ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

March 9, 2023

Online webinar

I am pleased to invite you to the next in the series of IPRA Thought Leadership webinars. The webinar The Weixin story: PR’s contribution to CSR will be presented by Zoe Chou, Dean of the Weixin Strategic Research Institute and the Head of PR at Weixin on Thursday 9 March 2023 at 12.00 GMT/UCT (unadjusted).

What is the webinar content?

The One for all Love meal Program won the 2022 Golden World Awards grand prix. The webinar will discuss the background to the program and discuss other corporate social responsibility projects from China’s Weixin and its parent company Tencent. 

How to join

Register here at Airmeet. (The time shown should adjust to your device’s time zone.) 

A reminder will be sent 1 hour before the event.

Background to IPRA

IPRA, the International Public Relations Association, was established in 1955, and is the leading global network for PR professionals in their personal capacity. IPRA aims to advance trusted communication and the ethical practice of public relations. We do this through networking, our code of conduct and intellectual leadership of the profession. IPRA is the organiser of public relations' annual global competition, the Golden World Awards for Excellence (GWA). IPRA's services enable PR professionals to collaborate and be recognised. Members create content via our Thought Leadership essays, social media and our consultative status with the United Nations. GWA winners demonstrate PR excellence. IPRA welcomes all those who share our aims and who wish to be part of the IPRA worldwide fellowship. For more see www.ipra.org

Background to Zoe Chou

Zoe Chou is Dean of the Weixin Strategic Research Institute and the Head of PR at Weixin. She is one of the pioneers of China’s Internet communications and has been a trailblazer of marketing in the digital age. Zoe has been guest lecturer at the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University and the School of Journalism, Fudan University. She has also served as a judge for a number of international marketing awards.

Contact

International Public Relations Association Secretariat

United Kingdom

secgen@ipra.org

Telephone +44 1634 818308

KOME, an international Open Access journal of media and communication studies and related fields is currently accepting submissions for its 2023 and 2024 issues. We would love to hear from our colleagues across Europe and overseas, and read about their current research! This is an open call and submissions are considered on any topcis related to communication, media and journalism. 

Key topics for the journal: 

-online/digital media and communications 

-health communication 

-organizational and business communication 

-political communication 

-persuasion and influence 

Key article types for the journal: 

-narrative and systematic review articles where the literature is 

surveyed and analyzed qualitatively or quantitatively 

-original research articles using advanced qualitative or quantitative methods to answer relevant research questions based on hypothesis drawn from literature review 

If interested, please visit our website at http://www.komejournal.com 

Manuscripts can be submitted directly to kome@komejournal.com 

We are free to all authors and readers, and indexed in SCOPUS (Q2) and  Web of Science (ESCI). All submission undergo double blind peer review.  Average turnaround time is ~12 weeks. No APC's, page charges, submission charges; we do not charge authors for publishing their work and do not solicit or accept payment for contributions. 

September 11-15, 2023

Inter-University Centre (IUC), Dubrovnik, Croatia

Deadline: April 15, 2023

Keynote Speakers:

• Christian Fuchs, Paderborn University, Germany
  
• Kylie Jarrett, Maynooth University, Ireland
  

Course Directors:

• Thomas Allmer, Paderborn University, Germany
  
• Paško Bilić, Institute for Development and International Relations, Croatia
  
• Benjamin Birkinbine, University of Nevada, Reno, USA
  
• Jernej Amon Prodnik, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
  
• Jaka Primorac, Institute for Development and International Relations, Croatia
  
• Toni Prug, University of Rijeka, Croatia
  
• Aleksander Slaček-Brlek, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia 

ECTS accreditation: University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (10 ECTS points for PhD students upon full completion of the course)

Course Description:

