ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

I am pleased to invite you to the next in the series of IPRA Thought Leadership webinars. The webinar The missing middle: lessons for communicators will be presented by Tommaso Di Giovanni, Vice President of Global Communications, Philip Morris International on Thursday 14 April 2022 at 12.00 GMT/UCT (unadjusted).

What is the webinar content?

Misinformation is rampant, and often used to drive opposition to progress. Overcoming misinformation is particularly challenging for PMI, because of historical mistrust and skepticism. The webinar will describe how PMI affiliates around the world are countering misinformation and overcoming entrenched biases to promote science-driven change.

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 Tommaso Di Giovanni

Tommaso Di Giovanni is Vice President of Global Communications at Philip Morris International (PMI). He leads a global team of 150+ communicators working to elevate PMI’s mission for open and meaningful dialogues on how to accelerate the achievement of a smoke-free future, where cigarettes are replaced with less harmful alternatives, in 100+ diverse markets.

Contact

International Public Relations Association Secretariat

United Kingdom

secgen@ipra.orgTelephone +44 1634 818308

COMUNICAR 71, special Issue

We would like to inform you that the latest issue of Comunicar 71 has been recently published with the suggestive title: Hate speech in communication: Research and proposals. As on previous occasions, the journal has a monographic section and a wide variety of items in its miscellaneous section. All articles are available full text and free of charge on our official website.

Adolescents' motivations to perpetrate hate speech and links with social norms

Sebastian Wachs | Alexander Wettstein | Ludwig Bilz | Manuel Gámez-Guadix

https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-01

Hate speech and social acceptance of migrants in Europe: Analysis of tweets with geolocation

Carlos Arcila-Calderón | Patricia Sánchez-Holgado | Cristina Quintana-Moreno | Javier-J. Amores | David Blanco-Herrero

https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-02

Hate speech analysis as a function of ideology: Emotional and cognitive effects

Natalia Abuín-Vences | Ubaldo Cuesta-Cambra | José-Ignacio Niño-González | Carolina Bengochea-González

https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-03

A systematic literature review of the representations of migration in Brazil and the United Kingdom

Isabella Gonçalves | Yossi David

https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-04

When negativity is the fuel. Bots and Political Polarization in the COVID-19 debate

José-Manuel Robles | Juan-Antonio Guevara | Belén Casas-Mas | Daniel Gómez

https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-05

Twitter and human trafficking: Purposes, actors and topics in the Spanish-speaking scene

Alba Sierra-Rodríguez | Wenceslao Arroyo-Machado | Domingo Barroso-Hurtado

https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-06

Special Education Teacher's professional development through digital storytelling

Ozgur Yasar-Akyar | Cinthia Rosa-Feliz | Solomon Sunday-Oyelere | Darwin Muñoz | Gıyasettin Demirhan

https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-07

Detection of traits in students with suicidal tendencies on Internet applying Web Mining

Iván Castillo-Zúñiga | Francisco-Javier Luna-Rosas | Jaime-Iván López-Veyna

https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-08

Booktokers: Generating and sharing book content on TikTok

Nataly Guiñez-Cabrera | Katherine Mansilla-Obando

https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-09

The relationship of Twitter with teacher credibility and motivation in university students

Facundo Froment | Alfonso-Javier García-González | Julio Cabero-Almenara

Deadline: June 15, 2022

Esports research is a field with conflicting definitions and multiple perspectives. Despite the differences between approaches to esports, all emphasize its technological specificity and competitiveness. In the last decade, esports has ceased to be seen solely as entertainment for the youth and has become the fastest-growing area in sports. This view is supported by the increase in the number of events organized, their popularity among millions of viewers, and the growing number and professionalization of gamers. Traditional sports are still generally larger in size and reach than the biggest esports, with substantially more revenues and larger player salaries in traditional sports. However, esports is quickly catching up, given the growing number of broadcasted games and events, tournament prize pools, availability of media rights, and increasing advertising and sponsorship potential of esports games. Despite the increasing popularity of esports, the research is still in its nascency. After an initial descriptive stage, the focus shifts from explaining what esports is to a more nuanced understanding of multiple phenomenon present in the industry.

