ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

October 12-13, 2023

Flensburg (Germany)

Deadline: July 30, 2023

 The ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war is characterized not only by material battles reminiscent of WWII but also by the use of state-of-the-art media technologies. The rise of Web 2.0 has fundamentally transformed our understanding of war which evolves as a battle of technologies or “digital war” (Merrin, 2018). Along with the state structures of power that engage in digital wars on various levels of national security policies, individuals are empowered to ‘participate’ in war online – when anyone in any part of the world is able to comment, share images or video content based on their private perception of the armed conflict. Moreover, military actors tend to digitalize their war experiences, so war becomes even more open for eyewitnessing with head camera footage, videos or images shared by soldiers from battlefields, hospitals, muddy trenches, or destroyed towns.

In times of deep mediatization, data processing is fundamental for the construction of our social reality when human and non-human actors interact to construct meaning, create new senses and interpret the world. In addition to broader social and cultural transformations, digital technologies change how individuals experience and perceive their own ‘self’ regarding community, society and the globe. By reshaping various domains of social life, digital media technologies remain still unpredictable and challenging when we approach them as actors in armed conflicts.

Although Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has been widely discussed from different research perspectives, the digital background of Russia’s war in Ukraine needs more academic attention as an example of a new digitalized war in a deeply mediatized world. Information leaks, artificial intelligence, hacking, satellites, drones, propaganda and fakes become a part of this war reality, which prompts us to focus more attention on the virtual fronts of this war performed by digital media and technologies. Thus, this workshop aims to discover how digital media and technologies function during the Russo-Ukraine war, addressing specific questions: What new expectations and challenges for digital media emerged during the war? What is the role of digital media and technologies in documenting war crimes? Does digital eyewitnessing of the war contribute to the processes of decision-making on international levels? Does technological advancement define victory on the battlefield?

We invite researchers to submit abstracts focusing on digital media and technologies in time of war in the following contexts:

- digitalization of modern wars, technologies as a weapon and means of power (e.g., usage of satellites, drones, surveillance systems)

- ethical challenges for media actors in times of war (e.g., the line between sensitive content and truth, blurring of private and public spheres)

- framing of the Russo-Ukrainian war in the media of different political and cultural contexts (e.g., in China, India)

- propaganda, myths and fakes in times of war (e.g., Russia’s TV channels in Europe)

- in/dependent social media and personalities in power during the war (e.g., state-backed Telegram channels in Russia)

- religious actors in times of war (e.g., peace / war rhetoric in the media of religious institutions)

- digital media as tools of resilience and cohesion of Ukrainian society (e.g., humour in times of war, collective practices in social media)

- historical parallels: the role of technologies during wars/conflicts in the past (e.g., Cold War, conflicts in the East, etc)

This workshop aims to produce a collective volume on Digital media and technologies during the war in Ukraine, so participation presupposes two stages. In the first stage, we will organize a workshop at the Interdisciplinary Center for European Studies in Flensburg, Germany (12-13 October 2023). In the second stage, we plan to publish an edited volume. Complete papers of about 6,000 – 8,000 words should be submitted by December 15th, 2023. Publication of the volume is scheduled for 2024.

We invite researchers to send an abstract (250–300 words) and a short bio-note (max. 100 words) by July 30th, 2023 to: Nadia Zasanska nadia.zasanska@uni-flensburg.de and Kseniia Cherniak kseniia.cherniak@uni-flensburg.de. We have a partial funding for a limited number of researchers; if you would like to be considered for financial support, please indicate this in your application.

Workshop convenors:

Interdisciplinary Centre for European Studies (ICES) at the Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF), Germany (Tabea Sophie Boeing, Kseniia Cherniak, Prof. Dr Hedwig Wagner); Center for War Studies at the Syddansk Universitet Denmark (SDU) and ICES at EUF, Germany (Assoc. Prof. Dr Tobias Nanz); Alexander-von-Humboldt-Foundation, Philipp-Schwartz-Initiative (Dr Nadia Zasanska) at ICES at the EUF, Germany

Freie Universität Berlin

Fachbereich Politik- und Sozialwissenschaften - Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft Project “WealthTalks: The (Re-)Production of Wealth Inequality in Everyday Conversations”

Research assistant (m/f/d) full-time job limited to 4 years Entgeltgruppe 13 TV-L FU reference code: WealthTalks_01

Bewerbungsende: 24.07.2023

Why does the public oppose wealth inequality but not support measures to change the distribution of wealth? Funded by VW Foundation, WealthTalks offers a novel perspective on the production and reproduction of wealth by examining how ordinary citizens discuss wealth and inequality in everyday conversations. WealthTalks will describe the form, conditions, and effects of everyday conversations on wealth and inequality in Botswana, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, and the US. We will produce a large corpus of transcripts of everyday conversations by collecting data from debates in social media, organizing a series of deliberative focus groups, and running moderated dialogues in public places. Subsequently, we will run iterative rounds of online experiments in which we test the effects of frames and argument sequences on people’s beliefs and attitudes about wealth inequality and redistribution. We will not only take a dynamic approach that dissects sequences of frames and arguments but will also pay particular attention to the role of various social identities. 

