ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

November 18-19, 2024

Covilhã (Portugal)

Deadline: September 15, 2024

“Platformization”, audiences, disinformation and media literacy in local communities are some of the issues to be discussed at MediaTrust.Lab International Conference.

READ MORE: https://mediatrust.ubi.pt/events/conf2024/

7-10 January 2025

Lisbon (Portugal)

Deadline: September 15, 2024

The 5th Lisbon Winter School for the Study of Communication takes a comparative and global approach to the study of media and fear. Jointly organized by the Faculty of Human Sciences (Universidade Católica Portuguesa) and the Center for Media@Risk (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania), the Lisbon Winter School offers an opportunity for doctoral students and early career post-doctoral researchers to strategize around the study of media and fear together with senior scholars in the field. It is held in coordination with the Annenberg Schools of the University of Southern California & University of Pennsylvania, the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Journalism and Communication, the University of Helsinki’s Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities, and The Europaeum.

Call for Applications

Fear is a powerful emotion that is thought to obscure, undermine or derationalize decision-making. It can either trigger or paralyze action, inducing irrational behavior, generating moral panics or fostering responses to keep people safe. It abounds in the media coverage of wars, terror, social protests, natural disasters, technological accidents and the radical events associated with climate crisis, migration, poverty, racialized violence, misogyny, settler colonialism and other global inequities. Fear gives high visibility to inflammatory discourses that furnish a central stage across the information environment, creating a loss of control and predictability alongside an intensification of uncertainty, threat, risk and insecurity across different publics. While reports on fear-inducing conditions and events have the potential to induce action and create solidarity for those being effected, the media also instigate hate against marginalized social groups who have become the target of what Ruth Wodak (2015) has called “the normalization of shameless politics.” Today a central ingredient of many videos and posts that go viral on social media, fear can be promoted by a wide range of actors, including those who instigate action against the rule of law. 

The Lisbon Winter School aims to cut across the many discourses driven by fear, considering its weaponization by political, religious and social actors who aim to increase their own power, including leaders of democratic and authoritarian regimes, drug cartels, religious institutions, terrorist groups and protest groups. Topics include power grounded on fear, threat, and compliance; fear as a rhetorical tool to spread hate against the ‘other’; fear as a propaganda technique used throughout history; fear as a feature of contemporary polarized societies that present particular groups as sources of threat. Fear also has positive effects. It can be channeled toward helping people keep safe or avoid danger. Wearing a mask to prevent a viral infection, abandoning a village or a city before it is hit by a typhoon, or seeking refuge during air strikes are examples. 

Regardless of how positively or negatively scholars feel about the invocation of fear in mediated communication, its presence is a clear component of media environments everywhere. But what kind of presence does it have? How is it part of wider strategies designed to discriminate against specific groups of people? How is it used by democratic or authoritarian regimes, terrorist or criminal groups to create compliance and counter resistance? How is fear central to nationalistic discourses in different nations? What parallels can be established between contemporary media environments and earlier regimes in which fear occupied a central stage? And how can people resist feeling threated by messages that attempt to stir it up? These are just some of the questions the Lisbon Winter School aims to discuss. We welcome proposals by doctoral students and early career post-doctoral researchers from all over the world to discuss the intertwined relation between media and fear in different geographies and temporalities. The list below illustrates some topics for possible consideration. Other topics dealing with media and fear are also welcomed: 

·       Media and the dissemination of fear

·       Fear, populism and the media

·       Terrorism and the media

·       Moral panics

·       Reporting war and tragedy

·       Fear and the democratic process

·       Communication techniques to create fear

·       Fear and identity formation

·       Algorithms, AI and the promotion of fear

·       Promoting fear against gender, racial and religious minorities

·       Fear as tool of compliance 

·       Fake news and disinformation

·       Fear, anxiety and irrationality

·       Fear and (self-)censorship

·       Fear in the public arena in specific national or regional contexts

·       Climate anxiety

·       Visual media and fear

·       …

PAPER PROPOSALS

Proposals should be sent to lisbonwinterschool@gmail.com no later than 15 September 2024 and include a paper title, extended abstract in English (700 words), name, e-mail address, institutional affiliation and a brief bio (max. 100 words) mentioning ongoing research. Applicants will be informed of the result of their submissions by early-October.

FULL PAPER SUBMISSION 

Presenters will be required to send in full papers (max. 20 pages, 1.5 spacing) by 15 December 2024. 

