the students that the institutions providing communication education keep up with the times. All these require new approaches to be brought forward, discussed and planned in communications education

Symposium will last for two days and will comprise esteemed scholars from both Turkey and abroad including Prof. Erik Knudsen, Prof. Halil Nalçaoğlu, Prof. Maureen Ellis, Prof. Neira Cruz Xose Antonio and Assoc. Prof. Rocio Ovalle. In addition, as in the previous year, distinguished academics in the field will be moderating the sessions at the symposium.

Communications Education in the Digital Age Symposium is an international peer-reviewed scientific event. At the symposium, oral and poster presentations are welcome. The scientific committee of the symposium includes esteemed academics from home and abroad.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

• Communications education and accreditation
• Rethinking communication sciences in the digital age
• Journalism education in the digital age
• Radio and television broadcast education in the digital age
• Film education in the digital age
• New media education
• Public relations education in the digital age
• Advertising in the digital age
• Visual communication design education in the digital age
• Digital arts education
• Communications arts education in the digital age
• Communications education and artificial intelligence
• Media sector in the digital age: requirements, expectations

Submitted abstracts will be peer reviewed by the referees of Scientific Committee and the accepted papers will be published in the abstract booklet. Afterwards, authors may prefer to have their papers included in full paper booklet or in the Faculty of Communication’s Academic Journal “Etkileşim”. In that case, their work will be peer reviewed for the second time.

Hosted by Uskudar University

Contact e-mail: ifig@uskudar.edu.tr

7th International Communication Days Important Dates:

Abstract Submission Deadline: March 2, 2020

Announcement of the Program: April 6, 2019

You can find the detailed information about the symposium in our website: https://ifig.uskudar.edu.tr/en/2020

Public Relations Inquiry special issue

Deadline (EXTENDED): December 15, 2019

Health is an important, yet challenging area of professional communication. With the expansion of social media, rise of alternative ways of treatment, civic movements and citizen’s voices entering the debate, health communication is used and misused for blatant misinformation and stigmatisation on the one hand, and debunking myths, breaking silences and enabling individuals to make healthier choices, on the other. There have been important achievements in public health and wellbeing across the globe – from containing tuberculosis, HIV/Aids and preterm birth complications, which have been amongst top global causes of death (WHO, 2018), to higher quality of food, health products and environmental standers that led to increased life expectancy of many populations worldwide. Yet a variety of illnesses, their conditions and treatments remain taboos. They are often locked in cultural norms of inappropriate communication such as stereotypes about agency of sexually transmitted diseases and in strategic designs of silence such as framing mandatory vaccination as abuse of human rights.

Health communication is at the forefront of the struggle for improving public health. It is a rich field for interdisciplinary and critical studies with strategic communication and public relations at its core. A number of areas for further exploration open up in that regard. What influence do public communication and health campaigns have on co-shaping media discourse, public knowledge and attitudes? Who are the primary definers of what constitutes an illness and how voice and silence are distributed in the public sphere? How are voice and silence situated in broader socio-cultural and political contexts? How are the health taboos associated with stigma, power, violence, coercion, discrimination and injustice? When does silence hurt and when does it protect?

In line with the interdisciplinary nature of the journal, we welcome a range of theoretical perspectives from a variety of disciplines, including public relations, media, communications, public health, cultural studies, anthropology, political communication, sociology, political science, law, languages, organizational studies, management, marketing, literature, philosophy and history. We would invite contributions on topics including, but not limited to:

• Invisible health issues which result from economic conditions such as austerity, unemployment and depopulation
• Taboos about mental health, self-harm and suicide
• Voices and silences around terminal illnesses, deadly diseases, mortality and euthanasia
• Stigmas in gender health and wellbeing for women, men as well as minority sexual and gender identities (LGBTIQ+)
• Silences in reproductive health, including pregnancy, parenthood, childlessness, infertility, miscarriages, abortions and FGM
• Voice and silence around inequalities in right to health and access to healthcare provision
• Stereotypes about health and wellbeing of ethnic minorities
• Information wars and myths in vaccination programmes and anti-vaccination movements (for humans and animals)
• (Not) talking about forgetting, from Alzheimer disease to other types of dementia
• Communicating and miscommunicating disability
• Public secrets about alcoholism, drug and other forms of addiction
• Health taboo issues in the workplace
• Speaking on behalf of those who cannot, from oppressed and marginalised groups in society to climate change victims, animal health and extinct species
• The power of voice and the power of silence in health structures and processes

We welcome research papers, conceptual papers as well as short essays and review papers that contribute to critical and/or new ways of thinking about theory, policy and practice in health and wellbeing communication, particularly in relation to taboos, voices and silences. All submissions will be blind-reviewed in line with the standard practice of the journal. If you have any questions regarding the special issue, please contact the editors Alenka Jelen-Sanchez (alenka.jelen@stir.ac.uk) or Roumen Dimitrov (roumen.dimitrov@upf.edu).