The media are central institutions of modern societies, providing channels for corporate and political control and public space for disseminating and consuming information on systemic changes in politics, culture, and economics to the public. The media underwent massive restructuring through neoliberal policies in the 1970s. Introducing new communication technologies such as satellite and cable television, internet, and web platforms went hand in hand with market liberalisation and communication commercialisation. The multiplication of channels and media outlets was accompanied by concentration and centralisation of ownership. Recently, large transnational digital platforms have solidified their position as core companies within contemporary capitalism, restructuring the distribution of media advertising investments, speeding up the circulation of capital, automating global consumption patterns, avoiding national taxes, and siphoning revenues to offshore entities. At the same time, they benefit from automated management of their diversified and essentially precarious workforces of content moderators, warehouse workers, and gig workers, as well as from software inputs from free and open source communities (FLOSS) communities.

The rise of platforms reshapes traditional institutional mechanisms that broadly safeguard freedom of expression, media pluralism, and public interests. How these mechanisms will be re-considered and how private interests will shape markets and societies is an open political issue. Alternatives are being envisioned in areas ranging from platform cooperatives and commons projects to strategic calls for technological sovereignty and public wealth creation. However, such initiatives usually need broader political support from the public already accustomed to the commercial logic of the media. The commodification of everyday life through data capture, surveillance and privacy intrusion is easily dismissed by citizens as a minor side effect of free usage and flexibility of ubiquitous digital services.

This biennial course aims to explore traditional (e.g. ownership, production, content, consumption, labour, regulation) and contemporary (e.g. algorithms, platforms, data, artificial intelligence) perspectives on the media from the lens of critical political economy. The course will explore how capital and the state(s) control, regulate and form the media (broadly conceived as ranging from traditional printed press to algorithms and software) in societies shaped by persistent social inequalities. The level of analysis can vary from macro phenomena of geopolitics, transnational, national and institutional dynamics, through mid-range phenomena of the structure(s) of the public sphere(s), to micro-phenomena of class-based conditions shaping inequalities of access and skill for using the media in everyday life and for work.

The course will include presentations from keynote speakers, course directors and presentations by advanced MA and PhD students. Through lectures and discussions with international experts, students will gain in-depth knowledge about recent communication, media, and journalism developments from the critical political economy perspective. Methods and analytical tools commonly used in the approach will be explained and discussed. Presentation of the research papers (considered work in progress) will lead to comprehensive feedback that will help students develop their projects further and result in publishable academic writing. Discussions will be carried out collaboratively, with reciprocal assessment by students.

Deadlines:

• Course is open to advanced MA and PhD students. Please submit your CV (maximum two pages), title and an extended abstract of your presentation (maximum two pages with references) by 15 April 2023 to political.economies.of.the.media@gmail.com

• Course directors will review applications, and final decisions on acceptance will be sent by 15 May 2023.

• Accepted applicants will be invited to submit 6 to 9,000-word research papers by 1 September 2023. After completion of the course, the applicants will be encouraged to submit their papers for review in an international peer-reviewed journal in the field of political economy.

• Note: only PhD students can receive 10 ECTS points upon course completion, which entails a submitted research paper, paper presentation and full-week active attendance participation in the course (more information will be published on the course website).

• Please note that all participants pay a registration fee of 50 EUR. A limited number of partial stipends and registration waivers will be available. If you are interested in participation support, please indicate this in your application.

Venue and Location: 

The Inter-University Centre (IUC) Dubrovnik is an independent centre for advanced study, grounded in and sustained by its international network of partner universities. The IUC Dubrovnik maintains high scientific quality standards and provides an open space for critical thinking and innovation. Building upon its location and its 50-year history, the IUC Dubrovnik serves as a bridge between regions within Europe and between the European region and the world by connecting scientific communities and connecting communities through science. The IUC Dubrovnik takes pride in bringing together scholars and students from different countries, cultures and academic disciplines to advanced research and higher education programmes. The IUC emphasises and supports inter-disciplinary and cross-national collaboration on global challenges such as human universal values and rights, health, education, poverty and climate, encouraging, in addition to east-west collaboration also, new north-south initiatives. The IUC Dubrovnik continues organising courses and conferences within the broad spectrum of scientific disciplines provided by scientific staff from multiple countries. The IUC Dubrovnik also stimulates the development of research activities, in particular, related to the courses and conferences within the programme and contributes to connecting leading international partner universities to regional academic institutions.

