ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

December 16-17, 2019

School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds

Deadline: June 28, 2019

Political Studies Association ‘Media and Politics Group’ Annual Conference

Keynote address by Professor Michael Saward (Warwick)

Roundtable session on ‘What makes a good political performance?’ including Prof Candida Yates (Bournemouth), Dr Lone Sorensen (Huddersfield), Prof John Corner (Leeds) and Prof Stephen Coleman (Leeds)

We are delighted to be celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the PSA Media & Politics group at the University of Leeds in December 2019. Our conference theme this year responds to the growing body of research emphasizing the performative dimensions of political communication. The deadline for abstract submission is Friday 28 June 2019 (see full details below).

The changing nature of political communication raises questions about how the relationships between the actors in the classical ‘political communication triangle’ are dynamically articulated and constructed in the media. Concerns include the intensified professionalization of politicians’ communication; increased pressures to retain and engage audiences; populist challenges to the rules of the game; the observed tendency of news to represent politics as a strategic game; and the disconnection between citizens and politicians.

Politics is performed in a variety of media forms and genres, including political drama, cartoons and comedy. The theme of the conference on ‘political performance’ allows a broad call for papers which explore the contribution of the media, political actors, and citizens to mediated performances of politics, and encourages a focus on the potential consequences of these performances.

While the main theme of this conference is politics and performance, the Media & Politics Group operates an open and inclusive policy, and papers dealing with any aspect of media and politics are welcomed. This may include areas of political communication and journalism, but also includes a broader view of the political within such areas as online media, television, cinema and media arts, both factual and fictional. In addition to academic research, the conference will also welcome practice-based work in art, film and performance related to the area of media and politics.

Deadlines and submission process:

Friday, 28 June 2019: Deadline for abstract submission. Please send abstract proposals for 15 minute papers to leedspsampg@leeds.ac.uk. These should include the following: title and name, institutional affiliation and address, and email address, together with a paper title and abstract of not more than 250 words. Proposers should also indicate whether they are current postgraduate students.

Early August. Paper proposers notified of decision by conference committee. Conference registration opens. Details of online registration to follow: £120 conference registration fee for both PSA members and non-members; £60 for students/ precariously employed.

• Friday, 4 October: Deadline for presenters to register.
• Friday, 25 October: Draft programme released.
• Monday, 16 December: Conference starts in Leeds.
• About the PSA, conference prizes and financial support

The Political Studies Association is the UK’s leading association in the study and research of politics. The Media & Politics Group is one of the Political Studies Association’s larger specialist groups.

The MPG is a welcoming and inclusive group. The conference welcomes contributions from both members and non-members of the Political Studies Association and of the Media & Politics Group.

James Thomas Memorial Prize and postgraduate travel subsidies

Full papers of a maximum of 2000 words submitted by postgraduate students will be entered into the James Thomas Memorial Prize. This annual award is presented to the most outstanding paper by a postgraduate student at the Media & Politics Group Annual Conference.

The Media & Politics Group offers a limited number of travel subsidies (up to the value of £100) to support postgraduate student participation in this event. Postgraduate students interested in applying for these subsidies should please note this in their submission.

Conference organisers: Professor Stephen Coleman, Dr Julie Firmstone, Dr Giles Moss and Dr Katy Parry, School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds.

Contact: leedspsampg@leeds.ac.uk or mediaresearchsupport@leeds.ac.uk with any queries.

Bournemouth University

Deadline: July 18, 2019

The Faculty of Media and Communication at Bournemouth University is  seeking to recruit an experienced and enthusiastic postdoctoral  researcher to undertake a significant role in the delivery of  high-quality outputs for the Research Excellence Framework and  contribute to REF 2021 impact case studies for UOA34 (Communication,  Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management). Based  in the Faculty of Media and Communication, this is an excellent  opportunity for a competent researcher to join our research teams and  collaborate with us in projects across areas of specialism and strength  in Media, Culture and Communication. 