CONFIRMED KEYNOTES: 

David Altheide, Arizona State University

Carlo Bordoni, University Mercatorum

Isabel Capeloa Gil, Catholic University of Portugal

Frank Furedi, University of Kent

Nelson Ribeiro, Catholic University of Portugal

Johanna Sumiala, University of Helsinki

Barbie Zelizer, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

More to be Announced

For more information visit lisbonwinterschool.com 

ORGANIZERS

Nelson Ribeiro

Barbie Zelizer

CONVENORS

Sarah Banet-Weiser 

Risto Kunelius

Francis Lee

September 26, 2024

Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Workshop @ECREA ECC 2024

The workshop is organized by the Data Donation Lab (University of Zurich) and is free of charge. The workshop takes place on Thursday 26 September 2024, 16:30 – 18:00 in the room FDV-14 at the ECC 2024 conference site in Ljubljana. More information and registration are available via this link: https://datadonation.uzh.ch/en/ecc-workshop2024/

Locations: Leuven, Aarhus, Padua

The DEMINE (DEaling with conflicts related to MIgration: NEgotiating social cohesion through communication) European Joint Doctorate (DN-JD) network addresses the challenge of radicalisation and extremism that threatens social cohesion in Europe. By integrating inter-sectoral mobility and a balanced mix of research and transferable skills, DEMINE aims to develop a framework for understanding the role of interpersonal and mediated communication in intergroup relations and migration-related conflicts.

This innovative programme explores the impact of traditional media, social media, and interpersonal interactions on attitudes toward migration and social cohesion. It focuses on the dynamics of political and societal polarisation and radicalisation, providing insights into how these processes affect society.

The DEMINE consortium will train nine doctoral candidates across various disciplines, including political science, communication, journalism studies, linguistics, psychology, social data analytics, sociology, anthropology, and education science/media literacy. The training will address socially unacceptable extreme discourse that leads to populist attitudes and societal polarisation. Additionally, it will measure the impact of mediated and interpersonal communication expressions that aim to create societal divisions and ostracise specific communities.

We are currently hiring nine doctoral candidates (DCs) to start between January 1 st, 2025 and April 1 st, 2025.

A detailed description of the positions can be found here: https://demine.eu/open-positions/

What We Offer:

The EU Researcher Allowances will be used to cover both the employee’s and the employer’s mandatory charges. The gross amount of the doctoral scholarship (tax-free) will be approximately €3,000 per month for single individuals with no dependents. This amount will increase if you have a registered partner without income and/or dependent children, and decrease if you have a registered partner with income.

How to apply:

Please submit your application, including a CV and a 2-5 page project description with a literature list, detailing your ideas on how to contribute to the specified work package, to info@demine.eu. Be sure to clearly indicate the position you are applying for in your submission.

Specifically for the candidates applying for the positions at Aarhus University: All applicants must demonstrate excellent English communication skills, as proficiency in academic English is essential for success in this position. You should be able to read, write, and speak English fluently at an academic level. The required English language proficiency is equivalent to a minimum TOEFL score of 83 or an IELTS score of 6.5.

For further details, please visit:  http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/english-test/

Applications to up to two openings are welcome. However, only applications in line with the MSCA mobility rules are eligible, meaning that researchers cannot have resided in the country of the host institution for more than 12 months in the three years prior to the date of recruitment.

Deadline for submission of your application is October 15, 2024. Late applications will not be considered. Job interviews with shortlisted candidates will be organised in November-December.

Where to apply? Please send an email to: info@demine.eu

Ready to explore Ljubljana? We’re offering exclusive tours showcasing the city’s vibrant social scene!

Spaces are limited, so don’t wait—register now to secure your spot!

For tour details and registration, check out the conference webpage.

Plus, all delegates will receive a FREE public transport ticket! Just show your conference badge for complimentary rides around Ljubljana.

We can’t wait to meet you in Ljubljana!

(Mis)Translating Deceit

Full-time and fixed-term for 12 months, starting 1st February 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the (Mis)Translating Deceit project, a major interdisciplinary research endeavour aimed at developing a new, holistic approach to disinformation, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK). Events such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the threat disinformation poses to democracy, yet effective responses to this global challenge have been hampered by the persistence of simplistic approaches that pit democratic ‘truth-telling’ against totalitarian ‘deceit’ and overlook the impact of home-grown disinformation. The (Mis)Translating Deceit project interrogates common misconceptions about disinformation, treating it as a transnational, translingual and historically mutating phenomenon. It employs a multi-stage methodological toolset designed to examine how selected cases of historical and contemporary disinformation are produced and disseminated, how they acquire the status of disinformation, and how their reception shifts as they travel across cultural, linguistic and socio-political boundaries.