This minitrack aims to provide insight into esports’ theoretical development and practical understanding without excluding any methodological approach or scientific disciplines. Conceptual, theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that enrich our understanding of esports are welcome.

Given the diverse goals of this minitrack, possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Business, e.g. discovering esports consumers’ motivations; designing effective marketing tools; understanding players’/esports’ networks and organizations; gamers/fans as consumers; esports finances and revenues; esports management and governance
• Cognitive Science/Psychology, e.g. studying factors influencing athletes’ performance; their abilities and skills; cognitive and behavioral differences between athletes; team management.
• IT, e.g. using game telemetry, biometrics, user-generated data, or text mining to study esports; team dynamics; interactions of players; in-game performance.
• Sociology, e.g. gamers’ and athletes’ interactions and identities; live events and streaming dynamics; gender issues (gender gap).
• Media Studies and Communications, e.g. cultural examinations; relations between esports, traditional sports, and the media; offline spaces versus live-streaming, understanding esports in terms of virtual versus real; how technology mediates gaming and how esports’ communities fit here.
• Law, e.g. copyright issues, intellectual property.
• Health, Wellness and Medical Sciences, e.g., health and wellness of players; comparing esports and traditional sports; esports as ‘real’, ‘genuine’ sports or new quality.
• Technology, e.g. augmented, virtual, mixed and extended reality; haptic technology and gaming.

Authors of accepted papers have the option to fast-track extended versions of their papers to: Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports. Rejected manuscripts will be recommended to be submitted to JEGE for further review.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Author Instructions: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/authors/

Esports minitrack website: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/tracks-55/internet-and-the-digital-economy/#esports-minitrack

IMPORTANT DATES:

April 15, 2022: Paper submission begins (through HICSS systems: https://hicss-submissions.org/)

June 15, 2022: Paper submission deadline (11:59 pm HST)

August 17,2022: Notification of acceptance/rejection

September 22, 2022: Deadline for authors to submit final manuscript for publication

October 1, 2022: Deadline for at least one author for each paper to register for the conference

MINITRACK CO-CHAIRS:

Piotr Siuda (Primary Contact)

Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz

piotr.siuda@ukw.edu.pl

Maciej Behnke

Adam Mickiewicz University

macbeh@amu.edu.pl

David P. Hedlund

St. John’s University

hedlundd@stjohns.edu

Deadline: June 15, 2022

Research of the Internet as a site for communication and networking has focused mostly on legal practices. Recent years have nevertheless seen a significant increase in cybercrime, including illegal commerce being conducted on various platforms. In the public eye, much of it is associated with the non-indexed Dark Web, but research tells us that it is likewise present on many clear web sites and being conducted via numerous social media and instant messaging services.

Rarely a day goes by without cybercrime being reported in the media. Examples include online trading in narcotics and other illicit goods and services, the hijacking of individual accounts and organizational systems, extortion, exit scams, fake investments in cryptocurrencies and even blatant information manipulation for financial gain.

This minitrack aim is to give insights and develop a theoretical and practical understanding of issues related to cybercrime without excluding any methodological approaches. We welcome conceptual, theoretical, empirical and methodological papers that enrich our understanding of illegal online practices. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Trading in illicit goods and services online
• The use of the Dark Web as a marketplace or information sharing environment
• Using social media and instant messaging services for illicit trading
• Ransomware
• Phishing and scamming
• Cryptomarkets and cryptocurrencies
• Information manipulation for commercial gain
• Dark Web deception, risk, security, and privacy
• Differences between legal and illegal online trading
• Regional differences in cybercrime
• Investigative techniques and methods for cybercrimes

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Author Instructions: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/authors/

Esports minitrack website: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/tracks-55/internet-and-the-digital-economy/#cybercrime-minitrack

IMPORTANT DATES:

April 15, 2022: Paper submission begins (through HICSS systems: https://hicss-submissions.org/)

June 15, 2022: Paper submission deadline (11:59 pm HST)

August 17,2022: Notification of acceptance/rejection

September 22, 2022: Deadline for authors to submit final manuscript for publication

October 1, 2022: Deadline for at least one author for each paper to register for the conference

MINITRACK CO-CHAIRS:

Tuomas Harviainen (Primary Contact)