You will plan, develop and engage in high-quality research projects by  embedding your research expertise into the life of the Faculty. You will  review our body of research to identify opportunities for academic  publishing, the dissemination of research findings, the development of  societal impact and future research funding. You will then work with  staff in our Research Centres to produce high-quality peer reviewed  outputs for publication and support the development of impact case  studies. You will undertake internal peer review of draft outputs for  academic colleagues and provide input and advice for publications and  impact case studies. You will also contribute to drafting, writing, and  editing impact case studies as needed, in collaboration with the case  study author. You will assist with public engagement and outreach  activity, and collecting evidence of impact, as applicable. You will  contribute to Bournemouth University’s reputation as a leading centre  for research in media, culture and communication. 

You will have demonstrable research experience in one or more of the  following: cultural studies, media production, media policy, journalism,  political communication, or promotional communications. You will need to  be self-motivated and able to work using your own initiative as well as  in a team. You will need highly developed communication skills and be  able to work under pressure. 

The post is available on a 12-month fixed term contract basis. 

This post is available part-time for 0.5FTE. 

Starting salary from £29,515 - £34,189 per annum (pro-rata) with further  progression opportunities to £37,345 

For more details about the post, please visit https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/postdoctoral-researcher-media-culture-communication-part-time-fixed-term

For an informal discussion contact Dr Dan Jackson, email:  jacksond@bournemouth.ac.uk . 

A detailed job description and person specification are available from  our website together with an online application form.  Alternatively,  please telephone 01202 961133 (24 hour answerphone) quoting the  appropriate reference FMC175. 

BU values and is committed to an inclusive working environment.  We seek  a diverse community through attracting, developing and retaining staff  from different backgrounds to contribute to inspirational learning,  advancing knowledge and enriching society.  To support and enable our  staff to achieve a balance between work and their personal lives, we  will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements. 

Closing Date: (Midnight) 18 July 2019 

November 27-29, 2019

University of Vienna (Austria)

Deadline (EXTENDED): July 1, 2019

Advertising is a ubiquitous part of our day-to-day lives. We are confronted with persuasive messages via different channels, in different situations and – due to the increasing use of hybrid and embedded advertising formats like native advertising, advergames, influencer marketing and product placements – with varying degrees of transparency. The blurring of different media genres and reference frameworks in a complex media environment poses challenges to the recipients. These challenges are particularly hard to master for children and adolescents since they are less experienced in handling commercial messages (Livingstone & Helsper, 2006).

To be able to identify persuasive messages and to process them in a competent way, child, teen, and adult recipients alike need skills such as the ability to recognize, understand, and evaluate advertisements and other commercial messages. These skills can be summarized under the term “advertising literacy” (Young, 2003). The extent of how recipients are properly equipped with these skills influences how they further process and reflect persuasive messages (Friestad & Wright, 1994).

Recipients’ effort to identify persuasive messages in today’s blurred advertising/media environments can be supported by external factors. For instance, advertising disclosures can help recipients to identify persuasive messages (Boerman, van Reijmersdal, & Neijens, 2012) and support their right to decide whether they wish to engage with the persuasive content or not (Cain, 2011). Furthermore, especially when dealing with children and adolescents, mediation strategies are important to empower young recipients in their process of identifying and recognizing as well as understanding and evaluating persuasive messages. The effectiveness of such factors and how advertising literacy can even be adequately assessed (Rozendaal, Opree, & Buijzen, 2016) is an ongoing debate in the field.

In the light of the described challenges, this call for papers aims to address, but is not limited to, the following research questions:

• Conceptual advances: How can “advertising literacy” be conceptualized? What are the dimensions of advertising literacy, especially in the digital media environment? How does advertising literacy relate to other literacy concepts, such as information, digital, media, or consumer literacy? What are the blind spots to our understanding of how persuasive messages are processed and identified? How are embedded advertising techniques connected to advertising literacy?
  
• Methodological advances: How can we measure advertising literacy? What challenges have to be met when measuring this concept for different age groups, especially when dealing with young recipients?
  
• Advertising to children and adolescents: When and to what extend is it morally justifiable to advertise to children and adolescents? What are effects of advertising literacy (or the lack of it) on, for instance, concepts such as materialism, consumer literacy, and normative beliefs?
  