Important Information:

•    More information about the IUC is available at: https://iuc.hr/

•    All further details about the course will be available at http://www.poleconmed.net/

September 21-22, 2023

Södertörn University, Sweden

Deadline: February 28, 2023

Dear members of the ECREA network,

Sending a kind reminder to submit your abstracts for the upcoming conference Mediations of music and power in online music cultures at Södertörn University, 21-22 September 2023, by 28 February. 

We look forward to receiving and reviewing your submissions!

All the best,

Veronika 

Call for Papers

Mediations of music and power in online music cultures

21–22 September 2023, Division of Gender Studies, School of Culture and Education, Södertörn University, Sweden

Music cultures in the twenty-first century are strongly shaped by online media. Music streaming, social media, video sharing sites as well as internet-based music production software, radio stations, and music magazines have variously affected the formatting, curation, and consumption of music. Largely centralized around a small number of privatized companies, where human and automated processes intersect, online music cultures are sites of mediations of power.

In this context, online music media have entailed economic, technological, and cultural changes in contemporary music cultures. For example, music streaming illustrates monetary shifts in the music industry, where power is newly negotiated between music recommendation companies and the record, advertisement, and investment markets. Moreover, online music media combine curatorial and algorithmic processes that mediate cultural production and consumption and re-construct listeners as ‘datafied’ users. While the ‘platformization’ of online music cultures impedes the visibility of non-commercial media and practices, global music and media corporations present their own initiatives toward equality in the music industry and activist practices in networked communities on and off commercial sites negotiate the affordances and limitations of these media.

This conference asks: What characterizes mediations of music and power in online music cultures? What are emergent mediations of subjectivity, identity, and difference in online music cultures, and how do they map onto or newly shape discourses of taste, value, and authenticity? What possibilities may online music media offer for centering artistic and fan practices, alliances, and communities that have previously been subjugated in music cultures?

This conference invites presentations from research fields including musicology, popular music, media, gender, postcolonial and cultural studies, which examine emergent mediations of music and negotiations of power in online music cultures. We particularly seek to highlight media technologies, stylistic developments, user practices, and intersectional perspectives that have not yet been emphasized as well as to deepen the understanding of central themes, concepts, and practices in this cultural field and its scholarly inquiry.

Keynote speaker: Eric Drott – Butler School of Music, The University of Texas at Austin

Themes

We invite submissions on topics that may include, but are not limited to:

• Mediations: Intersecting algorithmic and human logics in mediations of music and power
  
• (Re-)mediations of music: Formations and discourses of style, genre, taste, and value in online music cultures
  
• Algorithmic culture: Speculative logics, ‘postdemographic’ technologies, and the datafication of listening
  
• Networked communities: Listeners, communities, and articulations of resistance in online music cultures
  
• New media: Emergent online music and social media and their music cultures
  
• Sites of power: Platformization and centers and peripheries in global cultural economies
  

Abstracts

Please submit abstracts (250 words maximum) via email by 28 February 2023 to mediationsconference@gmail.com.

Please include the title of your paper and a brief biography (100 words maximum).

Organizers

Veronika Muchitsch, Södertörn University

Ann Werner, Södertörn University & Uppsala University

Contact

For further information, please send an email to mediationsconference@gmail.com.

June, 8-9, 2023 

Prague, Czech Republic 

Deadline to submit abstracts: 12 March 2023 

The 4th International Conference ILIS is now open for abstract submission. The conference will take place this year at the University of Finance and Administration in Prague. 

Virtual and in-person sessions.