Tampere University

tuomas.harviainen@tuni.fi

Piotr Siuda

Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz

piotr.siuda@ukw.edu.pl

Robert W. Gehl

Louisiana Tech University

rgehl@latech.edu

Juho Hamari

Tampere University

juho.hamari@tuni.fi

June 16-18, 2022

Online conference

Deadline for extended abstracts: Sunday April 3, 2022

Conference website: www.mediatingscale.com

Confirmed keynote speakers:

• Prof Benjamin Bratton (University of California, San Diego)
• Dr Joshua DiCaglio (Texas A&M University)
• Dr Zachary Horton (University of Pittsburgh)
• Dr Bogna Konior (NYU Shanghai)
• Dr Thomas Moynihan (University of Oxford)
• Laura Tripaldi (University of Milano-Bicocca)

The problem of scale has historically been discussed primarily within the confines of specific disciplinary contexts (biology, geography, mathematics, etc.), however it is increasingly emerging as a transdisciplinary concern. Similarly to the ways in which contemporary problems exceed disciplinary boundaries, and require heterogeneous approaches in order to be productively understood, the future orientation of our strategies for addressing those problems must engage with the full scalar spectrum of our planetary existence. Global crises such as pandemics or climate change disturb the human comfort of the mesoscale and require us to grapple with the underlying material reality, including molecular as well as global processes.

The COVID-19 pandemic proved that the biological, chemical, and epidemiological reality is indifferent to the cultural and political narratives conjectured by the human vectors of transmission. A post-pandemic world needs to learn the lessons from this ‘revenge of the real’ (Bratton, 2021) and recognise the complexity of the world which cannot be reduced to myopic projections and illusions. As global society is affected by ‘mega processes’, our orientation towards the future should be guided by reason, and a planetary politics which exceeds the logics of the nation-state and includes the whole physical universe (Mbembe, 2019).

In order to access different scalar perspectives, humans have always constructed mediating devices. Instruments such as the telescope or the microscope provided an insight into the scale of reality beyond human visual perception, and demonstrated that ‘the invisible makes up a continuum of reality with the visible’ (Blumenberg, 1987, p. 618). More recent examples of scalar media include the James Webb Space Telescope, mediating the spatial and temporal scale of the universe through an analysis of infrared light, as well as potentially shedding light on the local condition of far-off planets. It contributes to a wider process in which scientists use numerical data from telescopes and satellites to help imagine worlds and places which can be made sense of on a human scale (Messeri, 2016). Computational technologies also help us conceptualise some of the most pressing scalar problems. Inequalities related to labour relations and the distribution of resources can be traced through the mineral materialities of media devices and the cartographies of electronic waste (Parikka, 2015), whilst the concept of ‘climate change’ is an epistemological accomplishment of planetary-scale computation (Bratton, 2019). The history of media and technologies is a history of evolving modes and scales of perception and knowledge, and cultural texts such as Powers of Ten, Fantastic Voyage, Alice in Wonderland, and Gulliver’s Travels have been discussed as motivating thinking about scale (Horton, 2013, 2020; DiCaglio, 2020, 2021). Recent scholarship has also emphasized the necessity for developing a theory and a vocabulary of scale itself, foregrounding the ongoing negotiations between scalar alterity and scalar access (Horton, 2020), and placing scale ‘at the intersection of a transformation of the world and a transformation of ourselves’ (DiCaglio, 2021, p. 9).

With this conference, our ambition is to map the broad spectrum of frameworks and attitudes towards scale, reflecting on how scalar thinking should orient our visions towards the future. We are interested in the role of scalar media, technologies, scientific theories, models and concepts in confronting the scalar disjunction between human sensory and cognitive capacities, and the scale of reality independent of our perception. We believe these questions are crucial to developing the multi-scalar thinking required to address some of the most urgent global issues including automation, planetary governance, or the climate crisis. This conference will therefore explore ways of framing the problem of mediating scale, and the stakes involved in addressing epistemological barriers to facing contemporary problems at an appropriate scale.

We welcome contributions from across disciplines whose work is relevant to the question of mediating scale.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• approaches to scale in media studies
• history and archaeology of scalar media
• politics of scale in visual cultures
• scale and political tactics (including local vs global organising)
• planetary politics and governance
• existential risks, including climate change
• the science and politics of geoengineering
• scientific models and model-world relations
• reductionism, antireductionism, and complexity theory
• theories of scale, rhetoric of scale
• timescales, geologic time, deep time, longtermism

Submission guidelines:

We are inviting submissions for 30-minute talks in English that address the conference theme.