The postdoctoral research fellow will work in an international lab that consists of two other postdocs, student assistants, and a group leader, as well as a team of principal investigators and project partners spanning across the globe: Chana Teeger (London School of Economics), David Schieferdecker (Freie Universitat Berlin), Flavio Alex de Oliveira Carvalhaes (Federal Universidad de Rio de Janeiro), Jeremy Seekings (University of Cape Town), Jonathan Mijs (Boston University), Graziella Moraes Silva (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies), Franziska Mager (Tax Justice Network), and John Makgala (University of Botswana).

What we offer: 

- Remuneration according to the tariff (TV-L E13) and a monthly ticket for public transport at reduced rates

- Office space in lively Berlin 

- Close collaboration with a large network of up-and-coming as well as senior international researchers in an interdisciplinary research team

- Flexible working hours, and ability to work remotely

- No teaching obligation 

- Fully paid conference travel and research stay at a university of our lab members

- Individual budget for methodological training and career development

- Fair authorship and the opportunity for first-authored publication

Your application (in English and preferably in one pdf-file) shall contain: 

- a motivation letter that describes (a) your interest in the topic or methods of the project; (b) prior experience relevant to the study; and (c) how working in our lab fits your career trajectory.

- a CV that includes a list of your relevant career stages, publications and presentations

- up to two examples of your writing

Job description:

In close collaboration with the other members of the lab, you will collect and analyze data and help disseminate project findings. Specific tasks include: 

- Literature review and development of the research design

- Collection of quantitative and qualitative data 

- Text analysis (mostly quantitative)

- Drafting journal articles for publication and presenting research findings at international conferences

- Planning and organization of team workshops

- Writing reports for the funder (Volkswagen Foundation)

- Mentoring student assistants

Requirements: 

- Degree: An academic degree in communication studies, political science, sociology, social psychology, economics, data science, or a related field

Desirable:

- Language: Proficiency in verbal and written academic English 

- Expertise: Experience conducting empirical social science research

- Data collection skills: Experience with collecting original data for text analysis and/or scraping social media data; experience in data collection in difficult contexts and-or the project countries is a plus.

- Analytical skills: Experience with conducting quantitative text analysis; experience in computational and/or qualitative text analysis is a plus.

- Publications: Publications (or submissions) in international journals and presentations at international conferences; publications related to the project focus (economic and social inequalities, conversational dynamics) are a plus.

- Language: Fluency in English; knowledge of Portuguese, German, or one of the other languages spoken in the project countries is a plus.

- Availability: Able to start work between October and December 2023

- Interpersonal skills: High motivation to work in a team that will primarily collaborate virtually; experience in working in transnational and transcultural settings.

- Travel: Willingness to travel to international workshops

For further information, please contact Dr. David Schieferdecker (d.schieferdecker@fu-berlin.de ).

Weitere Informationen

Applications should be sent by e-mail, together with significant documents, indicating the reference code, in PDF format (preferably as one document) to Herrn Dr. David Schieferdecker: d.schieferdecker@fu-berlin.de or postal to

Freie Universität Berlin

Fachbereich Politik- und Sozialwissenschaften

Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft

Project “WealthTalks: The (Re-)Production of Wealth Inequality in Everyday Conversations”

Herrn Dr. David Schieferdecker

Garystr. 55

14195 Berlin (Dahlem)

With an electronic application, you acknowledge that FU Berlin saves and processes your data. FU Berlin cannot guarantee the security of your personal data if you send your application over an unencrypted connection.

July 19-21, 2023

Lusófona University in Lisbon, Portugal

Deadline: July 19, 2023

Future of Magazine conference (FoM) is approaching! Organized by MagLab | CICANT at Lusófona University, the event will count with the participation of Nico Carpentier, from Charles University, as the opening keynote speaker. James Hewes, President and CEO of FIPP, will open the Industry second day and David Abrahamson, from The Northwestern University’s Medill School will close FoM 2023, updating his famous article “The future of magazines”.

FoM23 will host 33 delegates representing 14 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Georgia, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The conference will be held at the Library Building of Lusófona University in Lisbon, Portugal, 19-21 July 2023.