Theme of the 4th International Conference ILIS: Rethinking social theories and methods in a digital society 

Author Notification: 25 March 2023 

Call for paper: https://www.labilis.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/4th-Ilis-conference-call.pdf 

Abstract submitting form:  https://www.labilis.org/2023/01/18/4th-international-conference-ilis/ 

Leveraging on the previous editions, this conference will explore the main challenges digitalization poses to different strand of sociological theories and methods particularly investigating the distinctive topics of digital social research and the digital biases. 

Thus, it especially (but not exclusively) calls for contributions that shed new light on the following topics: 

- Digital sociology; 

- Revised sociological theories; 

- Revised sociological concepts: identity, citizenship, social capital, 

inequalities, institutions, power, work, community, etc.; 

- Revised social research methods and digital transposition of traditional methods; 

- Social research methods that incorporate digital and gaming practices, such as the game-based methods; 

- Digital biases; 

- Digital discriminations. 

Abstracts need to be limited to 500 words and include goals, research methods and main findings. 

The participation fee is 50 EUR. 

For in-person participants the fee cover: 

Lunch 2x 

Coffee break 4x 

No participation fee is requested for accepted students and Ph.D. candidates. 

The scientific committee of the conference will select best papers for publications in special issues dedicated to the conference and/or national or international books. 

For more info visit: https://www.labilis.org/en/home-2/ 

If you have further questions, please contact the organizers at the address: _labilis@unisa.it <mailto:labilis@unisa.it>_ 

Executive Board: 

• prof. Felice Addeo – Salerno 
  
• dr. Angela delli Paoli – Salerno 
  
• prof. Giuseppe Masullo – Salerno 
  
• prof. Gabriella Punziano – Naples 
  
• dr. Jitka Cirklova - Prague 
  
• dr. Eva Kostikov – Prague 
  
• prof. Jan Lansky – Prague 
  
• prof. Nadezda Petru - Prague 
  

Chief of the 4th International Conference ILIS: 

prof. Giuseppe Maiello - Prague 

Turkey has been going through a tough ordeal since 6 February 2023 due to two major earthquakes (measuring 7.8 and 7.6 on the magnitude scale) that hit 11 cities in southern Turkey. Just to give you a sense of the scale according to official numbers nearly 40,000 people died (numbers are likely to increase to several more thousands), and 13.5 million people live in the region who had sustained considerable damage. Some estimates suggest over a million people have been rendered homeless and several more have not been able to re-enter their dwellings pending a damage analysis. 

Each person in Turkey has some loved ones in the area directly impacted by the earthquakes; we have lost family members, friends, acquaintances, students, homes, and neighborhoods. Some of those historical cities are completely destroyed. There are no words to describe our shock, pain, and devastation. We will always cherish the memories of lost lives and hold on to the idea of rebuilding destroyed cities.

If you’d like to donate to those in need in the disaster area, you may do so via this link.

Gizem Melek

Associate Professor (Ph.D.) 

Yasar University

Chair of the ECREA Women’s Network

Dear ECREA members,

We are going through tough times in Turkey due to last week’s two major earthquakes (measuring 7.8 and 7.6 on the magnitude scale) that hit southern Turkey on February 6, 2023, which left 13.5 million people living in the region (10 cities) with considerable damage. Nearly 40,000 people died according to official bodies, and the number is likely to increase even more.

Each one of us has some loved ones in the area directly impacted by the earthquakes. But, in these difficult times, we are trying to get back to our routine (somehow) in the western city of Izmir to overcome the shock and devastation.

On that note, I’d like to share an announcement with you considering some of you might be interested. Yaşar University (in İzmir) is searching for universities and international partners for the Blended Intensive Course- Gender Studies, which will be funded under the Erasmus program in Spring Semester 2022-23 (February-June 2023).