• External factors: What are effective factors to increase advertising literacy, especially when it comes to children and adolescents, or other vulnerable populations? What do effective mediation strategies, training programs or disclosures look like and what role do audience predispositions or the social and political environment play in that context?
  
• Responsibilities: Who is or should be responsible for fostering advertising literacy in various consumer populations? What is or should be the role of advertising research? Which regulatory measures or initiatives might be important for supporting consumers in their right to decide whether to engage with persuasive content? How powerful is the advertising literacy concept and how far can it take us?
  

Submissions that draw across disciplinary and/or methodological perspectives are especially welcome.

Additionally, there will be an open panel for each organizing division of the German Communication Association DGPuK (Advertising Communication Division and Media Education Division) with 4-6 scheduled presentations.

Find the full Cfp HERE

Deadline: July 7, 2019

The European Broadcasting Union is the professional association of public broadcasters in Europe, devoted to making public service media indispensable. If you want to contribute to this task, its Media Intelligence Service is looking for a Senior Media Analyst focused on digital markets.

The Senior Media Analyst will carry out diverse research tasks, including collection, processing and visualization of data, advanced and complex analysis using mostly quantitative but also qualitative methods, production of high quality reports, datasets and presentations, etc.

The Senior Media Analyst will lead specific projects in areas devoted to digital developments in the media market, including social media, sign-in/personalized services, voice-controlled devices and broadcasters’ data strategies. Her/his main goal will be obtaining comprehensive and accurate data about key developments in the digital markets in an early stage, with the objective of anticipating the most relevant issues impacting public service media and providing EBU Members and departments with added-value intelligence. Nevertheless, s/he will be required to be polyvalent, addressing complementary areas in the digital space, such as market developments, content innovation, business models and strategic partnerships.

To see the full description of the position and apply, please visit https://www.ebu.ch/careers. Please note that applications can be sent until 7 July 2019.

To know more about the team, please visit https://www.ebu.ch/media-intelligence.

If you any doubt regarding this position, please contact David Fernández Quijada at fernandez.quijada@ebu.ch.

PhD candidate (University of  Bergen) and researcher (University of Oslo) 

Deadline: August 2, 2019 (PhD), August 12, 2019 (researcher)

The research project Intrusive media, ambivalent users and digital detox  (Digitox), funded by the Research Council of Norway, is seeking  qualified applicants for two vacant positions. 

The Digitox project analyses digital disconnection and current questions  pertaining to the extensive uses of digital media in society. The past  few years have seen considerable changes in how we communicate and  socialize, and digital media present us with constant dilemmas about  what good media use is. While many studies focus on the positive sides  of digital media, the Digitox project emphasises ambivalence, resistance  and attempts at disconnection. The project employs interdisciplinary  insights from media and communication scholarship, game studies and  psychology to investigate digital media and the role they play in  people’s lives. 

The Digitox project (2019-2023) is a collaboration between the  University of Oslo (media studies and psychology), University of Bergen  (media studies) and Kristiania University College (media/game studies). Trine Syvertsen at the University of Oslo is principal investigator. The  researcher will work in Oslo and contribute to two work packages on  policy and industry, and to dissemination activities. A third work  package on users is led by Brita Ytre-Arne at UiB, and the PhD candidate  will work in Bergen and contribute to this part of the project. Please note that fluency in a Scandinavian language is a requirement for the  researcher position. Good communication skills in English is a  requirement for both positions. 

Link to the project website: https://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/research/projects/digital-disconnection/index.html

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PHD POSITION (UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN) 

A position as PhD candidate is available at the Department of  Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, for three  years starting late 2019. The PhD candidate will analyse media users and  their experiences with digital disconnection, focusing on ambivalences,  strategies, dilemmas, perceptions, norms or resistance pertaining to  digital media in everyday life. The candidate will outline an original  and creative PhD project, suitable to illuminate user experiences  empirically and to contribute to theory development within the Digitox  project. Relevant methods are qualitative interviews, diaries, focus  groups, experiments, tracking and log data. Topics or case studies of  relevance are for instance: 

• Individuals, families, work places or student groups taking part in digital detox 