The post holder will work under the supervision of Professor Sabina Mihelj at Loughborough University and focus on the audience research strand of the project. They will conduct audience research in either Poland, Serbia, or among Arabic-speaking communities in the UK and lead on the comparative analysis of audience data collected in all three locations. They will also contribute to other joint project activities, in collaboration with other team members based at the University of Manchester, the University of Leeds, and Chatham House. As this is a multi-institutional project, team members from all institutions may be involved in all stages of selection.

The post will be based in the Communication and Media Department, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, and affiliated with the Centre for Research in Communication and Culture. The successful candidate will be based in the UK for the duration of the appointment, with short periods of fieldwork and travel abroad.

If you are an organised, motivated, and proactive individual, with relevant skills and qualifications, this is a great opportunity to join the project and contribute to its success.

The post will be based in the Communication and Media Division, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, and affiliated with the Centre for Research in Communication and Culture.

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/subjects/communication-media/

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/crcc/

For more information refer to the Job Description and Person Specification.

Informal enquiries should be made by email to Professor Sabina Mihelj (s.mihelj@lboro.ac.uk)

Please follow the link for further details.

• Closing date for receipt of applications is 6th October 2024.
  
• Interviews will be held on either 30 or 31 October 2024.
  

Northwestern University

The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University in Qatar (#IAS_NUQ) is seeking outstanding candidates for one postdoctoral fellowship focused on the histories, cultures, societies, and media of the Global South. 

Deadline: November 1, 2024.

We are currently accepting applications related to any of our current research themes:

1) Genealogies and Epistemologies of the Global South

2) Arab Media, Culture, and Politics

3) Southern Digitalities

4) Critical Security Studies

We are particularly interested in scholars:

1) Conducting comparative or transnational research on media, culture, and/or politics in or between the Arab world and Latin America

2) Working on "theory from the South," particularly by African or Arab authors

3) Focused on environmental communication in the Global South

We recommend that applicants familiarize themselves with our mission and research themes. Knowledge of language(s) relevant to research context is required. 

This fellowship offers a competitive stipend, housing, health insurance, and access to state-of-the-art facilities. 

We welcome applications from scholars who would have completed their PhD between January 1, 2023 and June 1, 2025

If you have additional questions, please email us at ias@qatar.northwestern.edu. Kindly do not contact #IAS_NUQ staff individually.

Apply today!

September 23, 2024

Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Deadline: September 9, 2024

ECC pre-conference

We invite participants to register for the ECREA preconference, "Exploring the Dynamics of Digital Disconnection: Disruption, Inequalities, and Norms". This event is scheduled for September 23rd, 2024, at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Kardeljeva ploščad 5, University of Ljubljana. 

Registration is open until September 9th, 2024. Secure your spot here: https://nettskjema.no/a/425263#/page/1

The preconference explores the dynamics of digital disconnection, its potential as a form of disruption, and the normative constraints that shape its boundaries. Find more info here: https://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/research/projects/digital-disconnection/events/conferences/ECREA-preconference-ljubljana.html

Göran Bolin, Jairo Ferreira, Isabel Löfgren, Ada C. Machado da Silveira

Between 2019 and 2023, media researchers from Södertörn University in UNISINOS and Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM) in Brazil, engaged in a collaborative effort to explore Scandinavian and South American perspectives on mediatisation, connecting universities from opposite sides of the world.

The project aimed to promote a nuanced understanding of mediatisation theory from different cultural perspectives and media studies traditions, dismantle epistemological barriers, and provide new insights into societies undergoing the process of mediatisation.

The chapters presented in this volume are grounded on the mobility of researchers across both countries where a productive knowledge exchange contributed to diversify epistemological, empirical, and methodological approaches to mediatisation theory, and provide new perspectives on mediatisation theory in contested media scenarios in Sweden, Brazil, and beyond.

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?aq2=%5B%5B%5D%5D&c=117&af=%5B%5D&searchType=SIMPLE&sortOrder2=title_sort_asc&query=Bolin%2C+G%C3%B6ran&language=en&pid=diva2%3A1888278&aq=%5B%5B%5D%5D&sf=all&aqe=%5B%5D&sortOrder=author_sort_asc&onlyFullText=false&noOfRows=50&dswid=-3804

Journal of Advertising

Deadline: November 30, 2024

The Journal of Advertising seeks papers for a special issue dedicated to “Contributions of Biometrics to Advertising Research,” guest-edited by Robert F. Potter, Steve Bellman, and Glenna L. Read. Biometrics (e.g., fMRI, EEG, EDA, ECG, fEMG, ET) have been used for decades, but what have they revealed about how audiences respond to advertising? We invite you to submit your articles by the deadline, November 30, 2024. The link for accepting articles will be available from November 1st.

Call for Papers: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/biometrics-advertising-research/