Please send an extended abstract of 600-900 words and a short biography to mediatingscale@gmail.com. The deadline for submissions is Sunday April 3rd 2022. Responses will be sent out in mid-April.

Conference details:

This online conference will be free to attend but registration will be required. The conference will be streamed live with recordings of the keynote presentations available afterwards on YouTube. For more information, please see the conference website: www.mediatingscale.com and if you have any questions, please email mediatingscale@gmail.com

Organised by Dr Oliver Kenny (Institute of Communication Studies (ISTC), Université Catholique de Lille) and Magdalena Krysztoforska (University of Nottingham).

The event is hosted and funded by the Institute of Communication Studies (ISTC), Université Catholique de Lille.

Bibliography:

Blumenberg, H. (1987). The Genesis of the Copernican World. MIT Press.

Bratton, B. H. (2019). The Terraforming. Strelka Press.

Bratton, B. H. (2021). The Revenge of the Real: Politics for a Post-Pandemic World. Verso.

DiCaglio, J. (2020). Scale Tricks and God Tricks, or The Power of Scale in Powers of Ten. Configurations, 28(4), 459–490.

DiCaglio, J. (2021). Scale Theory: A Nondisciplinary Inquiry. University of Minnesota Press.

Horton, Z. (2013). Collapsing Scale: Nanotechnology and Geoengineering as Speculative Media. In K. Konrad, C. Coenen, A. Dijkstra, C. Milburn, & H. van Lente (Eds.), Shaping Emerging Technologies: Governance, Innovation, Discourse (pp. 203–218). IOS Press / AKA.

Horton, Z. (2020). The Cosmic Zoom: Scale, Knowledge, and Mediation. The University of Chicago Press.

Mbembe, A. (2019). Bodies as Borders. From the European South: A Transdisciplinary Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 4, 5–18.

Messeri, L. (2016). Placing Outer Space: An Earthly Ethnography of Other Worlds. Duke University Press.

Parikka, J. (2015). A Geology of Media. University of Minnesota Press.

IJFMA Vol. 7 No. 3 (2022)

Deadline: April 3, 2022

Editor: Manuel José Damásio

One of the main goals of the European Universities Initiative is to establish transnational alliances of higher education institutions from across the EU that share a long-term strategy focussed on sustainability, excellence, inclusiveness, mobility and European values. One of the main challenges to be addressed by these alliances concerns the definition of governance and management structures, not only during the pilot period but also in the long run. Although a variety of models have already been implemented inside the existing alliances, several issues remain to be clarified, specially outside the alliances and related with their legal statute in the European arena for education and research transformation.

To discuss these issues and further deepen the reflection around the European Universities Initiative, the FilmEU alliance is organising a conference entitled “Future Governance models of the European Universities” that will take place in Brussels, Belgium on the 5th of May 2022.

Abstract Submission: 3rd April 2022

Read more: https://revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/ijfma/announcement/view/154

August 29-30, 2022

Copenhagen, Denmark

Deadline: May 15, 2022

Keynotes: Helen Kennedy (University of Sheffield) and Sally Wyatt (Maastricht University)

The conference is organized by the ADM Nordic Perspectives research network, an interdisciplinary research network comprising scholars from anthropology, computer science, media and communication studies, philosophy, law, health informatics, STS, information studies, sociology and more. The network is directed by Minna Ruckenstein (University of Helsinki), Stefan Larsson (Lund University) and Stine Lomborg (University of Copenhagen).

Call for papers

Current approaches to automated decision-making (ADM) systems have a tendency to treat the society as a landing site upon which algorithmic technologies make an impact (Pink et al. 2022). They are promoted with ideas of efficiency and optimisation, seamless transitions just as the Internet was once sold to us as a “superhighway” or “global town square” (Wyatt 2004, 2021). But this is not how these technologies work in practice, on the ground, in specific organisations and settings; and moreover, these concepts and metaphors are not neutral – they contain within them assumptions about how society does and should work.