• Experiences with intrusive digital media in different situations
• Ambivalence, media nostalgia and attempts at disconnection and withdrawal
• Dilemmas about screen use in schools, work or family settings
• Organization of detox experiments
• Non-use of smartphones or social media
• Experiences with apps for self-help and time management for digital media
• Politically motivated media resistance and activism

The position is open to candidates with a master’s degree or equivalent  in media studies, media and communication, digital culture, psychology,  sociology, social anthropology or similar. Good grades and proficiency  in English are requirements. Experience with research and academic work  is preferable. The successful candidate will be expected to be based in  Bergen and be part of The Research group for media use and audience  studies, an active group with extensive international contacts, a varied  project portfolio and a stimulating environment for young scholars. The position has a starting salary of NOK 472 300,- per year and good  welfare benefits. 

More information about the position, qualifications, the PhD programme,  the application procedure, and the University of Bergen can be found by  accessing the full advertisement and the online application form. 

CLOSING DATE: August 2, 2019. 

Full advertisement and online application form: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/170763/phd-position-in-media-and-communication-studies

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE RESEARCHER POSITION (UNIVERSITY OF OSLO) 

A position as Researcher in the Digitox project is available at the  Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, for a period  of 16 months, starting in January 2020. The successful candidate will  become part of the research environment/network of the department and  contribute to its development. The position will strengthen the  candidate’s qualifications in academic research and coordination.  The candidate will be responsible for data collection and analysis,  coordination and dissemination, specifically: 

• Organize and conduct interviews with stakeholders within media  policy and industry 
• Analyse policy/industry documents and interviews and write  report/article 
• Organize a stakeholder roundtable 
• Dissemination of project findings and information (web/podcast),  organize seminars 

The position is open to candidates with a PhD or MA degree in media  studies, psychology or a related area, experience with research  interviews and/or analysis of media texts or documents, and experience  with coordination of academic activities. Oral and written communication  skills in English and fluency in a Scandinavian language are required. 

The salary is NOK 515.200 - 597.400 per annum depending on  qualifications, and the position has good welfare benefits. 

CLOSING DATE: August 12, 2019. 

Full advertisement and online application form: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/170149/researcher-digitox

Brunel University 

Deadline: July 2, 2019

The Department of Arts & Humanities is seeking to appoint a suitably  qualified lecturer to teach on and help grow the Department’s  MA in  Media and Public Relations. 

Part-time, (17.5 hours per week), Two-year fixed term contract

Salary (H3): Pro rata of £39,511 to £50,483 per annum including London  Allowance 

The Department of Arts & Humanities is seeking to appoint a suitably  qualified lecturer to teach on and help grow the Department’s  MA in  Media and Public Relations. The MA provides students with practical  skills in building PR campaigns combined with theoretical understanding  of Media and PR practices. We are therefore looking for someone who has  professional experience in public relations, a Ph.D (or near  completion)  in media, communication, public relations, cultural studies  or cognate fields and a research programme going forward. Evidence of  teaching experience at Higher Education level is also essential. 

The successful applicant will also be expected to participate in at  least one of the College research centres, Entrepreneurship and  Sustainability and Global Lives, or a University Research Institute. 

Informal enquiries about the post can be made to the Convenor of the MA  in Media and PR, Professor Michael Wayne (Michael.wayne@brunel.ac.uk). 

Closing date for applications: 2 July 2019

This position does not meet the University criteria for Tier 2  sponsorship

Special issue of Nordicom Review

Deadline: November 15, 2019

Deadline for full paper submissions:19 April 2020

Editors: Johan Lindell (Karlstad University), Peter

Jakobsson (Södertörn University), Fredrik Stiernstedt (Södertörn University)

Social class underlies many debates within contemporary media and communications research. It is implicitly featured in debates about algorithmic targeting, digital surveillance and social sorting. It is also featured in debates about political communication, fake news and polarisation, as well as in relation to issues of media representations and media use. Social changes and phenomena in urgent need of attention such as increasing economic and cultural inequality and the rise of populist political movements are related to media and communication systems, while also being closely related to issues of class. Especially from a Nordic perspective, social class is more than ever a category that is needed in media research. The persistence of the idea of a Nordic exceptionalism and a Nordic (media) welfare state, against a reality of increasing social inequalities, makes it urgent to include a theoretical perspective on social class in analyses of the role and functioning of the media in the Nordic countries.