Deadlines

Papers should be submitted by December 15 2019 via the journal’s manuscript central submissions system. Please visit the journal website (https://journals.sagepub.com/home/pri) for full submission instructions, including information about word length, format and referencing style. Papers should adhere to the guidelines and risk being rejected if they do not. The target publication date for the special issue is Summer/Autumn 2020.

November 19, 2019, 6:30pm-8:00pm

Sheikh Zayed Theatre, LSE New Academic Building (London)

A year after the report of the LSE Commission on Truth, Trust and Technology was published, this panel will discuss how ideas about regulating social media and other online services have developed in the UK and internationally, interrogating the UK government’s assertion that Britain is to become the ‘safest’ place in the world to be online.

The panel will be followed by a drinks reception.

Speakers:

Madeleine de Cock Buning is Professor of Media and Communications Law at the University of Utrecht and Professor of Digital Politics, Economy and Societies at the School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute.

Robin Mansell (@REMVAN) is Professor of New Media and the Internet in the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE.

Victor Pickard (@VWPickard) is Associate Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

Chair: Sonia Livingstone (@Livingstone_S) is Professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEt3

For more details see: http://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2019/11/20191119t1830vSZT/will-the-uk

February 27-28, 2020

University of Houstonl Houston, TX, United States

Deadline: November 22, 2019

https://www.globalcommunicationsummit.org/

While the economic, political, cultural and social transformations brought about by the rise of digital technologies, particularly in the media and telecommunications sectors, are visible all over the world, it is in African countries that they are projected to have the biggest impact in coming years. Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, has one of the fastest growing number of internet and mobile users in the world.

In many parts of the continent, access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been seen as an opportunity to “leapfrog”, a concept that the World Bank defines as making “a quick jump in economic development” by adopting technological innovation. This is exemplified by the success of African startups like Ushahidi, a crowdsourcing mapping tool created in Kenya, or Jumia, Nigeria’s number 1 online retailer; the recent opening of Google’s Africa AI center in Ghana; and the ever-growing presence of mobile payment and banking across the continent. Digital communication technologies have also been used strategically by citizens in the continent to engage in grassroots political movements that have toppled long-time rulers, led to (sometimes short-lived) regime changes, and brought about changes in legislation.

The fast growth of digitally enabled communications and services has also brought challenges for the continent. For example, well-before the notion of “fake news” became a buzzword in U.S. politics, many African nations, from South Africa to Gabon or Nigeria, were targets of large-scale misinformation campaigns over social media such as WhatsApp and Facebook. Additionally, young, highly-educated, and digitally-savvy graduates in many African countries have been employed by transnational tech companies such as Facebook for data processing in what some authors describe as digital sweatshops. The positive and negative impacts of this technological revolution are therefore important to consider.

Because African countries, their people, and their mediated interactions remain understudied in the fields of media and communication, especially in Western countries, the “@frica: digital media conference” invites extended abstracts (800-1,000 words) that examine the transformations and disruptions of digital media in African countries.

Specifically, but not exclusively, we invite contributions that explore any of the following questions:

• What methodological challenges exist in studying digital media use (such as social media and/or mobile communications) in Africa?
• What theoretical frameworks, constructs and paradigms are best suited to study transformations and disruptions of digital media in Africa?
• How has social media been used by African political actors, social movements and grassroots activists and to what effect?
• What are the roots, consequences and differences between countries of existing disparities in access to digital media in Africa?
• How are digital technologies influencing, complementing, and/or superseding journalistic practices in Africa?
• How does the sharing economy (e.g. Uber, Upwork…) transform and/or reinforce social norms, values, practices, structure and culture in Africa?
• What are the prevailing regulatory frameworks that affect digital media use in Africa?
• What socio-economic, cultural and economic factors shape the adoption, diffusion and appropriation of digital technologies in Africa?

The deadline to submit extended abstracts is November 22, 2019.

Abstracts should be submitted through EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=admc20

The organizers will notify by email the authors of accepted extended abstracts by December 6, 2019. Authors will be expected to submit full papers by February 2, 2020.

The “@frica: digital media conference” will accept a limited number of virtual presentations, in which authors who are unable to travel to Houston, will be able to present their work and get feedback from the audience. Authors who wish to be considered for one of the virtual presentation slots should indicate their preference when submitting their extended abstracts.

A selection of accepted papers will be included in a Special Issue of the Journal of African Media Studies to be published in 2020. Only accepted papers that are presented at the conference will be considered for the Special Issue.

The conference will be held at the University of Houston on February 28. A pre-conference event, only open to accepted authors, will be held on February 27.

All questions about submissions should be emailed to valentiglobalsummit@uh.edu.