Program

The full program is available here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nLc0yk8aieJCkxlSWuSlCBVLzgYcYSr_/view

Registration and Participation

You can still register to attend the conference until 19 July (day 1 of the conference) in this link - https://secure.ensinolusofona.pt/rol/f?p=126:1:::::P1_GRAU,P1_INSTITUICAO,P1_CURSO:13,103,1524

For more information about the registration procedure and fees is available at MagLab's website - http://maglab.cicant.ulusofona.pt/registration/

About the event

FoM 2023 is an event that brings together a variety of researchers to share insights, ideas and discuss the current status and technical challenges the magazine medium will face in future, as well as issues relevant to the understanding of this field of studies. Papers will be presented as part of a rich conference program, including keynote talks, talking circles, and a full day dedicated to the industry.

Inquiries

For any special inquiries, please contact by email - maglab@ulusofona.pt

Media International Australia (MIA)

Deadline (EXTENDED): August 6, 2023

David Ramírez Plascencia, Universidad de Guadalajara – Mexico (Editor)

davidrapla@gmail.com and davidram@udgvirtual.udg.mx

In Latin America during the health emergency in 2020, digitalization, despite digital infrastructure limitation, was essential not just because it allowed to continue studying and working at home and promoted the improvement of the exchange of goods and services networks using smartphones and mobile applications, but because it helped people to build solidary chains to support and provide relief in places where authorities were absent or negligent. Digitalization augmented even more the popularity of social platforms and mobile devices which have consolidated as the main places of socialization and entertainment among Latin Americans. 

After three years since the outbreak, the Latin American landscape invites us to ponder, from a critical perspective, the digital economic activities that have flourished in this post-pandemic context. This special feature topic invites proposals that analyze, from an interdisciplinary and international perspective, the impact of the pandemic and digitalization in the Latin American labor market. 

Prospective abstracts may include topics related with social media influencers (Youtubers, Tiktokers, instangramers and so on), fact-checkers, crypto miners and bitcoin traders, digital nomad workers, online gamers and videogame-items dealers, delivery-platform app workers, social media platforms sellers, among others. Propositions that address (i) the economic and cultural influence of theses economic activities in the regional and international content-consumption market, (ii) novel digital professions as mechanism to surpass economic and social exclusion, and (iii) externalities, genre barriers and legal and ethical controversial issues, are particularly welcome.

After three years since the outbreak, the Latin American landscape invites us to ponder, from a critical perspective, the novel economic activities related with digital media that have flourished in the post-pandemic context. Studying Latin America is important because in a few years it has consolidated as the second fastest growing region for streaming services in the world, Latin Americans spend more hours consuming media than in any other region, the use of cryptocurrencies has become a popular form of payment, saving and sending remittances in countries with struggling economies, and, in recent years, the region has consolidated a pole of attraction for digital nomads who arrive looking for better employment opportunities.

Submission Instructions.

Please submit an extended abstract (500 words, not including references), accompanied by a 200-words bio. Abstracts must be sent no later than August 6, 2023 to davidrapla@gmail.com and davidram@udgvirtual.udg.mx. Upon selection, scholars will be invited to submit full papers. Articles should be around 8,000 words in length (including notes, references, accompanying reference list, and all other inclusions).

September 20-22, 2023

Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

The International Doctoral Summer School “The values of the commons in the digital society” is an open space for international PhD students to get together and discuss, reflect on and learn about the relevance of the commons and the public realm in our current societies. It will take place between 20-22 September 2023 in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

The main theme of this course will be the public value of public service media within the European framework, considering the impact of digital platforms (research, reach and crisis). However, we aspire to create an open space to debate, reflect on and exchange ideas that will broaden the focus from Communication Studies to other Social Sciences, such as Political Science, Psychology, Pedagogy, Economics and Business, Computer Sciences, Philosophy, Languages and Literature and even Artificial Intelligence and Engineering.

The activity will be certified as a 30-hour course, divided in two different kinds of sessions: keynotes and panel discussions with experts (both professionals and scholars) will take place in the mornings, while workshops and feedback sessions will take place in the afternoons. Moreover, social activities will also be included in the program to encourage networking among all the participants. 

Registration is free of charge.

Number of places available: 30

Deadline for registration: Until full capacity is reached 

Registration form: https://forms.office.com/e/T2ETEvpD6w

Information and Programm: https://valcomm.gal/archivos/3116

Contact: m.rodriguez.castro/at/usc.gal

Deadline: July 28, 2023

Social, cultural, economic and political contexts are directly related to the need for working civic and critical literacies (UNESCO, 2008). Educational institutions play an essential role in the civic and citizenship training of their youth and in building students’ civic literacy abilities in the face of an increasingly complex media landscape in the form of media education. The notions of civic and critical literacy must be thought to include different forms of media culture, ICT and new media. Hence, literacy analysis is deepened to relations between media and citizens addressing topics such as gender issues or other indicators of inequality and power imbalances, as gender differences exist both in education and in the distribution of civic and critical skills.