The purpose of this special issue of Nordicom Review is to showcase the need to include social class as a central category in media and communications research, as well as to analyse how it intersects with other social dimensions such as race, gender, sexuality, age etc.

Contributions to the Special Issue should address*one of the many areas in which social class is crucial for our understanding of media and communication. We welcome contributions that deal with social class in any media forms and genres, and that address social class from either the perspective of production, text or reception. Authors are free to adopt and/or develop any of the established theoretical notions of social class. The focus on the Nordic (media) welfare state means that contributions that highlight issues of social class in the Nordic region – in a single country or comparatively – are especially welcomed.

Contributions that provide opportunities for international comparisons are also welcome.

 The deadline for full paper submissions is 19 April 2020

The preliminary time of publication is winter 2020/2021. The selection of papers to be published will take place according to the following three-step procedure:

Step 1: Authors are requested to submit the title and abstract (600 words max. incl. references) of their papers along with five to six keywords and short bios (150 words max. for each author) to the Special Issue editors.

The deadline for submission of full abstracts is 15 November 2019 and the authors will be notified of the eventual acceptance by the end of December 2019 at the latest.

Step 2: If the abstracts are accepted, authors will be requested to submit full papers (7,000 words max. inclusive of any front or end matter) anonymised for double-blind review and formatted according tothe /Nordicom Review/ guidelines

The deadline for submission of full anonymised papers is 19 April 2020* after which a double-blind peer review will take place. Please note that if the submitted papers are incompatible with the earlier/accepted abstracts or are of insufficient academic quality, the Special Issue editors reserve the right to reject such papers in line with///Nordicom Review/’s editorial policy

Feedback from reviewers will be sent to authors by the end of June 2020 at the latest.

The deadline for submission of revised manuscripts is 30 September 2020.

For any questions as well as abstract and paper submission please contact:

• Johan Lindell, Karlstad University
• johan.lindell@kau.se
• Peter Jakobsson, Södertörn University
• peter.jakobsson@sh.se

About Nordicom Review

Nordicom Review is an international peer-reviewed open-access journal published by Nordicom (Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research) at the University of Gothenburg. The publication of Nordicom Review is supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Nordicom Review is indexed by SCOPUS. For more information, please visit www.nordicom.gu.se.

View this CFP on Nordicom's website: https://www.nordicom.gu.se/sv/aktuellt/nyheter/call-papers-class-inand-media

Special Issue of The International Journal of Press/Politics

Deadline: September 1, 2019

In recent years, democracies appear to have been caught off guard by pitfalls associated with the rise of digital media. Issues such as mass surveillance, disinformation, declining trust in journalism, challenges to journalistic institutions, electoral interference, partisan polarization, and increasing toxicity online threaten democratic norms, institutions, and governance.

While these phenomena have raised widespread concerns in the United States and have been the subject of vast bodies of US-centric research, there is much to be learned from addressing these issues in a comparative perspective—by studying digital media and politics both inside and outside the US and highlighting generalizable implications.

The media and political systems in the United States function in ways that are quite different from most Western democracies and most of the concerns highlighted above have been paramount in the US. However, other countries have also experienced high levels of polarization, substantial foreign interference, erosion of democratic norms, and weakening media institutions. In some cases, these developments occurred and required political responses well before the same issues came to the forefront in the United States.

Comparative research, both across time and across space, can shed light on how countries adapt and respond to digital threats to democracy. How can democratic competition, representation, and inclusiveness be safeguarded amidst challenges to their foundations?

What lessons can we learn by comparing how these processes unfold and how institutions respond across democratic and non-democratic countries?

Research Topics

This special issue of The International Journal of Press/Politics aims to shed light on three key sets of questions on the evolving relationship between digital media and politics. First, what insights can we glean from comparing liberal democracies to each other? How have democracies approached the frequently competing goals of protecting free speech, privacy, and anonymity, regulating political speech on digital media, ensuring fair elections, and promoting competitive digital markets? Second, what lessons can we learn from the experiences of countries where liberal and democratic norms cannot be taken for granted? Finally, how do existing political and media institutions shape the political impact of, and responses to, digital disruptions and threats?