In this conference, we are interested in alternative conceptualisations of ADM, which imagine a more nuanced and diverse social space; not anticipatory projections into the future but grounded in everyday experience. How do people adapt to the requirements of ADM systems, or dream with algorithmic technologies? We are interested in studies that conceptualise ADM systems in unexpected ways, and develop metaphors and evocative stories, which can promote alternative understandings and more socially sensitive framings to guide the development and governance of new technologies. The ultimate goal is to promote a different vocabulary of concepts and values, to give novel directions for understanding algorithmic developments.

Our conference aims to counter the trend of unmoored speculation by focusing on socio-technical developments within their organisational and everyday contexts (Kennedy 2018). We will promote empirically grounded perspectives to current algorithmic systems, and how they are envisioned in contemporary guidelines and strategies, highlighting the people behind algorithms, what they do when they build, promote and evaluate technologies. We invite ethnographic, participatory and case-based contributions from a range of disciplines, including media and communication studies, anthropology, law, computer science, sociology, information studies and Science and Technology Studies (STS). Studies that describe how ADM systems develop, transform, fail and are renewed are of particular interest for thinking about the expected and the unexpected consequences of algorithmic technologies.

We are particularly interested in ADM in public sector developments, but these often intertwine with the goals of private companies and involve public-private partnerships. We encourage research engagements that demonstrate the different spectres of value that promoters, designers, regulators, and users advocate. While we explore how visions and values emerge in technology-mediated practices, we want to move across different sectors of society to see differences and similarities across the health field, social work, education, insurance, finance, and media. In order to reach beyond current debates, we ask questions like: What would it mean to think of credit scoring in terms of ‘solidarity’ or predictive policing in terms of ‘care’? How can we preserve human autonomy in relation to ADM systems, and what kind of autonomy it is? What are the knowledge exchanges and translations, that take place when algorithmic technologies become an integral part of decision-making processes?

References

Kennedy, H. (2018). Living with data: Aligning data studies and data activism through a focus on everyday experiences of datafication. Krisis: Journal for Contemporary Philosophy, 2018(1), 18-30.

Pink, S. et al (2022). Everyday Automation: Experiencing and Anticipating Automated Decision-Making. London & New York: Routledge.

Wyatt, S. (2004). Danger! Metaphors at work in economics, geophysiology, and the Internet. Science, technology, & human values, 29(2), 242-261.

Wyatt, S. (2021). Metaphors in critical Internet and digital media studies. New Media & Society, 23(2), 406-416.

Practical information:

Reframing ADM is arranged by the ADM: Nordic Perspectives research network, funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark. Participation is free of charge, but seats are limited, and registration is mandatory. Abstracts of 20-300 words excluding references must be sent to adm-nordic@hum.ku.dk no later than 15. May 2022.

Timeline:

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 15. May 2022

Notification of acceptance: 1. June 2022

Deadline for registrations: 30. June 2022

Conference: 29-30. August 2022

Conference venue: University of Copenhagen, South Campus, Karen Blixens Plads 8, 2300 Copenhagen S. Denmark.

Questions or queries regarding the event should be directed to the local host Stine Lomborg, slomborg@hum.ku.dk.

Trappel, Josef, Department of Communication Studies, University of Salzburg, Austria.

Tomaz, Tales. Department of Communication Studies, University of Salzburg, Austria.

Responsible organisation: Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research (NORDICOM)

2022 (English)

Collection (editor) (Other academic)

Abstract [en]

The Media for Democracy Monitor (MDM) assesses the performance of leading news media in mature democracies with regard to the three core dimensions of democracy: freedom, equality, and control. After monitoring 10 countries in 2011, the MDM project expanded to cover the leading news media of 18 democracies in 2021.