Expectations from partner universities:

1. 5 students need to be enrolled in the online course and fly to Yaşar University in May for a 1-week face-to-face part of the course. Flight and accommodation will be covered under the Erasmus budget of each University’s Erasmus Programme.
2. The course will start online in April and the 1-week face-to-face part will be in May.
3. Yaşar University will cover transportation from the airport, social excursions (Ephesus, Çeşme), dinners, and coffee breaks during the face-to-face part of the course in May.

Here is the last BIP experience that Yaşar University already did in 2022 with BUas University, Netherlands, Koblenz Unv Germany, and Politecnic Unv, Portugal. You may watch a short video of the last BIP course experience at this link.

The syllabus of the course and short info on the BIP course Project will be provided upon request. Hope to collaborate with motivated universities.

Should you be interested please write to me at gizem.melek@yasar.edu.tr and I will put you in contact with the coordinator of the project.

All the best,

Gizem Melek, Chair of the Women's Network

LSE

LSE is committed to building a diverse, equitable and truly inclusive university. For this post, we particularly welcome applications from people from minority ethnic groups. 

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) 

Department of Media and Communications 

Assistant Professor 

Salary is competitive with Departments at our peer institutions worldwide and not less than £58,519 pa inclusive. The full salary scale can be found on the LSE website 

Applications are invited from outstanding candidates in the field of media and communications. The successful candidate will join an established and successful Department, ranked first in its field in the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) and third in the QS World University Rankings 2022. 

The Department is known for its distinctive interdisciplinary approach to the field of media and communications, primarily based in the social sciences, but also open to humanities perspectives. You will contribute to the intellectual life of the School through conducting and publishing outstanding quality research, engaging in high-quality teaching as instructed by the Head of Department, and participating in the School and wider Department activities. 

Candidates will have: a completed PhD in media and communications, or a closely related field, by the post start date; expertise and research interests on critical approaches to promotional cultures and industries - i.e., with a commitment to issues of marginality, inequality and social justice. Within this primary area, we are particularly - but not exclusively - interested in candidates with a global research approach and/or a focus on the Global South, as well as quantitative and qualitative methodological skills; a proven ability, as evidenced by existing publications, or potential, to publish in top journals or with leading book publishers in media and communications; and a clear, well-developed and viable strategy for future outstanding research that has the potential to result in world-leading publications. 

We offer an occupational pension scheme, generous annual leave and excellent training and development opportunities. 

For further information about the post, please see the how to apply document, job description and the person specification. 

To apply for this post, please go to https://jobs.lse.ac.uk. 

If you have any technical queries with applying on the online system, please use the "contact us" links at the bottom of the LSE Jobs page. 

Any queries about the role can be emailed to Head of Department Professor Bart Cammaerts (B.Cammaerts@lse.ac.uk). 

The closing date for receipt of applications is 13 March 2023 (23.59 UK time). Regrettably, we are unable to accept any late applications. 

The application process for this post will take place through LSE's paper method, where shortlisted candidates will be invited to present a paper at the Department of Media and Communications and meet members of academic staff. This will take place over the course of May 2023. 

August 31 - September 1,  2023

Berlin, Germany

Deadline: March 31, 2023

The event is hosted by the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society and the Institute for Media and Communication Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin.

The conference theme, “Navigating the Noise: Effective Communication for Solving Political Problems”, provides a platform for discussion on the role of political communication research in tackling complex political and societal issues. 

We are seeking proposals for presentations that explore the ways in which political communication can inform and facilitate the creation of effective, evidence-based solutions to the challenges our societies are facing. Submissions are not restricted to specific studies on solutions but we invite presenters to think about the impact of their research for societies within a solution-based political communication framework.

Abstracts should be no longer than 400 words (incl. references). Submissions should be made via the submission site by the deadline of 31 March, 2023.

To learn more about the call, please visit: https://ecreapolcomm2023.ecreapoliticalcommunication.com/calls/

___________________

Workshop for Early-Career Scholars organized by YECREA Representatives

In addition to the main conference, we will also host a workshop on “Communicating through the Noise: Science Communication for Early-Career Scholars.” If you are an early-career scholar, this workshop is an opportunity not to be missed! 