Critical thinking must be promoted from the intersection of formal learning with civic, social, and personal competencies. Media literacy is directly linked with citizenship and civic culture (Mihailidis, 2012). The complex media landscape increases the challenges of developing the capacities of those literacies, intricating understandings of news and other media forms of (mis)information circulation. The increasing digitalisation of everyday life has increased the flow of (mis)information, which raises questions concerning the role of media in the quality of civic and critical literacies. Therefore, civic and critical literacies encompass understanding the power relations that organise information, journalism and communication in general, as well as the ability to critically understand information conveyed by a growing number of media.

The “MyGender – Mediated young adults’ practices: advancing gender justice in and across mobile apps” (PTDC/COM-CSS/5947/2020) project encourages the submission of chapters of up to 5000 words of theoretical work until 28 July 2023. Scientific contributions are accepted, in ENGLISH LANGUAGE, that address the following themes, though not limited to:

– media literacy in higher education;

– the role of Universities in the promotion of media literacy;

– the links between media landscape and civic and critical literacies;

– democracy and civic and critical literacies;

– disinformation, fake news and other dangers to civic and critical literacies;

– media education;

– gender and civic and critical literacies;

– mobile applications and civic and critical literacies;

– mobile application regulation;

– data literacy;

– digital well-being and civic and critical literacies;

– mobile applications and subjectivities;

– critical thinking about mobile applications in higher education.

Scientific contributions should be submitted via e-mail to mygender@fl.uc.pt by 28 July 2023. The “Handbook of Critical Literacies and Gender Studies” will be published in cooperation with a renowned publisher under the framework of the MyGender project.

November 27, 2023

Online

Institute of Social Communication and Media Studies Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin and Wroclaw Academic Centre in partnership with Academia Europaea Wroclaw Knowledge Hub are continuing research meetings focused on specific issues of mediatization research chaired by eminent experts (Göran Bolin (2017), Johan Fornäs (2018), Andreas Hepp (2019), Mark Deuze (2020) André Jansson (2021), Andrew Hoskins (2022)), this year the workshop will take place online on the 27 November 2023 and it will be led by Professor Kirsten Frandsen, Aarhus University.

REGISTRATION FORM: https://tinyurl.com/24sz8dnf 

MORE INFO: https://www.umcs.pl/pl/towards-development-of-mediatization-research-vii-mediatization-of-sport-physical-activity-and-recreation,27346.htm

View, #26

Deadline: July 31, 2023

We are currently accepting proposals for the upcoming Issue #26 “Archive Television: Storing, structuring and accessing content in the time of algorithmic curation”. This new issue is co-edited by guest editors Giulia Taurino (Northeastern University) and Georgia Aitaki (Karlstad University). It seeks to bring scholarly attention to the primary role of streaming platforms as content repositories, virtual places for storing, structuring, and accessing television content via complex library systems designed to organize, filter, and retrieve audiovisual records, making them available for simultaneous distribution.

The full call for papers can be found here: https://bit.ly/VIEW_CfP2023_1

Hi All,

On behalf of the Everyday Misinformation Project at the Online Civic Culture Centre, Loughborough University, we wanted to share our latest report “Beyond Quick Fixes: How Users Make Sense of Misinformation Warnings on Personal Messaging”. The report uncovers multiple interpretations users have of WhatsApp’s “forwarded” and “forwarded many times” tags. Based on these findings, it puts forward five key principles for the design of effective misinformation warnings.  

You can access the report here: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/online-civic-culture-centre/news-events/articles/o3c-4-beyond-quick-fixes/ 

This comes at an important time, as the Online Safety Bill is currently being debated in the UK House of Lords. That bill requires social media providers to take responsibility for harmful content published on their platforms, including misinformation. However, for encrypted apps such as WhatsApp, this could potentially mean compromising end-to-end encryption in order to monitor and censor messages, something Meta says it is not prepared to do.  

Our report shows that these platforms can protect user privacy, whilst also doing more to tackle misinformation. 

You can read the Loughborough University press release here: 

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2023/june/whatsapp-forwarded-tags-misunderstood-report/  

We hope you find the report insightful and useful. Please don’t hesitate to get in contact with any questions. 

The Everyday Misinformation Project Team (Natalie-Anne Hall, Brendan T Lawson, Cristian Vaccari and Andrew Chadwick) 

http://everyday-mis.info 

everyday.sharing@mailbox.lboro.ac.uk 

October 6, 2023

London College of Communication (UK)

Deadline: July 3, 2023

Dear Colleagues and TikTok researchers,

Deadline approaching! Please submit your abstracts and bios to DCE@lcc.arts.ac.uk by July 3 for an online symposium on July 6.

Full details of the CFP and how to apply can be found here: https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/london-college-of-communication/stories/call-for-papers-for-tiktok-creators-and-digital-economies-symposium