In this book, the most salient results from the MDM were selected to undergo cross-country and longitudinal comparison, searching for patterns and tendencies across countries, with a particular focus on the influence of digitalisation. Some of the key results are the ubiquitousness of the news media’s financial crisis, increasing consumption gaps as younger generations prefer online platforms, and persisting gender inequalities, both in news content and in newsrooms. However, the volume also shows that the reach of news media remains high, the watchdog role and investigative journalism are increasingly relevant in daily practice, and that public service media, in general, continues to play a vital role for democracy. These results have implications for media policies, regulations, and practices to improve news quality and, ultimately, democracy worldwide.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages: Gothenburg: Nordicom, University of Gothenburg , 2022. , p. 360

National Category: Media Studies

Research subject: Media

Identifiers

URN: urn:nbn:se:norden:org:diva-12325

DOI: 10.48335/9789188855589

ISBN: 978-91-88855-58-9 (electronic)

OAI: oai:DiVA.org:norden-12325

DiVA, id: diva2:1641194

Available from: 2022-03-01 Created: 2022-03-01 Last updated: 2022-03-08

Bibliographically approved

http://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1641194&dswid=-5121

LSE

Salary from £37,197 to £44,802 pa inclusive with potential to progress to £48,168 pa inclusive of London allowance

This is a fixed term appointment for two years, starting from 1 July 2022.

Applications are invited from outstanding candidates in the field of Media and Communications. The successful candidate will join an established and successful Department which graduates 300+ MSc students a year and is ranked #1 in the UK and #3 globally in our field (2021 QS World University Rankings).

The post-holder will contribute to the Department's teaching (undergraduate, postgraduate) and specifically, to a new undergraduate course. The successful candidate will teach on the Showcase Portfolio: Media, Power and Communications Practice. They will manage the course administration and help prepare and deliver teaching materials, mark formative and summative work, and support the learning and development of undergraduate students taking the course. They will also support teaching in other areas of the Department's work including postgraduate and, potentially, new extended education courses.

Candidates should have completed or be close to completing a PhD in Media and Communications or a closely related discipline. They will also have a developing research record in media and communications subject area(s), experience of teaching strategic communication from a critical perspective, evidence of teaching experience at undergraduate and graduate level, and will possess excellent written and presentation skills

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/Vacancies/W/2649/0/339242/15539/lse-fellow-in-media-and-communications.

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.

Should you have any queries about the role, please email Professor Lee Edwards, L.Edwards2@lse.ac.uk.

The closing date for receipt of applications is Sunday 24 April 2022 (23.59 UK time). Regrettably, we are unable to accept any late applications.

An LSE Fellowship is intended to be an entry route to an academic career and is deemed by the School to be a career development position. As such, applicants who have already been employed as a LSE Fellow for three years in total are not eligible to apply. If you have any queries about this please contact the HR Division.

LSE is committed to building a diverse, equitable and truly inclusive university.

October 19, 2022

Hybrid conference

Deadline: May 15, 2022

ECREA Pre-conference: Communication History section & International and Intercultural communication section

Venue: two offline sites at Aarhus University (Denmark) and Beijing Foreign Studies University (China) with joint online panels via ZOOM.

Language: English

General information

The growth and influence of emerging transnational media and technology corporations are transforming global communication. Various international scholars have developed different analytical instruments in order to account for the rise of these companies, focusing especially on the powerful home governments of these firms, the country-specific-advantages, media system models, and the transcultural implication for such business expansion and content distribution (e.g. Thussu, 2000; Halin & Mancini, 2012; Nordenstreng & Thussu, 2015; Panibratov, 2015; Teer-Tomaselli et al., 2019; Tang, 2020; Thussu & Nordenstreng, 2020).

In global media history, the term of “emerging” embodies both relativist and transformative implications as the opposition to the dominant powers. From early Japanese companies’ digital disruption in the United States on manufacturing specialized devices (like digital cameras) to Chinese and South Korean telecommunication companies’ competence in mobile devices and network services worldwide; from the Bollywood and Brazilian media conglomerates’ competition with predominant media counterparts in the region to the Korean Wave impact in global entertainment consumption; from Russian and Chinese internet companies’ alternative growth in the domestic and regional markets to the South African Naspers Group becoming the parent company of Europe’s largest consumer internet firm, the fast development, business relocation and strategic capital move of emerging transnational companies is changing—visibly and invisibly—the landscape and infrastructure base of global media and communication industry.