The deadline to apply is 31 March, and you can find more information about the workshop, and apply here: https://ecreapolcomm2023.ecreapoliticalcommunication.com/phd-workshop/

________________

We look forward to seeing you in Berlin!

PolCom

 Conference Organizing Team

Jakob Ohme, Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, Berlin

Emilija Gagrčin, University of Mannheim

Università della Svizzera italiana

The Institute of Media and Journalism at the Università della Svizzera italiana invites applications for a fixed-term 3 years full-time research and teaching Postdoc position in the field of digital journalism. 

The PostDoc candidate will work under the scientific supervision of Prof. Colin Porlezza (http://usi.to/dvg), primarily in relation to the research project DIACOMET, funded through a Horizon Europe grant. The project looks into issues of disinformation by analyzing current frameworks for ethical and accountable public communication, particularly in relation to the role of AI in journalism and digital platform governance. DIACOMET aims to generate a concept of dialogic communication ethics, which provides a framework for an inclusive model of accountability mechanisms by combining media accountability with civic accountability. The successful candidate will be offered the possibility to work in an international and multidisciplinary team of journalism and communication scholars and be responsible for the accountability work package that engages in a comparative study of (self)regulatory frameworks for public communication. 

Besides DIACOMET, the successful candidate will also have responsibilities in the design and implementation of research projects in the field of digital journalism, with a particular interest on the use of AI and data-driven methods in journalism. Potential areas of research include, but are not limited to: automated/computational journalism, data journalism, algorithmic accountability, AI governance, journalism ethics, media accountability and transparency. Excellent knowledge of one or more of these fields is desirable. In addition, exceptional knowledge of qualitative and/or quantitative methods is required. The successful candidate is expected to present papers at scientific conferences and produce publications in high-impact journals. 

The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to teach in courses at the Master level, and is expected to supervise students’ dissertations. Specifically, the candidate will contribute to the teaching in an MA-level course of 3 ECTS called Journalism, Innovation and Datafication (in English). Depending on the language skills, the candidate may also contribute to a BA-level course of 6 ECTS called Journalism that is taught in Italian. 

Ideal candidates should satisfy the following requirements: 

• The candidate must hold a PhD in journalism, media or communication studies, or an adjacent field.
• Excellent skills in qualitative and/or quantitative methods in the collection and analysis of digital data.
• Expertise in the field of digital journalism, with a focus on the intersection of AI and media.
• High personal interest in collaborative work both in teaching and research.
• Good command of English is necessary, and experience in publishing in English is an asset.
• Good command of Italian or German is considered an asset.
• Ability to work independently and in a structured manner, as well as have the ability to cooperate with others.
• Experience in presenting at high-quality conferences is considered an asset.

The workplace is the Università della Svizzera italiana, located in Lugano, Switzerland. Availability to travel to other parts of Switzerland and abroad (for purposes of research) is required. The salary is competitive, and we can offer a stimulating and friendly work environment. 

The starting date for this position is 1 June, 2023. 

Applications must include: (1) a cover letter in which the applicants describe their research interests and the motivation to apply, (2) a CV, (3) documentation of education (diplomas, certificates, transcripts), (4) a complete list of publications, (5) two reference letters, (6) a maximum of 3 publications to be included in the assessment, (7) a research statement of maximum 500 words where you envision your research trajectory in the next few years, (8) if relevant, documentation for any other additional research and/or teaching qualification. 

Please send your application as one pdf-document to Ms Laura Pranteddu (laura.pranteddu@usi.ch). 

Detailed information about the position can be obtained by contacting Prof. Colin Porlezza (colin.porlezza@usi.ch).

The complete call can be found here: https://bit.ly/40WhkJO 

Applications received before 13 March, 2023, will be given priority. However, applications will be accepted until the position is filled.