We invite submissions that make both theoretical and empirical contributions to existing bodies of knowledge in the comparative study of political communication, elections, public opinion, digital media, and democracy. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Disinformation Campaigns: How is the propagation of (or accusation of propagating) disinformation used to damage opponents and mislead or confuse segments of the public? How are these strategies resisted in practice?

• Surveillance: What is the relationship between the need for connectivity and the need for privacy? What are the individual and systemic consequences of failing constitutional, regulatory, or normative protections of privacy?

• Violence and Intimidation: Do mechanisms that allow citizens to coordinate collective action also facilitate violence against other citizens? Are journalists, politicians, and activists more vulnerable to threats and coercion when professional norms require they maintain a social media presence that potentially exposes them to abuse and limits their privacy?

• Mobile Politics: What are the implications for political equality of the global growth in mobile online connectivity, especially among sectors of the population that do not use computers? How does easy-to-use, ephemeral, and encrypted mobile communication contribute to political discourse, mobilization, and engagement?

• Platform Politics: How well can US-born or US-centric platforms respond to democratic challenges in other countries? Should digital platforms provide bespoke solutions to non-US problems, and how can they accomplish that?

An international workshop exploring these issues, hosted by the Social Science Research Council, took place in New York on 13-14 June 2019. Participants were invited after an open call for proposals. This special issue is open to any contributions focusing on the themes described here—whether they were included in the SSRC workshop or not.

Submission Information

Manuscript submissions for this special issue are due on 1 September 2019. Please submit your work through our online submission portal and ensure that the first line of the cover letter states: “Manuscript to be considered for the special issue on Digital

Threats to Democracy”. Manuscripts should follow the IJPP submission guidelines. Submissions will be subject to a double-blind peer review process and must not have been published, accepted for publication, or under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Authors interested in submitting their work are encouraged to contact Cristian Vaccari (c.vaccari@lboro.ac.uk), Editor-in-Chief of The International Journal of Press/Politics, with questions.

Expected Timeline

• Paper submissions: 1 September 2019
• First decision: 1 November 2019
• Paper revisions: 1 January 2020
• Final decision: 1 March 2020
• Online publication: April 2020
• Print publication: July 2020

October 31, 2019

University of Bonn, Germany

Deadline: August 31, 2019

Leading up to the the ECREA Midterm Conference of the Mediatization Section, YECREA is happy to announce a PhD workshop with the goal to aide young scholars with a shared interest in the field of mediatization research by providing a platform to discuss their work and connect with peers from diverse backgrounds and in different stages of their career.

The workshop will be held on the afternoon of the 31st of October (exact schedule and location to be announce). Participants will be given the opportunity to present and discuss their own work with an audience of both young scholars and experienced researchers. The format lives from the experiences and struggles of its individual participants, therefore we explicitly welcome applications in all stages of the PhD research process – from early conceptualizations to almost finished projects.

How to apply

To apply, send a brief abstract of the work you want to present (up to 500 words) to jakob.hoertnagl@phil.uni-augsburg.de.

The abstract should include research questions, theoretical foundations of the project, methods used and preliminary findings (if available). For review purposes, please omit any personal information from the abstract itself. Add author name, institutional affiliation and the stage of your project in the accompanying e-mail

Geographical and topical diversity will be considered as part of the evaluation process. While the workshop is tailored to young scholars with an explicit interest in the mediatization approach, we encourage everyone who is engaged with research on social and cultural change vis-à-vis new media technologies, both empirically and theoretically, to apply.

Application deadline: 31 August

In an attempt to create synergies and opportunities of collaboration, we also want to encourage young scholars to apply to the main event (Deadline for the CfP is the 15th of June). We will actively work towards bringing together young and senior scholars during the whole conference by creating opportunities for feedback and mentorship.

Accepted presenters will be informed by 15th of September, 2019. A small fee of 20€ per person (40€ for those with full-time employment) will be raised to cover expenses for snacks and refreshments during the workshop.