On the one hand, such changes nourished business and cultural diversity and further transcend national and cultural boundaries. On the other hand, it also raised critical questions towards intercultural conflicts and the fragility and resilience of the global cultural ecosystem. The technology competition between the United States and China, for example, signals the “securitization” trend of policymaking in the communication industry and rising concerns over risks in data protection, information security and democracy. It also illustrates fundamental constraints of emerging companies to challenge US hegemony in the field of media and communication and extends discussions about cultural imperialism following the technology and culture decoupling in related societies. A new dimension of transcultural communication is in great need to understand the characteristics and ambitions of transnational media and technology corporations: their rising influence on the global (commercial) media system, their future move in the global race to dominate information technology, their impact on international and intercultural communication and relations, and their promises for the responsibilities to the nature, community, and world society for the next generations.

This conference welcomes research papers that try to understand the rise of emerging media-technology power from interdisciplinary perspectives, with a special focus on the trans-nationalization process of these media and technology firms and the transcultural communication challenges they have been facing in their business development, expansion, concentration, implementation, legitimization, and related (organizational, institutional, and societal) discourses. Topics include but are not limited to:

· The politics, economy and culture of emerging media and tech companies.

· The transnational growth & influence of emerging media and tech companies in the regional markets, mature markets, and third-party markets.

· Transcultural implications of the rise of emerging media and tech companies (e.g., their impact on transcultural protest movements, or on everyday communication)

· The relevance, roles, and implications of alternative movements and/or counter-movements in media and tech industries.

· Transcultural communication formats and content by emerging media and tech companies.

· Global public discourse around emerging media and tech companies, and their business strategies applied for brand building or rebuilding.

· The technology and culture decoupling amid the US-China power competition, and its impact on (lessons to) transnational corporations in other countries.

· Theoretical reflections on the changing paradigm of cultural imperialism, transcultural communication, technology diffusion and soft power in the case of media and tech companies (e.g., their role in cultural homogenization, uni-channelization, and monopolization processes).

Keynote roundtable discussion (confirmed speakers):

· Daya Thussu, Hong Kong Baptist University

· Dwayne Winseck, Carleton University

· Stephen Croucher, Massey University

· Delia Dumitrica, Erasmus University Rotterdam

· Fei JIANG, Beijing Foreign Studies University

· Gabriele Balbi, Università della Svizzera italiana

Submission Guidelines:

This conference accepts abstracts and panel proposals. All submissions should be written in English and should be submitted by 15 May 2022 to EasyChair platform.

Abstract: Individual or co-authored abstracts should be between 300-500 words (excluding the title page and references). The title page should include the title of the paper and authors’ names, academic/professional affiliations, and email address.

Panel proposal: Panel proposals are up to 4 papers and limited to 1,200 words (excluding the title page, references, and appendices).

The organizing committee will inform applicants of its decision by 1 June 2022. An extended abstract for the special-issue publication (between 1500-2000 words, excluding the title page and references) is invited to submit by 30 September 2022.

Additional Information:

Organizer:

China Media Observatory, Università della Svizzera italiana (Lugano, Switzerland)

Journal of Transcultural Communication (De Gruyter)

Co-organizer:

School of International Journalism and Communication, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Institute for a Community with Shared Future, Communication University of China

Organizer Committee:

Gabriele Balbi, Università della Svizzera italiana

Zhan Zhang, Università della Svizzera italiana

Romy Woehlert, Kindervereinigung Leipzig e.V.

Fei Jiang, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Deqiang Ji, Communication University of China

Conference contact: chinamediaobservatory@gmail.com

Reference:

Hallin, D. & Mancini, P. (2011, eds) Comparing Media Systems Beyond the Western World. Cambridge University Press.

Nordenstreng, K. & Thussu, D. (2015, eds) Mapping BRICS Media, Routledge.

Panibratov, A. (2015) Liability of Foreignness of Emerging Market Firms: The Country of Origin Effect on Russian IT Companies. Journal of East-West Business, Vol 21, issue 1.

Tang, M. (2020) Huawei Versus the United States? The Geopolitics of Exterritorial Internet Infrastructure. International Journal of Communication 14:4556-4577.

Teer-Tomaselli, R., Tomaselli, K. & Dludla, M. (2019) Peripheral capital goes global: Naspers, globalization and global media contraflow. Media, Culture & Society, Vol.4 (8) 1142-1159.

Thussu, D. (2000) International Communication: Continuity and Change. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Thussu, D. & Nordenstreng,K (2020, eds) BRICS Media: Reshaping the Global Communication Order? Routledge.