Additionally, the YECREA plans to organize a mutual dinner on the evening of the workshop for all those who plan to stay for the main event and/or want to seize the opportunity for an informal get-together.

MeCCSA 2020 Conference

January 8-10, 2020

University of Brighton

Deadline: July 15, 2019

The Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association are pleased to invite the submission of abstracts, panel proposals and practice-based contributions for the MeCCSA 2020 Conference, to be held from 8-10 January 2020 at the University of Brighton. The theme of the conference is Media Interactions and Environments.

Key Note Speakers:

• Professor Trine Syvertsen, University of Oslow
• Professor Sarah Kember, Goldsmiths University of London

Interactions with media are increasingly woven into the textures and cultural politics of our everyday lives. When the spaces of our homes, shops, schools, offices and cities are so intensively mediatised, media become our environment, brought to life through our mundane, personal, professional, creative, commercial and political interactions. What might be the wider implications of these media and cultural experiences and encounters? Whose voices and perspectives are included or excluded, and how are power and agency reconfigured, realigned and reproduced in this complex media landscape? The theme Media Interactions and Environments is designed to address this critical moment in contemporary media culture, and appeal to a broad range of media, communication and cultural studies topics, interests and approaches.

This conference theme is deliberately expansive, so as to include, amongst others, analysis of media texts, technologies, practices, audiences, institutions and experiences. Media interactions might be digital, cultural, political, emotional and imaginative. Environments could be spatial, political, representational, urban, local, physical, virtual and ecological. Our aim is to enable the MeCCSA community to question how we should live responsibly and ethically in a politically and ecologically changing world, through an exploration of the central role of media cultures and creative practices in addressing social, political and climate-based challenges.

​We invite proposals for scholarly papers, themed panels, posters, film screenings and other practice-based contributions. Proposals might engage with the various social, political, economic, artistic, individual, collective, institutional, representational and technological dimensions of media interactions and environments. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• ​Media, communication and inequality: exploring race, gender, sexuality, class, generation and (dis)ability
• Datafication, agency and power
• Ecologies of media industries
• Social movements, activism and civic engagement
• Transformative learning environments and pedagogy
• Participatory media and collective engagement
• Popular culture, media and representations of the environment
• Media archaeology, sustainability and archives
• Digital cultures and immersive technologies, practices, audiences and experiences
• Communicating and envisioning futures
• Critical and creative responses to the anthropocene
• Visual cultures, representations and experiences

We welcome contributions across the full range of interests represented by MeCCSA and its networks, including, but not limited to:

• Race, ethnicity and postcolonial studies
• Representation, identity, ideology
• Film and television studies and practice
• Radio studies and practice
• Cultural and media policy
• Social movements and activism
• ​Climate change, sustainability and environment
• Digital culture and games studies
• Gender and sexuality studies
• Disability studies within media studies
• Media pedagogy
• BAME experiences of media and culture industries
• ​Children, young people and media
• Diasporic and ethnic minority media
• Political communication
• Methodological approaches
• Media practice research and teaching
• Community media

Submitting a proposal

Individual abstracts should be up to 250 words, accompanied by an author bio of no more than 200 words. Panel proposals should include a short description and rationale (200 words) together with abstracts for each of the 3-4 papers, and the name and contact details of the panel proposer. The panel proposer should coordinate the submissions for that panel as a single proposal.

Practice-based work

We actively support the presentation of practice-as-research and have a flexible approach to practice papers and presentations. This may include opportunities to present papers and screenings in the same sessions or as part of a separate screening strand. We also welcome shorter papers in association with short screenings. We also have dedicated presentation spaces to display practice artefacts including screenings, posters and computer-based work. For displaying practice work, please include specific technical data (e.g. duration, format) and a URL pointing to any support material when submitting your abstract. We expect delegates who are showing screenings to be present at the conference.

Please note that all proposals (abstracts and practice-based work) will be peer reviewed. PGRs are welcome to submit.

Timeline of submissions and reviews

Please submit proposals to: meccsa2020@brighton.ac.uk

Submission deadline: 15 July 2019

Review decision: September 2019

Early bird rates: available to November 2019